What is EPICT?

EPICT - The European Pedagogical ICT Licence is a comprehensive, flexible and efficient in-service training course introducing a European quality standard for the continued professional development of teachers in the pedagogical integration of information, media and communication technologies (ICT) in education.

EPICT comprises content, method, technology and processes, all of which are controlled internationally by the EPICT Group and nationally by the EPICT country, enabling the national environment to obtain both recognition and accreditation for its professional development.

EPICT combines pedagogical knowledge of ICT integration with basic ICT skills training. The basic philosophy is that when upgrading teachers, one without the other makes the training useless.

The training course is realized through blended, flexible learning where the methodology applied is team-based and involves process-oriented learning, problem-based learning, collaboration activities and team-based assessment.

Thus the Pedagogical ICT Licence is a course concept that offers teachers basic ICT skills on a personal and a professional level through focusing on the pedagogical integration of ICT in the teaching practice.

The EPICT product offers content, organisation, technical platform and certification of facilitators and national nodes. The EPICT product is available in a number of national adaptations and versions, and in a ‘generic’ version in English.

EPICT is one of the very few – if not the only – trans-national approach to PD in the pedagogical application of ICT in teaching and learning. EPICT is not just about learning ICT skills; it is how to pedagogically apply those skills for student training.
A European programme that is well-documented, tested, evaluated and in operation in seven European countries is without parallel in the area of in-service teachers’ professional development in pedagogical ICT integration.
The prospect of being able to join a European Group and thus benefit from a fully operational, well-documented and evaluated conceptual framework complete with content, administrative tools etc. will be attractive to regions/countries not yet active in this field.

When a country/region selects EPICT as its approach to teachers’ professional development (PD), it gets a well-documented and tested European and international concept that has proven its efficiency in a number of European countries, but also in African and a few other parts of the world.

Adding the fact that EPICT has been successfully applied in a number of countries as culturally diverse as Denmark, Ireland, Australia, Austria, Norway, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon, makes EPICT not only a very attractive option but also a “safe bet” to new countries/regions.