ENCORE Pedagogical Guidelines - Final Version

This document introduces the ENCORE approach to institutions as well as to educators and trainers, interested in using it. The ENCORE Approach integrates AI-driven tools to retrieve relevant Open Educational Resources (OERs) and enhance teaching and learning. Its primary goal is to guide teachers, trainers, and educators—especially in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training—in designing courses with learning outcomes directly linked to the skills required to tackle contemporary challenges such as digitalisation, climate change, and post-COVID economic recovery. To this end, the approach emphasizes collecting and organising resources through the lens of the Digital, Green, and Entrepreneurial (DGE) frameworks developed by the EU Commission. Therefore, ENCORE offers a way to develop digital, green, and entrepreneurial competences in a transforming society. The ENCORE approach is structured across at least three technological layers—a DGE-based search engine, a database aggregating OERs under the DGE skills, and educational enablers that support learning design through pedagogical concepts like Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy—. However, engagement with the ENCORE approach necessitates support. Indeed, educators can be accompanied to create context-specific learning scenarios, as professional learning is grounded in practice and social interaction. Sometimes, institutions will have little time to implement such support; and sometimes, they will be willing to devote more time and deeper exploration with educators and trainers. Also, self-paced learning might be considered as a strategy. Therefore, this document will provide guidance. Beyond providing information about the key components of the ENCORE approach, we offer three perspectives for institutions, educators, trainers to adopt it: a) a Crash Course for senior trainers and professoriate in Higher Education Institutions; b) an Intensive Course prepared for junior trainers, pre-service teachers and educators, that guides them not only to understand ENCORE but to design for learning with the ENCORE technological features; c) a Self-paced course, elaborated for all categories of educators, who can find their way to engage with the ENCORE affordances. Additionally, we provide tools to assess the impact of understanding and using Open Education, supporting a more conscious and informed approach in this direction. This section includes self-tests and surveys to measure OER adoption and open practices, as well as to support reflection on DGE competencies and the overall acceptance and effectiveness of the ENCORE Approach. These resources help educators and trainers track progress, reflect and refine their teaching practices, and measure the influence of open practices and technologies in education. Hopefully, the appropriate application of ENCORE within strategic institutional contexts will encourage educators and learners to reflect on teaching and learning practices, fostering meaningful learning experiences and professional development. In a nutshell, with the present document we aim not only to explain and motivate the use of ENCORE. In time, ENCORE principles might be a driver of a collaborative human-machine environment.