Faced with technological developments such as Big Data, artificial intelligence, algorithms, the Internet of Things, robots, platforms, cybersecurity, etc., educating in and through digital has become a major challenge for our society. Educational initiatives are springing up today in a variety of directions, affecting all age groups, in both school-based and informal educational settings.

In French-speaking Belgium, they are part of an evolution in education that seeks to integrate a digital culture in order, in particular, to prepare students for the "digital world" that surrounds them and in which digital technology is set to play an increasing role. In order to encourage and support these initiatives, impulse funding is increasingly aimed at equipping schools and extracurricular educational establishments that are aware of the benefits of digital education. The political stakes are at once social, civic and economic, as the prospects for digital deployment affect all sectors of society (education, media, health, industry, administration, etc.).

The issues and fields involved in digital education, however, go far beyond that of equipping schools with computers. What do we mean by "digital", "digital education" or "digital education"? What are their aims? What are the issues involved in educating children about digital technologies? What subjects should be taught at school, and how should they be approached? How can teaching take advantage of a digital media environment to educate people about the digital world?

The Digital Education Chair tackles these questions by breaking down the barriers between the disciplines traditionally dedicated to education and the digital world, which is what makes it so original. In particular, it seeks to bring together the concepts, skills frameworks and approaches of computer literacy, digital media literacy and digitally-supported education. Through various projects, its aim is to develop conceptual frameworks and methodologies to support the design of educational activities in which digital technologies and media are the object.

The aim of this Chair is to provide the University of Namur with a showcase for its expertise in digital education. It enables the university to position itself, highlighting an innovative approach at the crossroads of three disciplinary orientations, which constitutes its originality in the face of various challenges: the reform of initial teacher training, the implementation of the Pacte pour un enseignement d'excellence, issues linked to a more technological orientation of the media education sector, the growing place of computer literacy in economic policies, etc.). The Chair enables its members to respond collectively to calls for projects, emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach and the weight of a specialized team. Its role is also to be at the service of patrons wishing to support the scientific activities and projects developed within it.

In this context, the Chair therefore aims to meet three challenges.

Support the development of digital education in formal and non-formal educational settings:

• Via coaching and training for teachers and educators;
• Via the creation of educational activities;
• Via partnerships with educational venues.

Develop collaborative and interdisciplinary research on digital education in its various dimensions in order to enrich the theoretical and methodological models on which the Chair's work is based:

• Via joint research projects
• Via joint publications in the various disciplinary fields concerned.

Develop an international network based on an interdisciplinary approach to digital education.

The various themes targeted by the Digital Education Chair concern:

- Computer literacy education

- Digital media literacy education

- Digital education through the integration of a digital environment into teaching ("digital education")

- Issues of gender and all forms of digital exclusion

- Lifelong education (students, workers, people in professional reintegration, the elderly, etc..)

This list, which is non-limitative and non-exhaustive, could evolve according to the members who are active in it.