Organised by the European Commission, the “Digital Education Action Plan in Review” event in Brussels on Monday 29 April brought together experts from across the European Union to take stock of the implementation of this digital learning strategy, which was launched in 2021 and will run until 2027.
Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva, Director for Innovation, Digital Education and International Cooperation at the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, opened the conference by stressing the importance of such a review, while in late 2023 the EU Council adopted two recommendations on the main factors contributing to the success of digital education and training (see EUROPE 13299/1).
Ms Angelova-Krasteva highlighted some of the plan’s successes, in particular the launch of the ‘SELFIE’ tool, which has reached more than 180,000 teachers since its creation and is designed to help schools assess their learning methods in the digital age.
Discussions focused on past achievements, with testimonials from practitioners and various players in the sector.
Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, Director General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, also spoke to inform the aim is to make education and training fit for the digital age and to exploit the new opportunities that this offers. To this end, she announced the creation of two independent expert groups to address digital education content and high-quality computing.
The event was also an opportunity to discuss current issues, such as gender equality, the impact of disinformation and the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. All these issues will be at the heart of the consultations planned with stakeholders over the coming months.
In the late morning, before the start of a series of panel discussions focusing on the next steps and innovations, Ms Angelova-Krasteva also reiterated the importance of collaboration between teachers, students, politicians and business leaders to continue developing high-quality digital education.
“We need to remember that digital education is not about technology as such, but about its meaningful and creative uses to build inclusive, resilient and effective learning systems”, she concluded. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)