More than 60 per cent of nine-year-olds in the EU are in schools which are still not digitally equipped. The European Commission unveiled ‘Opening up Education’, an action plan to tackle this and other digital problems which are hampering schools and universities from delivering high quality education and the digital skills which 90 per cent of jobs will require by 2020.
To help kick-off the initiative, the Commission has launched a new website, Open Education Europa, which will allow students, practitioners and educational institutions to share free-to-use open educational resources. This is accessible at http://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/
Between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of students in EU countries never use digital textbooks, exercise software, broadcasts/podcasts, simulations or learning games. Most teachers at primary and secondary level do not consider themselves as “digitally confident” or able to teach digital skills effectively, and 70 per cent would like more training in using ICTs. Pupils in Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic are the most likely to have internet access at school (more than 90 per cent), twice as many as in Greece and Croatia (around 45 per cent).
Maltese 9-10 year old children come second in the EU in terms of lessons based on ICT, while 13-14 year olds are in mid-table for the same benchmark.
Higher education also faces a digital challenge: With the number of EU students set to rise significantly in the next decade, universities need to adapt traditional teaching methods and offer a mix of face-to-face and online learning possibilities, such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), which allow individuals to access education anywhere, anytime and through any device. But many universities are not ready for this change.
The Opening up Education initiative focuses on three main areas: creating opportunities for organisations, teachers and learners to innovate; increased use of Open Educational Resources (OER), ensuring that educational materials produced with public funding are available to all; and better ICT infrastructure and connectivity in schools.
Initiatives linked to Opening up Education will be funded with support from Erasmus+, the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport, and Horizon 2020, the new research and innovation programme, as well as the EU structural funds.
Erasmus+ will offer funding to education providers to ensure business models are adapted to technological change and to support teachers’ development through open online courses.
All educational materials supported by Erasmus+ will be freely available to the public under open licences.
The Commission said the online world is changing how education is resourced, delivered and enjoyed.
Over the next 10 years, the e-Learning market is projected by some to grow 15-fold, accounting for 30 per cent of the whole education market. The benefits of these developments should be available to all Europeans.
This transformation should be shaped by educators and policy-makers, rather than something that simply happens to them.