EN Official Journal of the European Union C 214/31

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Opening up Education: Innovative teaching and learning for all through new Technologies and Open Educational Resources

COM(2013) 654 final

2014/C 214/06

Rapporteur: Gonçalo LOBO XAVIER

Co-rapporteur: Pavel TRANTINA

On 25 September 2013 the European Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on the

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Opening up Education: Innovative teaching and learning for all through new Technologies and Open Educational Resources

COM(2013) 654 final.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 6 February 2014.

At its 496th plenary session, held on 26 and 27 February 2014 (meeting of 26 February 2014), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 226 votes to 2 with 3 abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1.1 ICT tools are being gradually used in all spheres of everybody’s life. The EESC believes that a digital approach within education systems can help to improve the quality and creativity of education provided to the community, particularly if used with common sense.

1.2 The EESC is convinced that the role of teachers is central to the success of the ‘Opening up Education’ initiative. Their involvement in the design and implementation of the initiative, combined with appropriate training, is key to ‘opening up education’ innovatively through new technologies and Open Educational Resources (OER) in a teaching and learning environment that reaches out to everyone.

1.3 The EESC stresses that the mobilisation of all stakeholders and support for creating ‘learning partnerships’ in society, involving schools, businesses, town councils, social partners, civil society organisations, youth NGOs, youth and other community workers, parents and school students in the design and implementation of ‘curricula’ is crucial to the initiative's success and practical outcomes, in a healthy framework for paradigm change in education.

1.4 The EESC draws attention to the need to make efficient use of available EU and, in particular, national funding programmes to support the optimal use, duly adapted to curricula, of new technologies and open educational resources. Existing good practices in certain Member States need to be studied, disseminated and encouraged with regard, for example, to the incentives to be offered to businesses wishing to equip schools with new information and communication technology (ICT).

1.5 The EESC considers it essential that the tools for recognising skills acquired through the use of ICT should be clear known to the entire community and that their application should be assessed regularly. The European Area for Skills and Qualifications, currently under development, should contribute to these efforts towards transparency and validation of skills. This is crucial in ensuring that the entire community is comfortable with the system.

1.6 The EESC strongly agrees that a well-planned comprehensive approach is needed in the application of measures to promote the use of new technologies in learning processes both with regard to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Open Educational Resources (OER). Teachers will definitely continue to play a key role throughout the education process by means of adequate training and incentives. Technology-based education has brought new challenges for Europe. Technology without teachers loses its educational value, whereas digitally confident teachers will remain key stakeholders in making education attractive to learners.

1.7 The EESC would like to highlight the need for greater inclusion when using ICT tools in education, in particular of school students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are unable to acquire the requisite devices, get proper access to the Internet and purchase content. There are numerous examples of best practice from all over Europe on overcoming these obstacles and equipping those concerned with the tools they need. These best practices must be exchanged and encouraged.

1.8 The EESC also believes that new Internet-based technologies allow the transfer of knowledge across borders, thus promoting convergence of education in the Member States. This is important for the mobility of future employees and employers on the united markets of the European Union, from which it will benefit.

1.9 The EESC believes that the European Commission should ensure the necessary support and coordination mechanisms for the fast and effective implementation of the proposals discussed in this document, measurement of progress and promotion of exchange of good practices at EU level. The EESC believes that proper implementation of the proposals will also help to achieve the general objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

2. Background

2.1 The European Commission launched the ‘Opening up Education’ initiative as an action plan to tackle insufficient or inefficient ICT use in education, as well as other digital problems which are preventing schools and universities from delivering high-quality education and the digital skills which 90 % of jobs will require by 2020.

2.2 This joint initiative, led by Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, and Neelie Kroes, Commission vice-president responsible for the Digital Agenda, focuses on three main areas: — creating opportunities for organisations, teachers and learners to innovate; — increasing the use of OER to ensure that educational materials produced with public funding are available to all; and — improving ICT infrastructure and connectivity in schools.

2.3 Initiatives linked to ‘Opening up Education’ will be funded with support from Erasmus+, the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport, and Horizon 2020, the new research and innovation programme, as well as the EU Structural Funds. For example, Erasmus+ will offer funding to education providers to ensure business models are adapted to technological change, and support teacher development through open online courses. All educational materials supported by Erasmus+ will be freely available to the public under open licences.

2.4 The impact of the ‘Opening up Education’ initiative will be boosted by recommendations due to be published next summer by the High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education. The group, launched by Commissioner Vassiliou and chaired by former Irish President, Mary McAleese, is currently assessing how higher education can make best use of new modes of teaching and learning.

2.5 This initiative also ties in with the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs, a multi-stakeholder platform tackling the lack of ICT skills and up to 9 00 000 unfilled ICT-related vacancies.

3. General comments

3.1 ‘Education is a social process’ (John Dewey), and it will remain that way with large-scale ICT use. Its role is not only to transfer knowledge, but also to form citizens.

3.2 The EESC welcomes the Commission's Communication on ‘Opening up Education’ as a way of promoting a modern education system that supports the capacity development of the student community, teachers and society as a whole, thereby facilitating the use of new digital skills and new ICT solutions and ensuring an effective knowledge transfer process.

3.3 Education is one of the pillars of modern societies and a human right. No country can survive or develop without a good education system. Nowadays the key to success lies in the application of ICT in knowledge transfer by combining modern and traditional methods. Education must follow the right approach, with a focus on the integrated development of each individual, while also meeting real market needs for skills. Furthermore, without neglecting the needs of profit-making markets, EU education systems should also serve the needs of non-profit markets, such as certain areas of research, science and the arts.

3.4 Schools have always been at the forefront of innovation. That is why, for the EESC the balance between so-called ‘traditional’ teaching methods and the use of new technologies and approaches is the key to successful education. In addition, the EESC believes that education systems must be adapted to global societal changes and new challenges.

3.5 Over the years, the EESC has addressed the issue of innovative approaches in education (1). For instance, the recent EESC opinion on ‘Rethinking Education’ pointed out that the teaching of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) should continue to warrant special emphasis in education systems since they are central to the development of the technological society we live in, where there will be a huge demand for human resources with high standards of scientific and technological knowledge. Nevertheless, it is vital to present these subjects to the student community in a more creative and attractive manner, starting at the kindergarten. This early approach has had good results and it can be seen as a good practice in several Member States.

3.6 Digital and online approaches to education are both important. However, the EESC argues that when using new materials, formats and skills to ensure knowledge transfer, it is vital to improve content, the learning efficiency and learning outcomes.

3.7 The EESC believes that the involvement of the teaching community and the social partners representing its interests is essential to the efficiency of the process of opening up education. In view of this, the EESC welcomes the idea of promoting networks of volunteer teachers to share good practices and launch new initiatives.

3.8 From a business perspective, the EESC realises that the new digital approach and environment offer enormous opportunities. However, the EESC feels that caution is needed, particularly when using ‘open sources’. While the EESC believes that open courses and resources have a role to play in the process, the market needs some (voluntary) classification and standardisation, given the certification process and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) (2). A critical analysis of the quality of educational resources is also important and advisable.

3.9 The EESC recognises the advantages of an ‘industry’ of ‘open educational resources’ as long as these are relevant to educational processes and are able to boost the learning of languages. Round-the-clock universal access to high-quality open-access educational content is no use if it cannot be explored by a community due to that content being in a language which most individual members of the community do not master.

3.10 For the EESC it is clear that, in spite of the EU-level policies advocated by the document, the actual implementation of solutions depends on how each Member State frames its policies. The EESC therefore calls for a real commitment from political leaders in the Member States to ensure the implementation of the suggested solutions at European level, regardless of differences of pace between Member States on these issues.

3.11 Like every big change, this ‘revolution’, as already mentioned, requires political leadership from every Member State. In view of this, the EESC calls for the appropriate use of available EU and, in particular, national funding programmes to support the educational ‘revolution’ suggested. Although the Erasmus+ programme and some Horizon 2020 measures — despite the very welcome increase in budgetary allocations — do not provide solutions for everything, the right combination of national budgets with these programmes will give a real boost to education systems. Such an approach calls for the right strategies and political decisions by each Member State, bearing in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

3.12 Notwithstanding what has been said about the importance of digital technologies, education must also open up to other forms of learning (e.g. non-formal education outside schools). In this context, it should also be mentioned that the media (as an informal learning resource) still carries relatively little weight in the educational process despite the considerable potential of their complementarity with formal education and their contribution to understanding digital content.

3.13 The promotion of new technologies must be based on the principles of access and social inclusion of the entire learning community, paying particular attention to the different social backgrounds of students and the different types of contact with digital environments stemming from these backgrounds.

3.14 The EESC reiterates the need to involve not only the learning community but also society at large in defining the best practices and approaches that will make a decisive contribution to improving learning outcomes.

4. Specific comments

4.1 Open learning environments

4.1.1 More and better investment is required in the quality of education and training in order to improve skills and employability in EU countries. Priorities must be clear to the entire community, especially in certain Member States. It makes no sense to invest in infrastructure while simultaneously under-investing in teacher training. Investment must serve the dual purpose of i) strengthening the logistical capacity of schools and the support infrastructure and ii) improving the ‘knowledge’ component of the educative process. This option is crucial to ensuring that full advantage is taken of opportunities under the various EU and national funding programmes.

4.1.2 Best practices must be shared on a large scale. Even though there are differences (not only structural but also cultural) between Member States, ideas, processes and approaches can be adapted to the situation on the ground in a particular country. The EESC welcomes the Commission's idea of creating a network at European level to promote such best practices and make them accessible to all Member States.

4.1.3 Students may be digital natives, but they still need guidance in learning how to use new technology for educational purposes if the process of digital education is to succeed. Some technological habits will need to change as well. They will need to adapt to carrying out tasks using technology, which may well be initially challenging, but rewarding later on. In many ways, students will need to change just as much as their teachers and this joint effort must be present.

4.1.4 Technology must be treated as a means and not an end. If teachers and students are not trained, they will use new tools in old ways. School principals and other education authorities need to ensure that parents are informed about new learning methods if they want them to become properly established. The education sector will need leaders with vision.

4.1.5 Teachers are more important in the educative process than classroom size and hours, the presence or absence of technology, and the organisation of schools and classes. The fact that technology is ‘invading’ the classroom can be seen as an opportunity to improve the status of teachers, which means recognising and enhancing their critical role in the community. Integrating new educative processes and teaching technologies in classrooms is not a simple task and will require qualified teachers to spearhead the process of change.

4.1.6 Political decision-makers must therefore ensure that technology is not imposed on education in a way that undermines the professionalism and dedication of teachers. Technology must serve the educative process spearheaded by teachers, and not the other way around.

4.1.7 Investments in teacher training should — as a general rule — exceed the amounts spent on technology itself.

4.1.8 Technology tends to be most helpful to those students who least need help. Statistics show that undergraduates and graduates are more likely to complete a MOOC than others. MOOCs are not enough to solve the most pressing educational challenges, but it would be beneficial to introduce them in secondary education and vocational training.

4.1.9 Transparency and recognition of skills acquired through ICT (both inside and outside schools) is of great importance, as well as ensuring the quality of recognition processes. Learners, educators and employers must be involved in the design of recognition processes and be motivated by them.

4.2 Open educational resources

4.2.1 In order to boost the use of digital resources and content, there is a clear need to increase foreign (especially English) language take-up, not only in the student community but also among teachers.

4.2.2 In order to create digital classrooms, those who design them will need the requisite pedagogical and organisational skills. The classrooms will be able to enhance digital learning if they are designed as active learning spaces, centred around students, and equipped with the resources to meet the educational needs of all types of students.

4.2.3 The EESC agrees that the ‘Open Education Europa’ website is an important step in enabling the community to keep up with the process. It believes that its use should be duly promoted and its content constantly monitored and assessed. Special attention will have to be given to the linguistic diversity of the resources in order to facilitate their use.

4.3 Connectivity and innovation

4.3.1 The EESC realises that ICT infrastructure capacity varies from one Member State to another, an important fact to bear in mind when implementing the various proposals. However, broadband infrastructure development, especially in remote areas, should at least become/remain a priority.

4.3.2 It is important to ensure broader access to ICT for disadvantaged groups, enabling them to become integrated. Community services/centres offering access to the Internet and online learning, as well as school ‘e-libraries’, offer huge potential.

4.4 Concerted efforts to seize the opportunities of the digital revolution

4.4.1 The EESC feels it is vital to measure the effects of such policies. As mentioned earlier, there are different approaches and different levels of community involvement in the educative process. It must be possible to measure the ‘digital revolution’ using key performance indicators that not only cover practical questions (percentage of students in the education system, number of new users of open resources, number of computers and e-books in classrooms, etc.) but also the impact of the new digital methods on schools, students and teachers, including in terms of the improvement of their language skills.

4.4.2 The need for the entire community to be involved in the process cannot be overstated. Teachers and their central role have already been given the prominence they deserve, but the key role played by families and social environments must also be recognised. In implementing innovative and inclusive education policies, families will always be decisive in helping the student community to adapt to the new digital learning tools. It is essential that families play a positive part in this process of change. The EESC also recognises the unique contribution of youth and other community workers, who, as part of their professional work, enable and motivate people of all ages to avail of various education initiatives.

Brussels, 26 February 2014 The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Henri MALOSSE

(1) OJ C 181, 21.6.2012, p. 143–149; OJ C 68, 6.3.2012, p. 11–14 and OJ C 68, 6.3.2012, p. 1–10.

(2) OJ C 191, 29.06.2012 - Chapter 4.