Download - EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14 th June 2008, Lisbon 1 The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU: The Case of eLearning Kirsti Ala-Mutka European Commission,

EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14th June 2008, Lisbon 1

The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU: The Case of eLearning

Kirsti Ala-Mutka

European Commission, JRCInstitute for Prospective Technological StudiesInformation Society Unit

The views expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the EC


IPTS: Part of DG JRC of the EC: 7 Research Institutes across Europe

Mission: “to provide customer-driven support to the EU policy-making process by researching science-based responses to policy challenges that have both a socio-economic as well as a scientific or technological dimension”

Institute for Prospective Technological Studies


Outline

● About the project

● EU-10 context

● ICT skills, access, usage in EU-10

● Opportunities and bottlenecks for ICT, learning and innovation in – Schools– Higher education– Adult learning

● Conclusion


About the project

● Project: Next steps in developing IS Services in the EU-10: the case of eLearning– Started in 2006, now 10 country reports and a synthesis report under final

publishing process– Parallel to a project on eHealth and eGovernment

● Objectives– To build evidence about the current usage of ICT for learning in the EU-10– To identify drivers and barriers for eLearning developments– To analyse possible policy options and suggest future R&D priority areas

● Researchers: national experts + Coordinating experts from ICEG EC + additional experts in synthesis report

● In this study, “eLearning” is defined to encompass both– Learning through the use of ICT and – Learning the necessary competences to make use of ICT in knowledge

society


EU-10 context

● EU-10 are not a homogeneous group of countries

● Income inequalities, social divides

● Large regional disparities

● Long-term unemployment is persistent

● Educational context– Good level of basic educational attainment

• Especially CZ, PL, SK, SI perform well in upper-secondary completion and early school leavers – but MT another story

– Good MST graduate development

– Public education expenditure in % of GDP slightly higher than in EU-15

– Low participation to Lifelong learning• But SI has the highest values in the whole EU


Household access

Source: Eurostat database

Household access

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80%

Broadband 2007

Internet access 2007

Computer access 2007


Internet skills

Source: Eurostat database

Internet skills of individuals

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

% 2005 2007


Internet use

Source: Eurostat database (2007)

Percentage of internet users

0

10

20

3040

50

60

70

80

eu-1

5 ro bg

cy lt pl

hu cz lv si ee sk

Sparsely populated areas

Densely populated areas


Schools

Opportunities

● Skills of the learners– In EU-10 there are more often separate ICT courses at schools

● Skills of the (younger?) teachers– Fewer teachers consider ICT skills to be a major barrier in EU-10 than in EU-15

Bottlenecks● Infrastructure

– There are less internet connected computers per school pupil in EU-10 and the quality of computers is low

– Schools typically have basic internet access but the quality of the access is low in some regions

● Settings– Reports suggest that requirements set by curricula and assessment systems prohibit

developing and using new methods for learning

Dilemmas

● Large divides in teachers’ computer usage and skills– Surveys show that teachers consider ICT possibly beneficial for their students– Reports state that motivation is a large barrier for using ICT

Data sources: Benchmarking access and use of ICT in European Schools 2006 + project reports


Universities

Opportunities● Infrastructure

– HE institutions are generally well equipped with computers and internet– Universities have ICT enabled distance studies and are using learning management

systems (LMS) also to support their local students

● Skills of learners– Almost all students have some level of ICT skills, in average same or better than EU-

15 average

Bottlenecks● Settings

– Few universities have strategies for advancing ICT and innovative learning approaches

• Teacher training, support, incentives for innovative development

– There seems to be little networking, large scale collaboration in organizing education or sharing experiences of innovative approaches

● Research? – Not much visibility of R&D support and research units for develop innovative learning

approaches and support innovative teachers


Adult learning

Opportunities

● Skills of employees and people– Generally high level of basic education– Example projects for ICT skills supported by foundations and (international) companies

● Attitude– Enterprises have taken up eLearning for training of their employees, especially internationally

certified online courses (Cisco, Microsoft, ECDL)

● There exists need for developing Lifelong learning (economic growth, labour market needs, unemployment)

Bottlenecks

● Settings– Unequal access to learning opportunities among employees– Smaller companies have poorer internet access

● Attitude– Reports suggest that employers often consider learning to be on the responsibility of the employee –

hence not supporting– Suspicious attitude towards the quality of online learning both by learners and employers

● Wide skills divides


Percentage of population with no computer skills

010

2030

4050

6070

8090

100

%

AllNo or low educationUnemployed55-74

Source: Eurostat database, year 2007


Overall positive developments

● Preparedness for using ICT as a new learning tool has been developing fast and catching up with EU-15– Infrastructure, skills of learners

● There are examples of using ICT for extending learning opportunities and enhancing ICT skills in all countries – In formal education, workplaces and other adult education

● There is increasing policy attention and interest– E.g. Slovenia and Malta are preparing national eLearning strategies

● Young learners and teachers may be even better prepared with ICT skills than in EU-15


Overall bottlenecks

● Infrastructure: – Quantity and quality of ICT equipment and internet access, both in general and

in places of education– Geographical divides

● Skills for learners and teachers: – Large economical and social divides in ICT skills, age divides– Training for innovating in learning/teaching with ICT has not been on the

agenda

● Settings: – No overall vision of eLearning, coordination of policies, strategies for

institutions– No encouragement or support for teachers to develop new forms of learning,

no encouragement for employers to support employee learning

● Objectives: – eLearning seems to have been often considered as creating online materials,

“translating” existing courses as distance courses, not driving new educational innovations

● Attitudes: Cultural differences, resistance to change


Policy issues

● Addressing low digital literacy, ICT infrastructure and access– For different potential learner groups– For teachers, headmasters and educational administrators

● Promoting awareness of the potential of ICT for innovation and learning – For educational institutions, companies, policymakers

● Improving participation to Lifelong learning – Especially at workplaces, disadvantaged groups

● Supportive institutional settings for educational innovations– Regulations, certifications, skill requirements, salary systems, incentives,

empowering teachers to innovate– Promoting networking and collaboration for developing and sharing

innovations

● Supporting developing new innovative models and practices– Structural funds– Measurements and guidelines for advancing innovation in learning

● Overall policy vision and coordination to support ICT and innovation for lifelong learning


Thank you for your attention

[email protected]://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

Download - EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14 th June 2008, Lisbon 1 The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU: The Case of eLearning Kirsti Ala-Mutka European Commission,

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