In January 2017, CRISS project (Demonstration of a scalable and cost-effective cloud-based digital learning infrastructure through the Certification of digital competences in primary and secondary schools) started as part of the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme.
The purpose of the CRISS project is development and pilot implementation of a digital platform for acquisition, evaluation and certification of digital competences of students in primary and secondary schools. CRISS platform will be tested through a mass pilot with more than 490 schools, including 25,400 students and 2,290 teachers in several European countries.
Croatian students and teachers will have an opportunity to join in the project through the Croatian Academic and Research Network – CARNet, which is one of the CRISS project partners. As much as 1,000 Croatian students and 60 teachers from 20 schools will join the pilot project which will take place throughout the 2018/2019 school year Croatian students and their teachers will use the CRISS platform during course activities in different subjects, thus developing and evaluating their digital competences.
CARNet has joined the CRISS project upon invitation from the Faculty of Organization and Informatics which has the key role in the project preparation and implementation Based on top-quality expertise of its experts, the Faculty of Organization and Informatics runs the research part of the project, which includes development of CRISS certification framework, development of CRISS project performance assessment instrument and scientific dissemination instrument.
The first year of the CRISS project will be dedicated to the development of a theoretical model for acquisition of digital competences of students and development of CRISS platform. CARNet will participate in the development of CRISS theoretical model under guidance of the UniversitatOberta de Catalunya (UOC, Open University of Catalonia), established in 1994 as one of the world's first higher-education institutions which offered education programmes which are fully online. Today, the UOC has more than 50,000 students from all around the world, and it kept its status of a technologically advanced institution with innovative teaching style. The UOC also has a strong R&D component, which is being realised through numerous domestic and European projects in which it participates.
The CRISS project started on 1 January 2017, and will last until 31 December 2019. The total value of the project is approximately 6 million euros, of which the European Commission will finance up to 4.87 million euros. The CRISS project coordinator is a British company EXUS Software LTD, with fourteen partners participating in the project, among which are public institutions, non-profit institutions, universities, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as large companies.
The project activities can currently be followed on Twitter, and soon the official CRISS project web site will be published with all the available information. CARNet will timely inform all users and other interested parties about the project, and CARNet's CRISS team can be contacted by e-mail at CRISS@carnet.hr.
