Good digital education can only be thought of along the entire education chain: from kindergarten through school, university and training to lifelong learning. This is the result of an investigation commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Research, which is coordinated by the Education Digitization Forum. Five guidelines for the further development of digital education in Germany were presented on Tuesday.
The good news from the experts: they see no major differences between the individual areas of education. “Thus, the challenges along the education chain vary only minimally,” says the team. Whether attitude, qualification or technical equipment – the challenges in all areas of education are similar.
Digital policy, regulation, artificial intelligence: the briefing on digitization
The recommendations are based on the results of a survey and expert workshops in which guidelines were identified that are intended to enable a holistic and cross-sectoral view of digital education in Germany.
“The guidelines clearly show that we need an overall vision for digital education in Germany,” said Jacob Chammon, board member of the Forum Bildung Digitization. “The culture of digital requires us to break the silo mentality and put in place support measures that benefit all areas of education. This is the only way we can ensure good transitions on the individual educational path.”
In addition to formulating goals across the various areas of education, the experts also mention an open attitude on the part of all those involved as fundamental. so that digitization succeeds. Courage, motivation and agility are key for pedagogical staff, managers, administrative staff and politicians to ensure that digitization is implemented positively.
A positive attitude should be established, especially among specialist staff, in order to reduce worries and fears and also to take educators with little media skills with them.
In addition, there is the technical equipment, which is a basic requirement for successful digital transformation, but cannot automatically be equated with good digital education. Because the initial technical equipment is not enough, as a result there would be numerous other tasks such as follow-up financing, qualification of the staff or the creation of support structures.
The fourth important point of the guidelines is further training and advice: It should be regarded as continuous support and organized and implemented in a “competence- and needs-oriented” manner. “The educational staff, managers and employees in the administration of all areas of education need individual and permanent rather than selective support and supervision,” says the paper.
And last but not least, communication and exchange should be anchored institutionally. The experts recommend a constant exchange that goes beyond all federal levels, educational areas, educational institutions and target groups: “It is important to bring all target groups into the exchange.” The goal must be to think and act from multiple perspectives.
