EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14

th
June 2008, Lisbon 1
The DeveIopment of eServices in an
EnIarged EU: The Case of eLearning
Kirsti Ala-Mutka
European Commission, JRC
nstitute for Prospective Technological Studies
nformation Society Unit
The views expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the EC
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 2
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EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 3
:tIine
Abo:t the project
EU-10 context
ICT skiIIs, access, :sage in EU-10
pport:nities and bottIenecks for ICT, Iearning and
innovation in
SchooIs
Higher ed:cation
Ad:It Iearning
ConcI:sion
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 4
Abo:t the project
Project: Next steps in deveIoping 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
bjectives
To build evidence about the current usage of CT 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: nationaI experts + Coordinating experts from ICEG
EC + additionaI experts in synthesis report
In this st:dy, "eLearning" is defined to encompass both
Learning through the use of CT and
Learning the necessary competences to make use of CT in knowledge
society
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 5
EU-10 context
EU-10 are not a homogeneo:s gro:p of co:ntries
Income ineq:aIities, sociaI divides
Large regionaI disparities
Long-term :nempIoyment is persistent
Ed:cationaI context
Good IeveI of basic ed:cationaI attainment
Especially CZ, PL, SK, SI perform well in upper-secondary completion and
early school leavers but MT another story
Good MST grad:ate deveIopment
P:bIic ed:cation expendit:re in % of GDP sIightIy higher than in
EU-15
Low participation to LifeIong Iearning
ut SI has the highest values in the whole EU
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 6
Ho:sehoId access
Source: Eurostat database
Ho:sehoId access
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
e
:
-
1
5
b
g
r
o
c
z I
t
I
v
c
y
p
I
h
:
s
k
e
e
s
i
%
Broadband 2007
Internet access 2007
Comp:ter access 2007
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 7
Internet skiIIs
Source: Eurostat database
Internet skiIIs of individ:aIs
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
e
:
-
1
5
r
o
b
g
c
y
p
I
I
t
c
z
h
:
s
i
I
v
s
k
e
e
%
2005 2007
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 8
Internet :se
Source: Eurostat database (2007)
Percentage of internet :sers
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
e
:
-
1
5
r
o
b
g

c
y I
t
p
I
h
:
c
z
I
v s
i
e
e
s
k
SparseIy pop:Iated areas
DenseIy pop:Iated areas
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 9
SchooIs
pport:nities
SkiIIs of the Iearners
In EU-10 there are more often separate ICT co:rses at schooIs
SkiIIs of the (yo:nger?) teachers
Fewer teachers consider ICT skiIIs to be a major barrier in EU-10 than in EU-15
BottIenecks
Infrastr:ct:re
There are Iess internet connected comp:ters per schooI p:piI in EU-10 and the q:aIity of
comp:ters is Iow
SchooIs typicaIIy have basic internet access b:t the q:aIity of the access is Iow in some
regions
Settings
Reports s:ggest that req:irements set by c:rric:Ia and assessment systems prohibit
deveIoping and :sing new methods for Iearning
DiIemmas
Large divides in teachers' comp:ter :sage and skiIIs
S:rveys show that teachers consider ICT possibIy beneficiaI for their st:dents
Reports state that motivation is a Iarge barrier for :sing ICT
Data so:rces: Benchmarking access and :se of ICT in E:ropean SchooIs 2006 + project reports
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 10
Universities
pport:nities
Infrastr:ct:re
HE instit:tions are generaIIy weII eq:ipped with comp:ters and internet
Universities have ICT enabIed distance st:dies and are :sing Iearning management
systems (LMS) aIso to s:pport their IocaI st:dents
SkiIIs of Iearners
AImost aII st:dents have some IeveI of ICT skiIIs, in average same or better than EU-15
average
BottIenecks
Settings
Few :niversities have strategies for advancing ICT and innovative Iearning approaches
Teacher training, support, incentives for innovative development
There seems to be IittIe networking, Iarge scaIe coIIaboration in organizing ed:cation
or sharing experiences of innovative approaches
Research?
Not m:ch visibiIity of R&D s:pport and research :nits for deveIop innovative Iearning
approaches and s:pport innovative teachers
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 11
Ad:It Iearning
pport:nities
SkiIIs of empIoyees and peopIe
GeneraIIy high IeveI of basic ed:cation
ExampIe projects for ICT skiIIs s:pported by fo:ndations and (internationaI) companies
Attit:de
Enterprises have taken :p eLearning for training of their empIoyees, especiaIIy internationaIIy
certified onIine co:rses (Cisco, Microsoft, ECDL)
There exists need for deveIoping LifeIong Iearning (economic growth, Iabo:r market needs,
:nempIoyment)
BottIenecks
Settings
Uneq:aI access to Iearning opport:nities among empIoyees
SmaIIer companies have poorer internet access
Attit:de
Reports s:ggest that empIoyers often consider Iearning to be on the responsibiIity of the empIoyee -
hence not s:pporting
S:spicio:s attit:de towards the q:aIity of onIine Iearning both by Iearners and empIoyers
Wide skiIIs divides
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 12
Percentage of pop:Iation with no comp:ter skiIIs
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
e
:
-
1
5
b
g

r
o

s
k s
i
h
:
e
e
c
z I
v I
t
p
I
c
y
%
AII
No or Iow ed:cation
UnempIoyed
55-74
Source: Eurostat database, year 2007
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 13
veraII positive deveIopments
Preparedness for :sing ICT as a new Iearning tooI has been
deveIoping fast and catching :p with EU-15
Infrastr:ct:re, skiIIs of Iearners
There are exampIes of :sing ICT for extending Iearning
opport:nities and enhancing ICT skiIIs in aII co:ntries
In formaI ed:cation, workpIaces and other ad:It ed:cation
There is increasing poIicy attention and interest
E.g. SIovenia and MaIta are preparing nationaI eLearning strategies
Yo:ng Iearners and teachers may be even better prepared with
ICT skiIIs than in EU-15
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 14
veraII bottIenecks
Infrastr:ct:re:
Q:antity and q:aIity of ICT eq:ipment and internet access, both in generaI
and in pIaces of ed:cation
GeographicaI divides
SkiIIs for Iearners and teachers:
Large economicaI and sociaI divides in ICT skiIIs, age divides
Training for innovating in Iearning/teaching with ICT has not been on the
agenda
Settings:
No overaII vision of eLearning, coordination of poIicies, strategies for
instit:tions
No enco:ragement or s:pport for teachers to deveIop new forms of Iearning,
no enco:ragement for empIoyers to s:pport empIoyee Iearning
bjectives:
eLearning seems to have been often considered as creating onIine materiaIs,
"transIating" existing co:rses as distance co:rses, not driving new
ed:cationaI innovations
Attit:des: C:It:raI differences, resistance to change
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 15
PoIicy iss:es
Addressing Iow digitaI Iiteracy, ICT infrastr:ct:re and access
For different potentiaI Iearner gro:ps
For teachers, headmasters and ed:cationaI administrators
Promoting awareness of the potentiaI of ICT for innovation and
Iearning
For ed:cationaI instit:tions, companies, poIicymakers
Improving participation to LifeIong Iearning
EspeciaIIy at workpIaces, disadvantaged gro:ps
S:pportive instit:tionaI settings for ed:cationaI innovations
Reg:Iations, certifications, skiII req:irements, saIary systems, incentives,
empowering teachers to innovate
Promoting networking and coIIaboration for deveIoping and sharing
innovations
S:pporting deveIoping new innovative modeIs and practices
Str:ct:raI f:nds
Meas:rements and g:ideIines for advancing innovation in Iearning
veraII poIicy vision and coordination to s:pport ICT and innovation
for IifeIong Iearning
EDEN 2008 Annual conference 14
th
June 2008, Lisbon 16
%hank you for your attent|on
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