Our Romanian project partner EOS Romania is currently implementing the program EOS DIGITAL ACADEMY, a program that offers a wide range of digital and software skills courses that correspond to the most sought-after jobs on the job market, courses as:

Basic digital skills course (IC3 – internet and basic digital skills)

Microsoft Office Productivity Skills Course (Word, Excel and PowerPoint, intermediate and advanced level)

Microsoft Technical Skills Course (Azure Fundamentals and Azure Ai Fundamentals, intermediate and advanced level).

EOS DIGITAL ACADEMY is a platform for learning, certification, and employment that supports people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to acquire digital skills necessary to enable them to keep their current job or to apply for other jobs.

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Since 2021, EOS Romania Foundation – with the financial support of Microsoft, brings digital training programs closer to people who have lost their jobs due to the COVID pandemic19. Beneficiaries of the program will have access to:

• Initial assessment of skills and interests in order to identify the best career opportunities
• Personalized learning plans that will define the individual training needs as well as the courses that are needed to improve employment opportunities
• Training activities that will largely consist of courses offered by Microsoft and LinkedIn
• Testing and validating user training, skills, and experience through LinkedIn and Microsoft certifications
• Support in the process of identifying and applying for relevant jobs through mentoring and access to an assistance system for every job seeker.

EOS DIGITAL ACADEMY offers access to a number of resources, including the ones from Microsoft and LinkedIn portfolios. The resources provided by Microsoft and LinkedIn reach millions of people worldwide each year. These resources prepare interested people to look for and apply for new jobs. By accessing these tools, they can gain the confidence and the know-how they need to turn new digital skills into opportunities.

In addition to free access to resources, EOS DIGITAL ACADEMY offers to participants in the program a range of mentoring sessions in which the tools will be presented and explained to all those interested. Mentors in the program will ensure that by participating in the program, students will acquire skills and validate them, and they will be 100% ready for the employment process in a digital job (CV creation, LinkedIn profile, search, application, and interview preparation).

For more information, please visit the project website.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

By EOS

A recent research by Dr Anesa Hosein, from the University of Surrey, states that girls aged 13-14 years old who played over nine hours of video games a week were 3.3 times more likely to study STEM (physical science, technology, engineering and math) than those who do not play video games. “This was the case even after accounting for their socio-economic background, their ethnicity, past performance and how good at their chosen subject they felt they were.” (ISFE).

In an interview with the Interactive Software Federation of Europe, Dr Anesa Hosein explains that girls from a lower socio-economic background have a lower uptake of girls pursuing STEM careers.

“Without women and girls, we miss out on the innovations and fresh perspectives that people from different backgrounds can bring to the science and engineering field that can not only help solve global societal challenges but create innovations that meet their needs and represent them.”

Playing video games teaches and enhances girls problem-solving, spatial reasoning, creativity, strategy and digital skills, which are all crucial for STEM subjects.

“If teachers can identify girls who like to play video games, then teachers can support and encourage girls to explore and identify whether a STEM career is appropriate for them.”

Furthermore, Dr Anesa Hosein explains that teachers role is much more relavant if we consider the leacky pipeline. At each stage of education, there are more girls dropping STEM subjects than boys, even though their performance is similar to boys, suggesting that girls need more mentoring and encouragement both from parents and teachers.

Photo by Barbara Zandoval on Unsplash

Image by WAQAR AHMAD from Pixabay

By ALL DIGITAL