Rethinking
education

Around 65 per cent of today’s schoolgoers will one day hold down jobs that don‘t even exist yet. In 2020, dedicated digital skills will be required for 90 per cent of all jobs. As EU education commissioner Androulla Vassiliou comments: “Tomorrow’s employees must already be prepared now in schools if Europe is to remain competitive on the global market.” And German chancellor Angela Merkel is convinced that “data are the raw material of the future.” The “Digitale Bildung neu denken (Rethinking digital education)” initiative which trains teachers in tablet-based teaching methods adopts an equally unequivocal standpoint, which can be paraphrased as follows: “Digitisation is taking over our world. It is a development packed with opportunities, if only we teach our young generation how to use it properly.”

Making the most of opportunities is easier said than done. Many schools in the country are still light years away from being in a position to offer teachers and pupils a “classroom for the 21st century”. The number of Internet connections in schools across the EU and also in Germany is utterly inadequate. Vassiliou is critical: “More than 63 per cent of nine year-old pupils lack appropriate digital aids and fast internet access.” This is why Baden-Württemberg’s government places special importance on digital education. The government-initiated “digital package” meets with broad approval. It envisages a digital education programme for all schools in Germany worth EUR 5 billion. Primary, secondary and vocational schools are to be adequately equipped with digital aids like broadband access, WLAN and devices. Employers in Baden-Württemberg support the plan. “A good digital education is crucial to Baden-Württemberg’s future prospects, and we need the right concepts and technical facilities to do the job,” says Stefan Küpper, who heads the employers’ association.

Although the Deutsche Städtetag has calculated that around EUR 300 million are required to equip schools with digital technology, its basic assessment of the digital package is positive. It will promote digitisation in schools across the country and bring fresh impetus to the nationwide discussion about learning in the future. The European Union is also a keen supporter, and has launched a new free portal (www. openeducationeurope.eu), for instance, which helps pupils and teachers improve their digital skills. Teachers are offered digital learning programmes, pupils can hone their skills with intelligent educational games, videos and free software.

Textbooks or digital media? Pilots have shown that iPads and colleagues perform very well especially in high school maths teaching. Interactive whiteboards also offer multimedia options for presenting teaching material. Digital applications facilitate teaching in many ways: pupils can create texts together. They can edit documents without having to be at school or work together at the same time. The network facilitates collaboration and also independent study.

However, the story is far from over after finishing school. An alliance by the name of “Initiative 4.0 Baden-Württemberg” was recently founded to promote vocational education and young professionals. 25 organisations from a wide range of sectors have drafted a road map that defines key fields of action and specific activities for SMEs. The initiative includes four regional service centres or “Digital Hubs” in the state, designed as “innovation accelerators” to push ahead with digitisation on a broad front. Training young professionals is an important aspect of this venture.

Sabine von Varendorff