Pix – France

Pix is an initiative aiming at fighting the digital divide and enhancing the digital skills of the largest possible audience, through an online platform accessible to all, for free. Pix platform was created as an online service that aims at assessing, developing and certifying digital skills in France, Belgium, and Europe. After 6 years of existence, it helps +4,5m students per year improve their digital skills through fun and challenging tests, but also teachers monitor digital literacy of students.

Assessment and certification framework

At the beginning of each academic year, all students take a first evaluation on Pix to map out their level. Then, all teachers can rely on the results of this test to provide adequate training in relation to their subjects, and pupils continue developing their skills on Pix with dedicated subject-based (French, history-geography, maths, MIL, etc.) and thematic-based (cybersecurity, etc.) digital tests proposed by teachers. All of those tests are adapted to the level of the students and their classes and allow them to prepare for the certification exam in year 10 and 13.

The Pix assessment and certification framework is based on the European digital skills framework DigComp 2.2. It assesses the participant’s level with knowledge-based and challenged-based questions, according to the levels 1 to 7 of the DigComp (beginner to expert levels).

Pix uses an innovative adaptive algorithm, developed in open source, to assess its participants’ real level in a benevolent way through a positive experience. It also promotes skill development through a “learning by doing” experience and the recommendation of training content. Lastly, it allows the valorisation of the skills through an official certificate that can be obtained after a certification exam.

Why is this a good practice?

Today, 100% of secondary schools (around 11.000 schools) and 97 universities (150.000 students), in France are using Pix to assess, develop and certify their students’ (+4,5 millions) digital skills. In secondary schools, students start using Pix around 12 years old (year 8) and take a first mandatory certification at the end of middle school (year 10) and a second one at the end of highschool (year 13).

On a larger scale, 10 million accounts were created on Pix and 3 million certifications were delivered since 2016, making Pix Certification the first certification in terms of number in France. Overall, Pix attained its original objectives of 2 million users and even outperformed them. 1 billion questions were answered and are used for research purposes or to improve the algorithm.

Pix development

Noting the success of Pix and the 6.7 million users per year (of which +4.5 are students), ministries decided to make Pix a long-term player in digital education since September 2019: Pix is now the official French certification of digital literacy. Its development focuses on:

• Reinforcement of the formative dimension
• Thematic and sectorial approaches of digital issues in health, parenthood, cybersecurity…
• Extension of uses for teachers and other professionals, and beyond French borders.

Given this success, a specific “Pix+Edu” was initiated for teachers. Today, more than 12.000 teachers and teaching interns have already participated in the pilot project, and in 4 years it means to attain 500.000 teachers or teaching interns tested.

Beyond education

Pix is now used for a large diversity of audiences: employees, job seekers, adults in continuous training, digital inclusion beneficiaries, etc. Pix is available internationally in French and English languages. Students already use Pix in 16 countries around the world, including in Belgium, Spain, Denmark and Switzerland.

In 2021, the GIP Pix signed an agreement with the Wallonie-Bruxelles Federation (Belgium) to use Pix in education, administrations and for all citizens, and deployment in education started in 2022. This partnership is in a logic of co-construction and permanent co-management of a service of general interest conceived as a global “educational commons”, and aims at being enlarged to other countries.

Discussions are also ongoing with other ministries of education in and outside the EU to implement Pix. Finally, Pix platform was replicated for skills in written expression in French (Ecri+ project) and a similar project is studied for green skills.