Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2023)205 - Key enabling factors for successful digital education and training - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2023)205 - Key enabling factors for successful digital education and training. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2023)205 |
| date | 18-04-2023 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
Education and training are key for personal development, social cohesion, competitiveness and innovation. They are also a critical building block for a fairer, more resilient and more sustainable Europe. This is reflected in the Council Resolution on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021-2030)1, which includes the green and digital transitions among its strategic priorities.
Today, digital education is at the heart of these efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to improve the digital readiness of education and training systems in terms of resilience, high-quality, inclusiveness, accessibility and security. The European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan 2021-20272 sets two strategic priorities to achieve this: fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem and enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation.
Member States welcomed the action plan in the Council Conclusions on digital education in Europe’s knowledge societies3. They acknowledged the need for closer cooperation and invited the Commission to launch a strategic reflection process on the enabling factors of successful digital education. Following the call of President von der Leyen in 2021 for ‘leaders’ attention and a structured dialogue at top level’ on digital education and skills, the Commission carried out a structured dialogue on digital education and skills with all Member States in 2022.
In their Recovery and Resilience Plans, Member States have allocated EUR 130 billion to measures supporting the digital transformation – 26% of the total allocation of plans. Of this, EUR 16.5 billion is dedicated to improving connectivity and almost EUR 23 billion to digital education and digital skills development.4 Implementation is now of utmost importance.
Reflecting the need for a high-performing digital education ecosystem (including infrastructure, connectivity, organisation, capacity), the current proposal builds on the key enabling factors for successful digital education identified in the action plan and the Council Conclusions, as well as the findings of the structured dialogue. It presents recommendations to Member States on how to achieve accessible, high-quality and inclusive digital education for all. The proposal focuses on formal education and training and the investments, capacity building and cooperation needed to benefit from the potential of digital technologies to strengthen teaching, learning and assessment, and improve learning outcomes of all learners. In this respect, it stresses the importance of a meaningful integration of digital technologies in schools and universities related to pedagogical and organisational methods in the teaching of all subjects.
Successful digital education is about creating more and better opportunities for learning and teaching for everyone in the digital age. Digital solutions have made EU education and training systems more accessible over the last few years. However, in a fast-developing and more uncertain world it is necessary to continue to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of education and support the diversification of teaching and learning, including through existing and emerging digital solutions. While our societies change, education remains a basic human right, and universal access to it must be guaranteed and extended to the digital world.
User-centred digital tools can bring innovative solutions to education and support teachers by reducing their administrative burden. In addition, they help teachers in adapting their work and the education systems to disruptive technologies such as generative artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies that quickly enter learners’ environments with the potential opportunities and risks this entails. Generative AI tools are creating new opportunities for learning and can support students in improving their learning pace and self-efficacy while raising new questions including for example on assessment or authorship. Successful digital education is therefore a precondition for learners to acquire the skills they need to thrive in today’s world.
This proposal is part of the initiatives taken by the Commission and Member States to ensure human-centred digital transformation. It is in line with the objectives set in the Digital Education Action Plan, the Digital Decade Policy Programme5, the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade6 and the European strategy for a better internet for kids7. The Digital Education Action Plan, the Digital Decade Policy Programme, the European Skills Agenda8, the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan9, and the Union of Equality strategies set ambitious EU-level targets to encourage action on digital transformation and ensure sustainable growth and innovation in the EU. The proposal also takes account of the ongoing work on digital transition under the Recovery and Resilience Facility and is aligned with the outcomes of the Report of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
The proposal is based on the first strategic priority (promoting a high-performing digital education ecosystem) of the Digital Education Action Plan and complements the Proposal for a Council Recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills in education and training.
• Key challenges to be addressed by the proposed Council Recommendation
Experiences since the COVID-19 crisis and the structured dialogue have revealed the richness of investments and policies undertaken by Member States to support digital education and skills. However, while most Member States have strategies related to the digital transformation of education and training and the provision of digital skills, these are not always specific, detailed or comprehensive enough. An analysis of policies across the Union reveals a lack of strategic overview connecting different sectoral and territorial levels of the policy approach. There are several common challenges that Member States face in developing high-performing digital education and training ecosystems:
- lack of systemic whole-of-government approach to digital education policies and challenges with coordinating effectively across and between government levels;
- lack of strategic focus of investment in digital education and training infrastructure, equipment and content, including on socio-economic and territorial disparities;
- insufficient digital training of teachers and staff in adopting and making best use of technology for teaching and learning;
- insufficient monitoring and evaluation of digital education and training policies and their impact.
Governance of digital education and training policies
- Despite progress and excellent examples of innovation, endeavours have not yet resulted in systemic digital transformation in education and training. In particular, there are two key challenges.
- First, the introduction of digital technologies in education and training systems requires a whole-of-government approach that ensures collaboration and coordination of different departments of government. For example, the effective digitalisation of a school requires close alignment among authorities responsible for infrastructure to ensure connectivity, finance to provide funding for investments, and education to align curricula and support teachers. Moreover, in Member States with high levels of regional or local autonomy, coordination across different government levels is crucial. The structured dialogue showed that these coordination efforts are complex and challenging, resulting in many Member States having multiple sectoral strategies that are implemented independently of each other. This risks either silo structures or overlaps thus missing opportunities for synergies and greater impact. The absence of such a whole-of-government approach has been identified as the main challenge to developing and implementing digital education and skills policy.
- Second, the development of meaningful digital solutions and their widespread adoption heavily depends on the involvement of and ownership by many relevant stakeholders. This implies the need for close dialogue among policymakers, practitioners, digital solution providers, social partners, businesses, parents and learners. The structured dialogue showed that while many countries have formal platforms for stakeholder consultation in place, closer collaboration is still in the early stages, especially when it comes to interaction among education institutions, teachers and industry, including technology providers and employers. Member States have shown a growing interest in engaging in public-private partnerships, including with the education technology (EdTech) sector, to further expand and strengthen the digital education ecosystem while taking important issues such as safeguarding data privacy into account.
Investment in digital infrastructure for education and training
School connectivity remains uneven between and within EU countries, and high-speed internet connections in schools are still rare10, in particular in rural and remote areas where connectivity is lagging behind11. According to the most recent data, only 11% of EU students in primary, 17% in lower secondary and 18% in upper secondary education were in schools that had an internet speed above 100 Mbps, far from the 2025 EU-level target of high-speed broadband connectivity (at least 1 Gbps or more) for all schools12. When it comes to school equipment, the share of students attending schools where more than 90% of digital equipment was operational ranged from 61% at primary school level to 73% at upper secondary level13. Insufficient provision of digital devices (particularly tablets and laptops) was considered by teachers to be the biggest obstacle to the use of digital technologies for teaching and learning14. Higher education institutions tend to be better connected and equipped, but the integration and take-up of effective digital education practices remains slow.
While the COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated the use of technology in teaching and learning, it also highlighted and aggravated inequalities in education and training. Learners’ socio-economic background continues to be the strongest determinant of educational outcomes. This is also reflected in the provision of digital education: disadvantaged learners such as those from low-education, low-income, Roma or migrant backgrounds have less access to computers at home15 and start using digital devices later in life compared to their more advantaged peers16. The lack of accessible and assistive digital technologies creates major barriers for persons with disabilities, impeding their ability to study in formal education settings autonomously and independently.
The structured dialogue on digital education and skills and national recovery and resilience plans confirm the importance that Member States attach to making effective and equitable digital infrastructure available to education institutions. Connectivity, digital equipment, platforms and content are being prioritised in the reforms and investments in this area by Member States.
An upcoming special report of the European Court of Auditors will provide further evidence on the effectiveness of EU support for the digitalisation of schools.17
Other concerns relate to the maintenance of equipment and devices and the challenge to match the rapid pace of technological change when it comes to teaching and learning content, approaches and tools. Countries with a range of digital tools and platforms express growing concerns about interoperability across systems and services. Member States are also seeking ways to increase the availability of and access to high-quality digital education content in their own languages. In addition, education institutions at all levels are concerned about meeting data protection obligations, safeguarding learners’ privacy and preventing cybersecurity threats.
Digital training of teachers and staff
Teachers are key partners upon whom the successful adoption of digital technologies in education and training depends, and they need to be closely involved and consulted in its mainstreaming. Numerous studies suggest that teachers are more likely to use digital technologies in their teaching if their schools encourage relevant planning and collaboration when using technology in education18. Teachers are uniquely placed in educating future generations to the highest standards. They need targeted support to integrate digitalisation into their pedagogy with confidence and in the best way possible so it can serve their students and facilitate inclusive and accessible learning. Some schools have ICT coordinators that support teachers in all ICT administrative tasks and allow them to focus on their core tasks. However, a systemic and long-term approach to integrating technology into school activities is currently the exception rather than the norm. For instance, before the COVID-19 pandemic, only around one-third of students attended schools that had written statements on the use of digital technologies for pedagogical purposes19. For many education and training institutions, insufficient capacities mean that developing and implementing an institutional digital education strategy that considers the needs of educators and learners remains a challenge. Initiatives to raise the capacities of education institution leaders to lead the digital transformation exist in some Member States, but are not widespread.
One of the key factors that influenced the quality of the learning experience during the COVID-19 lockdowns was the digital competence of educators20. However, on average in the EU, fewer than half of teachers (49.1%) reported that ICT was included in their formal education or training21, and only 39% of teachers felt well prepared to use digital technologies for teaching22. While teachers and educators need to be equipped with the necessary digital pedagogy skills23, it is essential that there is a trust-based approach by the authorities and stakeholders alike, empowering teachers and supporting them to make best use of technology for teaching and learning.
The high level of autonomy of higher education institutions that typically provide initial teacher education programmes has led to delays in introducing digital pedagogy skills into teacher training curricula in several countries. Moreover, the fact that the teacher population is ageing in most EU countries means that digital pedagogy challenges cannot be addressed through initial training alone. The structured dialogue showed that many Member States have recently expanded their offer of continuous professional development opportunities for teachers and educators in relation to digital pedagogies. However, several Member States point to difficulties in getting teachers to participate, and social partners highlight that teachers often lack designated time for continuous professional development. While participation in continuous professional development is monitored in most Member States, there is less focus on assessing its impact on teachers’ skills. This can lead to a possible mismatch between the training offer and the needs of educators.
Monitoring and evaluation of policies and impact
While most Member States have strategies in place to help education and training institutions use digital technologies, these are not always specific, detailed or comprehensive enough. Moreover, only few regularly monitor or evaluate their implementation or implement revisions to reflect new developments in technology and related learning needs24. Furthermore, frameworks that monitor the state of play of enabling factors for digital education are well developed only in a small number of Member States. In many cases, a fragmented or ad hoc approach to monitoring is applied. A particular concern, which affects the overall impact assessment of investments, is the lack of information on device usage as well as the lack of systems to monitor and keep track of the digital infrastructure of educational institutions.
At EU level, the availability of data and evidence remains a major challenge. Large-scale international studies are published only at very long intervals, which makes it difficult to keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital education domain and they do not include all data that is needed to design policy and support instruments.
• Objectives of the proposed Council Recommendation
This proposal aims to promote the necessary structural reforms and investments in the Member States to deliver a step change in the digital transformation of education and training and enable the provision of skills, based on:
- a coherent strategy specifically addressing digital education and skills; and improving policy feedback through better monitoring and evaluation of digital education and training policies and faster integration of these results for responsive policy adjustments;
- a whole-of-government approach to digital education and training and strengthened cooperation and coordination with and between stakeholders, including with the private sector;
- building and strengthening partnerships with teachers, while ensuring access to digital training for all teachers, educators and staff and support for digital capacity building for all education and training institutions;
- equitable and impact-focused investment in high-quality, accessible, inclusive and secure digital education and training.
• International dimension
The proposal is based on and complements work at international level. It contributes to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)25, in particular SDG 4 on quality education.
The initiative is consistent with ongoing work of the United Nations Secretary-General’s roadmap for digital cooperation and aligned with the Call for Action on Digital Learning of the Global Transform Education Summit.
The proposal also contributes to the objectives of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy to build sustainable and trusted connections that work for the people and the planet.
The initiative recognises the importance of working across borders, especially with EU enlargement and neighbourhood partner countries, including the Western Balkan partners, to ensure that no one is left behind and that everyone has the right to high-quality and inclusive education.
• Tools for supporting the implementation
The Commission’s intention is to set up a High-Level Group on Digital Education and Skills to take forward in a formal setting the informal coordination between National Coordinators under the Structured Dialogue. This would bring together expertise from the worlds of education and digital and could be used to develop guidelines or other tools to facilitate the further evolution of digital education.
Contents
- the Working Group on Digital Education: Learning, Teaching and Assessment;
- EU instruments, such as the Technical Support Instrument, and EU funding, such as Erasmus+, European Social Fund Plus, Just Transition Fund, European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund, Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, and NDICI-Global Europe;
- existing EU tools, platforms and communities (European Digital Education Hub, European SALTO Digital Resource Centre, European School Education Platform, including eTwinning, SELFIE, SELFIEforTEACHERS, Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE), Better Internet for Kids (BIK) platform, Learning Corner);
- the collection of comparative evidence on key enabling factors across the EU;
- improved evidence and analysis through the Learning Lab on Investing in Quality Education and Training;
- reporting and monitoring under the European Education Area strategic framework.
• Complementarity with other initiatives
The proposal complements and contributes to the implementation of other Commission initiatives presented under:
- The European Education Area Communication26;
- The Digital Education Action Plan 2021-202727;
- The European Skills Agenda for Sustainable Competitiveness, Social Fairness and Resilience28;
- The Digital Decade Policy Programme29;
- The Cybersecurity Skills Academy.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
The proposal is in conformity with Articles 165 and 166 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
The proposal is in conformity with the principle of subsidiarity as provided for in Article 5(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).
It fully respects the responsibility of the Member States for the content of teaching and the organisation of education systems and their cultural and linguistic diversity, while reflecting the supplementing and supporting role of the EU and the voluntary nature of European cooperation in education and training. In the context of the European Education Area, the initiative will support Member States’ efforts in developing and implementing policies and mechanisms, as appropriate to their national systems and structures.
The initiative does not propose any extension of EU regulatory power or binding commitments on Member States. Its European added value lies in the EU’s ability to mobilise political engagement and support education and training systems through policy guidelines, common tools and instruments.
• Proportionality
The proposal complies with the principle of proportionality as provided for in Article 5 i TEU.
Neither the content nor the form of the proposal goes beyond what is necessary to achieve its objectives. The commitments that Member States will make are of a voluntary nature and each Member State remains free to decide on how to implement the proposal.
• Choice of the instrument
To contribute to the achievement of the objectives referred to in Articles 165 and 166 of the TFEU, that Treaty provides for the adoption by the Council of recommendations based on a proposal from the Commission.
A Council Recommendation is an appropriate instrument within the field of education and training, where the EU has a supporting responsibility, and is an instrument that has been used frequently for European action in these areas.
3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation
An assessment of the opportunities and challenges that the digital transformation brings to education and training was made in the Staff Working Document accompanying the Communication on the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027.30
The Commission will undertake a comprehensive review of the action plan in 2024 to assess its outreach and impact.
This proposal combines those findings with the outcomes of the structured dialogue with Member States, which discussed the readiness of existing national frameworks and legislation to respond to the needs related to digital education and skills.
• Stakeholder consultations
The proposal is based on the outcomes of the public consultation on the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-202731 and inputs gathered during an extensive consultation process32.
• Collection and use of expertise
- outcomes of the structured dialogue with Member States on digital education and skills;
- lessons learnt from the implementation of the European Education Area strategic framework, the Education and Training Monitor, and inputs from the Working Group on Digital Education: Learning, Teaching and Assessment (DELTA);
- a wide range of reports and studies on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, equity in education, inclusive systems, etc;
- Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) reports;
- OECD report ‘Enabling factors for effective and equitable digital education: state of play and promising policies’;
• Impact assessment
Given the activities’ complementary approach to Member State initiatives, the voluntary nature of the proposed activities and scope of the expected impacts, an impact assessment was not carried out. The development of the proposal was informed by previous studies, consultation of Member States and the public consultation33.
• Regulatory fitness and simplification
Not applicable.
• Fundamental rights
The proposal is in line with the fundamental rights and principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, notably the right to the protection of personal data laid down in Article 8, academic freedom enshrined in Article 13, the right to education laid down in Article 14, and the right to non-discrimination provided for in Article 21 and the right to integration of persons with disabilities in article 26.
The measures will be carried out in accordance with EU law on the protection of personal data, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation).
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
This initiative will not require additional resources from the EU budget and its implementation will be supported by existing EU funding instruments.
5. OTHER ELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
To support implementation, the Commission proposes to develop, in cooperation with Member States, peer learning activities and identify good practices, as well as to provide research, guidance material and other evidence-based deliverables.
The Commission will also help build comparative evidence on the key enabling factors for digital education across the EU by conducting a Digital Education in Europe survey in the Member States.
The Commission intends to report on the use of the Council Recommendation within the European Education Area strategic framework.
• Explanatory documents (for Directives)
Not applicable.
• Outline of the proposal for a Council Recommendation and staff working document
The proposed Council Recommendation recognises the role of digital education and training in supporting the resilience, accessibility, quality and inclusiveness of education and training systems, and in enabling learners to thrive in today’s digital world.
Drawing on the results of the structured dialogue with Member States the proposal outlines the key enabling factors for universal access to high-quality, inclusive and accessible digital education and training. This includes addressing the digital divide between groups and territories, which has become even more apparent in the light of the COVID-19 crisis.
It proposes guidance and action that can be pursued by Member States to implement a whole-of-government and multi-stakeholder approach to developing, implementing and monitoring digital education and training policies, accompanied by targeted and impactful investment. Moreover, it promotes a culture of bottom-up innovation and digitalisation led by education and training staff.
The accompanying staff working document sets out stakeholder views and provides examples of evidence, policies and practices that underpin the proposal.