The “Beaver” International Competition and the Development of Digital Competences in Italian Pupils.

This paper discusses the hypotheses, instruments, and processes for the introduction of suitable strategies for digital competence improvement in schools and for lifelong learning, together with the analysis of the first results on the use of a special questionnaire for the assessment. First, the evolution of the models for digital competence analysis and development the author has proposed in past years is reported. The features of the international “Beaver” competition are then explained. The author then blends the needs of the strategies for digital competence assessment included in the framework with the aims of the international competition. The comparison of the results obtained by a sample of students involved in two different editions of the competition is analyzed and the improvement of the pupils’ performances is shown. The relevance of a careful planning of the “beaver” questionnaire emerges and suggestions to the competition organizers for the articulation and structure of the questionnaire are proposed.