School systems have been facing increasing challenges regarding students’ preparation for successful participation in the ‘digital age’ (e.g. European Commission, 2013; Gerick, Eickelmann & Bos, 2017). In many countries, ICT policies to support ‘digital education’ have been implemented (Eickelmann, 2018). In Germany, for instance, the strategy “education in a digital world” comprises a set of six competence areas such as communicating and cooperating or problem solving and taking action. These competence areas are based i.a. on the competence levels developed in the study ICILS 2013 (Fraillon et al., 2014). The German federal states are committed to implementing this strategy as of the school year 2018/19. In the context of national developments, the project ‘Learning with digital media’ was initiated in Schleswig-Holstein, a federal state in the north of Germany. The project focuses on innovative schools in the context of integrating technology in schools (e.g. Gerick & Eickelmann, 2016). In the context of the project and the question as to how to implement the national strategy, the question has emerged as to what extent students at such innovative schools have competencies outlined in the aforementioned national strategy. Furthermore, it appears useful to focus on whether teachers themselves have knowledge in the competence areas. The following questions will thus be addressed in this contribution: 1. How do students at innovative schools assess themselves in the six competence areas outlined in the German national strategy? 2. How do teachers at innovative schools assess the competencies of their students in these competence areas? 3. How do these teachers assess their own competencies? The database used to answer the questions includes approx. 400 teachers and approx. 1,200 students from grade 4 or grade 8 with data collected via an online-questionnaire in all 20 selected innovative schools in Schleswig-Holstein. The measurement instrument was developed within an expert board with different stakeholders. Descriptive statistics are used to answer the research questions. The results show that a high percentage of students – either in primary or in secondary schools – self-evaluate their competences in the six competence areas as high, yet differences between competence areas are visible. As assumed, the teachers’ evaluation of the students’ competencies differ from the students’ perceptions. In terms of the teachers’ self-evaluation, particularly high assessments can be found in the competence area searching, processing and storing. The results are discussed in the context of the increasing challenges for school systems at the European level.

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