European Commission

DG Education and Culture

1st European eLearning Forum for Education

Conference 22-23 November 2004, Brussels

Work of the European Commission on the use of ICT in education and training

Maruja Gutierrez DiazDG Education and Culture

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

A brief overview of European policy in the field of ICT for education since Lisbon

• Main actions and processes

• Some snaphsots of evolution

• Conclusions and perspectives

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

A vision for Europe:education to make it true

• For Europe to become the most dynamic and advanced knowledge-based society in the world, with more and better jobs, and increased social cohesion

• Education in Europe must also become the most advanced and dynamic education in the world realising the lifelong learning ideal

• eLearning is seen as a lever for change to the knowledge society and as a lifelong learning enabler

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning in the EU:three policy development contexts

• eEurope / eLearning• An urgent action to build up the knowledge society

foundations, with better co-ordination of EU actions

• Education & Training 2010• A shared work programme for adaptating European

education and training systems to the knowledge society

• Framework Programmes for Research • A long-standing support to the use of ICT in education

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning:three implementation contexts

• eEurope / eLearning• Fix short term objectives; benchmark progress; ensure fast

deployment of infrastructure and basic services [EU level action]

• Education & Training 2010• Facilitate and foster stakeholders participation; identify common

concerns; share good policies and practices [MS level action];preparation of the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013

• Research Programmes• Support and stimulate research on the use of new technologies to

enhance education and on the required tools and infrastructures

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eEurope / eLearning and related programmes

• Identifying priority objectives and benchmarks to measure their achievement

• Improving communication and synergy between the diverse EU programmes and instruments

• Establishing eLearning as a priority in all the relevant ones: eContent, eTEN, ESF - European Social Fund, ERFD - European Regional Development Fund

• Fostering information and communication amongst all stakeholders: government, industry, society, academy

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning in eEurope

• eEurope 2002:a call for action• Nearly 100% of schools connected in Europe• From 25 to 17 pupils per connected PC

• eEurope+: anticipating enlargementA different kind of challenge

• eEurope 2005: One of three key priorities• eGovernment+eHealth+eLearning: bringing

about the knowledge society

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

Benchmarking eEurope 2002Increasing connectivity

Evolution of the number of pupils per connected PCbetween 2001 et 2002 (all schools considered)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

B DK D E L E F I R L I L NL A P FI N S U K

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

SIBIS:Increasing digital literacy

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

Education & Training 2010A shared work programme

• Three core objectives:• Enhancing quality• Increasing accessibility• Connecting to society

• A new working method: open coordination• Agreed indicators and benchmarking• Periodical reporting

• A new approach to action• Integrated lifelong learning programme 2007-2013

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

Education and Training 2010 Success hinges on urgent reforms - 1

• Rates of early school leavers still too high In 2002 almost 20% 18-24 yrs had only lower secondary education

• Too few women in scientific and technological fields Still 2-4 times more men than women in science

• Completion of upper secondary education could be better In 2002 only 76% of 22 yrs old completed upper 2nd school

‘Education and Training 2010’ Joint interim report of Council and Commission *

* COM (2003) 685 final, Official Journal 30 April 2004 2004/C 104/1

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

Education and Training 2010 Success hinges on urgent reforms - 2

• Young people failing to acquire key competences Nearly 20% of young people don’t have key competencies

• Shortage of qualified teachers and trainers is looming 27% primary & 37% secondary teachers are more than 50 yrs old

• Too few adults participating in lifelong learning In 2002 participation rate was only 8.5%

‘Education and Training 2010’ Joint interim report of Council and Commission *

* COM (2003) 685 final, Official Journal 30 April 2004 2004/C 104/1

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning in Education & Training 2010

• An ICT working group:• Member States, education stakeholders such as EVTA,

relevant organisations such as OECD, IEA

• Four policy recommendations:• Embed ICT policies and strategies into long term

educational objectives • Ensure new support services for education• Empower educational actors and train them for the

management of change • Develop research, establish new indicators and provide

access to results

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning in the futureLifelong Learning (LLL) programme

Integrated ProgrammeComenius

School education

ErasmusHigher

education & advanced training

Leonardo da VinciInitial and

continuing VET

GrundtvigAdult

education

Transversal programme4 key activities – Policy development; Language learning; ICT;

DisseminationJean Monnet programme

3 key activities – Jean Monnet Action; European Institutions; European Associations

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

The eLearning initiative

• The first education initiative following Lisbon

• Four action lines• Infrastructure and equipment• Training at all levels• Quality contents and services• European networking and co-operation

• Four years: 2000-2003• 27,2 million €• 65 pilot projects and 7 strategic studies

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

The eLearning Action Plan:action through partnership

The eLearning Action Plan helps co-ordinate community actions concerned with e-learning, mobilising the educational and cultural communities, as well as the economic and social players in Europe

Partnerships between Commission’s services acting in the eLearning area: Employment; Information Society; Enterprise; Eurostat

Fostering public-private partnerships: eLIG, the eLearning Industry Group

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

Facilitatingexchanges

The

eLearning Portal

elearningeuropa.info

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

The eLearning Programme

Four areas of action:• Promoting digital literacy 10% budget• European Virtual Campuses 30%

budget• eTwinning of European schools 45% budget• Transversal actions 7,5% budget

44 Million Euro for three years (2004-2006)

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning in the Framework Programmes for Research

• A long standing support, started 15 years ago with DELTA and ESPRIT

• A substantial investment in applying new technologies to education, from CSL to GRID computing (only the 5th FP under the IST programme invested 140 Meuro)

• A first attempt to improved cooperation: the Task Force for Educational Multimedia Software in 1977

• A focus on technical issues, and on socioeconomic research; need to strengthen pedagogical aspects

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning evolution:a deep change

Integration of ICT in education has moved

• From research to practice• From awareness to take-up• From pilot projects to mainstreaming• From technological to cultural barriers

But it still calls for political leadership

European Commission

DG Education and CultureE-Learning readiness index

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning evolution:still a long way to go

• Lack of a common understanding of basic concepts: e-learning, digital literacy,

• Lack of comparable and timely data, of relevant output indicators and of adequate monitoring tools

• Lack of sufficient pedagogical research on the learning results of e-learning

• Investment in ICT has reached significant levels – yet, there is no clear evidence of a satisfactory ROI

Is the integration of ICT attaining its objectives ?

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning policy:need for an integrated approach

Between different learning levels: Lifelong learningeLearning as a transversal issue, as a thread linking different levels of learning and different types of learners

Between research and practiceFostering technological, pedagogical, socio-economic and, in particular, user-oriented, learning-oriented research

Between supply and demand Building a solid demand, creating fair conditions for supplyStandards, interoperability, IPR & DRM, multilingual issuesFostering public-private partnerships

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

eLearning perspectives:a reason to continue

Better and wider use of e-learning should contribute to increased:

• Empowerment: people, institutions, companies• Equity: personal, social, geographical• Productivity: personal, social, economic• Creativity: innovation, imagination, change

European Commission

DG Education and Culture

Thank you for your attention !

e-mail : maruja.gutierrez-diaz@cec.eu.int