This article was first published on EPALE in German: https://epale.ec.europa.eu/de/blog/die-initiative-digitale-bildung-schub-oder-schranke-fuer-das-lernen-erwachsener.
On February 22, 2021, the “Initiative Digital Education” was presented. The pandemic has shown that there is still a lot of room for improvement in the design and development of digital education, which is why the initiative wants to give digital education a boost. To this end, a national education platform and a digital education space are to be created as an “open overall architecture for digital learning,” according to Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek 1.
The national education platform is to create secure access to a digital education space that contains a wide range of learning opportunities 2. Much remained unclear, but the platform and education space are to be combined:
- include existing and new learning platforms and offerings
- Provide learners with a single point of access to these offerings and platforms
- Provide learners with individual learning paths
- Make educational materials available
- Store certificates centrally
- Provide networking opportunities
- Ensure quality of learning offerings through seals of approval and standardization
- Regulating data security for all areas of education
Digital education: adult education also addressed
Right at the start, Minister Karliczek spoke of “learning in all phases of education,” and Chancellor Merkel, patron of the initiative, also made it clear “that digital education is not just for schools, not just for universities, but that we also want to address people of all ages.” So adult learning is explicitly addresses, and that’s very gratifying, because it’s not always part of education discussions. But was adult learning thought of, was it meant to be included?
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