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

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The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU
The Case of eLearning Kirsti Ala-Mutka
European Commission, JRC Institute for
Prospective Technological Studies Information
Society Unit The views expressed by the
authors are not necessarily those of the EC
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Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
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
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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

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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 RD 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

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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

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Household access
Source Eurostat database
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Internet skills
Source Eurostat database
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Internet use
Source Eurostat database (2007)
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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

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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 RD support and research
  units for develop innovative learning approaches
  and support innovative teachers

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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

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Source Eurostat database, year 2007
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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

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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

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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

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• Thank you for your attention
• kirsti.ala-mutka_at_ec.europa.eu
• http//is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/