As part of its annual EMINENT conference, European Schoolnet brought together education ministers, representatives of the European Parliament and the European Commission, as well as high-level experts from several EU countries to discuss why and how inclusion and digital education should be at the heart of Europe. future policy reforms.
Schooling outside COVID-19
The pandemic has caused huge disruptions to education, but it has also highlighted the difficulties that this sector already had in adapting to the digital age before the crisis.
During the opening session of EMINENT Jan de Craemer, The president of European Schoolnet said: “The COVID crisis clearly revealed a number of barriers to digital education, ranging from outdated infrastructure and a lack of skills among many teachers to a general unpreparedness for the digital world. Although we perceived the digital divide as a lack of skills or a lack of cultural capital to take advantage of technology, it is now very clear that special attention is also needed for pupils and students from disadvantaged and disadvantaged families. An inclusive society must take digital inclusion very seriously, and I strongly believe that ICT can make the biggest difference for students with special needs. ”
Are new technologies a “solution”?
Speakers at the conference acknowledged that emerging technologies, and in particular artificial intelligence (AI), can promote teaching and learning in a positive and effective way. However, they also stressed that these are not the only solution. Marc Durando, The Executive Director of European Schoolnet explained: “Technology alone does not change education as such. Digitalisation is not a systematic way to improve learning or address any inequalities or other challenges. We should now look for a higher level of innovation, and in particular it is important to identify learning how we can re-imagine the technologies we use in education to meet equality, diversity and other challenges.
Political momentum
Like Sabine Verheyen, The chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Education and Culture mentioned in his speech: “Policies should take this exceptional moment as an opportunity to rethink what education can and should be in the 21st century.”
Helping countries implement ambitious reforms and find new learning models, supported by European cooperation EU recovery and resilience instrument the instrument will play an important role. Digital education is one of the strategic priorities in the post-pandemic recovery plans submitted by the Member States. In this context, various reforms and innovative approaches have already been put forward at national level Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027). This plan is a renewed European Union policy initiative to support the sustainable and effective adaptation of EU Member States’ education systems in the digital age.
During the conference, the Ministers of Education of Croatia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain explained in detail their plans to change their education systems in their own countries. Plans include initiatives to promote inclusion, the use of educational technology and innovative pedagogies in collaboration with EdTech start-ups, but also support new models of education and assessment, prevention of mental health problems through emotional well-being initiatives, protection of students from potential risks, betterment.
This report and other results of the conference will be widely disseminated in support of policy makers, teacher training institutions and industry.
Source: European Schoolnet
Source: The Nordic Page