Katharine leads on UNESCO education and digital skills policy

Open University Associate Lecturer Dr Katharine Jewitt has been appointed co-lead of the Education and Digital Skills team within UNESCO’s Inclusive Policy Lab.

Dr Jewitt, who is based in Scotland, will co-lead the team with Lee Dunn, Head of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Digital Academy.  She said, “Recent periods of uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of digital technologies at an unprecedented rate. The world in which we live is evolving. The team’s work will be crucial in identifying the latest academic research and enquiry to inform policy and practice with a specific focus on education and digital skills.”

The UNESCO Education and Digital Skills team is made up of professionals from higher education, government and professional bodies, as well as non-governmental organisations.  Together they will explore global challenges that affect people worldwide with a focus on e-transformation, e-governance, education, policy design and delivery, science policy, technology and innovation policy.

Katharine was recognised in the 2020 Edtech 50 Yearbook as one of the "people to watch" in building the Edtech UK sector.  Her entry states that, “Nobody else has utilised virtual reality to create a three-way partnership between education provider, apprentice and apprenticeship provider – the employer.”