Background

Grant programme

The development of statistical literacy products was one of the more complex endeavours of the DIGICOM project, and was supported by a large programme of grants, with 13 ESS NSIs (BE, BG, EE, EL, ES, HR, LT, PL, PT, SI, FI, IS, NO) as beneficiaries of one or more grants. 

This programme had two main components:

• organisation of and participation in the European Statistics Competition
• the development of statistical literacy tools.

The below table summarises the participation in the grant programme (as well as related self-financed activities) over the three years that it was running.

Statistical literacy continues to be supported by grants beyond the end of the project, with the co-ordination of the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 competitions co-financed by means of a grant agreement between Eurostat and INE (Spain), and a currently open call for proposals for participation in the 2020/2021 European Statistics Competition.

Virtual reality game

With the support of the Publications Office of the European Union, Eurostat developed ViROS (“Virtual Reality for Statistical Literacy”), a virtual reality (VR) game supported by several platforms.

Educational videos

Moreover, Eurostat  developed 3 educational videos on regional statistics for use in a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) in  cooperation with the Committe of the Regions. The MOOC was launched on 15 January 2018, and had 12 853 registered participants. Within DIGICOM Work Package 4, the videos were shared with NSIs, and they are now accessible in the Education corner.

As part of the outreach to multipliers, Eurostat is (based on input from teachers across Europe) in the course of developing a kit for use in the classroom, mainly based on didactic videos presenting Eurostat and European statistics.

The European Statistics Competition has also generated a large number of short videos, produced by all teams participating in the European final. These videos, shot by secondary school pupils, constitute a treasure trove of educational/promotional material providing a unique perspective on European statistics.

E-learning material

Eurostat adapted an e-learning material (in German, provided by the German Statistical Office) to Statistics Online (an English version andapted to a European context). The review of the various modules e-learning material was carried out by volunteer NSI colleagues in the DIGICOM Work Package 4 team.

Moreover, as part of the statistical literacy grant programme, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics developed the statistical educational portal.

In the spirit of sharing and re-use, parts of the didactic material statistics4beginners (developed by Eurostat) was voluntarily translated into Bulgarian, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese and Slovak by ESS NSIs.

Education corner

Eurostat  has also developed an Education corner, partially made up by material produced by Eurostat, and partially made up by material developed by other ESS members of the (frequently supported by the aforementioned grant programme).

Most of the sections of the Education corner are (wholly or in part) made up of DIGICOM products, both visualisations and digital publications (DIGICOM Work Package 2) and statistical literacy products (DIGICOM Work Package 4). 

It should be noted that the national statistical literacy products developed under DIGICOM are frequently only available in the national language (as they mainly cater to a national audience), and are hence not accessible in the education corner (as it is in English only).

Links to the various components of the deliverable

Products and activities presented in the Education corner:

• educational videos for teachers and students
• educational videos for the MOOC
• the Statistics Online e-learning tool
• statistics4beginners (BG, EL, NL, SK, PT versions)
• the statistical educational portal
• games
• the European Statistics Competition

Overview of national statistical literacy products (including those in national languages)