The Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 aims to enhance digital skills and create an integrated digital educational ecosystem across Europe amidst challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Key priorities include improving technological integration in education, supporting digital literacy, and addressing inequalities in access to digital resources. The plan emphasizes collaboration across stakeholders and aims to provide strategic recommendations and support for effective digital education throughout the EU.

2. Digital Education Action Plan
2021-2027
Resetting Education and Training for the Digital Age
Georgi Dimitrov, Deputy Head of Unit ‘Innovation and EIT’ and Project leader
‘Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027’, DG EAC, European Commission

3. Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027)

4. Political Context
Digital Education
Action Plan
(2018-2020)
COVID-19 pandemic
and upsurge in
distance and online
learning
A Europe fit for the
Digital Age
Next Generation EUPolitical guidelines
of the President von
der Leyen
Key enabler for European Education Area and the new Skills Agenda

5. Stakeholder consultations
• Extensive targeted stakeholder consultations
(March- September);
• Outreach events with participation at highest
political level;
• Open Public Consultation on the lessons learnt from
the COVID-19 crisis (18 June - 4 September) targeting
all parts of the society. More than 2700 replies, 136
position papers from 60 countries.

6. Key aspects of Action Plan
• An integrated approach for technology use in education and improving digital skills;
• Extended scope - beyond formal education and including lifelong learning;
• Longer duration - 2021-2027, aligned with the programming period of the EU;
• Digital education as a strategic priority for a Europe fit for the digital age;
• Important for Recovery and Resilience Plans of Member States;
• Better synergies between funding instruments (Erasmus, Horizon Europe, Digital
Europe Programme, ESF, ERDF, InvestEU, Recovery and Resilience Funds).

7. • High quality and inclusive digital education as a strategic goal throughout education and
training;
• Transforming education for the digital age is a task for the whole of society;
• Equality, accessibility and inclusiveness are fundamental;
• Connectivity, equipment, organisational capacity and skills are vital;
• All teachers and trainers need to be competent and confident users of technology. Education
leaders play a key role in digital education.
• Digital literacy is essential:
o basic digital skills, including computing education, are a must for life and work;
o advanced digital skills are crucial for digital transformation of society and the economy.
• High-quality education content to boost the relevance, quality and inclusiveness of education
and training at all levels.
Guiding principles

8. Strategic priorities
• Priority 1: Developing a high performing digital education
ecosystem;
• Priority 2: Enhancing digital skills and competences for the
digital transformation.

9. Priority 1: Developing a high performing digital
education ecosystem
1) Launch a Strategic dialogue with MS on enabling factors for successful digital education;
2) Propose Council Recommendation on online and distance learning for primary and
secondary education;
3) European Digital Education Content Framework and feasibility of a European exchange
platform;
4) Support connectivity of/in schools and carry out Connectivity4Schools awareness raising
on funding opportunities. Encourage MS to make the most of EU support with regard to
internet access, digital equipment and e-learning applications and platforms, in particular in
their national Recovery and Resilience plans.

10. 5) Boost digital transformation plans through Erasmus cooperation projects. Support
digital pedagogy and expertise in the use of digital tools, through Erasmus Teacher
Academies and launch an online self-assessment tool for teachers, SELFIE for Teachers;
6) Develop ethical guidelines on artificial intelligence and data usage in teaching and
learning and boost related research & innovation activities through Horizon Europe.
Priority 1: Developing a high performing digital
education ecosystem

11. Priority 2: Enhancing digital skills and competences for the
digital transformation
7) Common guidelines to foster digital literacy and tackle disinformation through
education and training;
8) Update the European Digital Competence Framework to include AI and data-related
skills and support the development of AI learning resources;
9) Develop an European Digital Skills Certificate;
10)Propose a Council recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills in
education and training across curricula;

12. 11) Support the cross-national collection of data on student digital skills and introduce
an EU target for student digital competence;
12) Boost advanced digital skills through targeted measures by expanding the Digital
Opportunity Traineeships;
13) Encourage women’s participation in STEM in cooperation with the European
Institute of Innovation and Technology and support the EU STEM Coalition to develop
new higher education curricula for engineering and information and communications
technology based on the STEAM approach.
Priority 2: Enhancing digital skills and competences for the
digital transformation

13. European Digital Education Hub
• Support a network of national advisory services to exchange experience and good
practice, link national and regional digital-education initiatives and strategies and
stakeholders;
• Monitor the implementation of the Action Plan and the development of digital education
in Europe and share good practices by contributing to research experimentation and
systematic collection and analysis of empirical evidence;
• Cross-sector collaboration and new models for the exchange of digital learning content,
including common standards for digital education;
• Agile development of policy and practice in digital education by being a think-and-do-
tank and engaging stakeholders in user-driven innovation through the Digital Education
Hackathon.
Stronger coordination and cooperation at EU level

14. Research that fed into the
preparation of the new Digital
Education Action Plan 2021-2027
Veronica Mobilio, Policy Officer, DG EAC, European Commission

15. SWD of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027
• Provides up-to-date evidence and background information
o SWD of the 2018 Digital Education Action Plan
o Research and policy documents published in the last two years
o Specific data from DESI, EURYDICE, EUROSTAT, ICILS, PIAAC, PISA, TALIS
o Input received through extensive stakeholder consultations, including OPC
• Explains the need for renewed action at the EU-level, taking into account both
evidence from the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and analysis on structural challenges
in digital education in Europe.

16. Open Public Consultation - Overview
+ 136 position papers
+ 59 replies to the Roadmap
60 countries
85% & 15%

17. Open Public Consultation - Key Findings
• Parents overwhelmed;
• Learners missing face-to-face interaction, guidance from teachers, communication
with peers, support for mental health;
• Educators struggling due to the limited digital readiness in their institution, but also
low infrastructure and digital equipment in the families of some learners.
• The crisis as a turning point: over 90% agreed with the statement that the crisis will
have a long-term impact on the education and training.

18. Use of distance/online learning before, during and post-COVID-19
‘In real time’ increased
more than ‘in one’s
own time’, even
though the latter was
used more before the
crisis compared to the
former.

19. Success of the measures taken
• Discrepancy: education and training staff were
generally more positive than parents and learners.
• 60% of education and training staff consider the
measures to ensure continuity of education and
training during the crisis as successful vs only 41%
of parents and learners
Satisfaction is higher in higher education
VET as the education sector that struggled the most

20. What did people need and not get?
TARGET GROUP MOST UNSATISFIED NEED
Learners  Regular interaction and clear instruction by
educators (53.3%)
Educators  High-speed and stable connection at home (38.4%)
Education and training staff  Lack of a high speed and stable internet
connection at home for learners and teachers
(44.4%)
Parents  More regular interaction, instruction and guidance
from teachers/trainers/educators (57.4%)
Education and training
institutions
 Lack of digital devices suitable for distance and
online learning (58.2%)
Support for mental
health as a crucial
emerging need

21. Enablers vs challenges
5 most essential elements:
1. Teachers with relevant digital skills (62%)
2. Vision and strategy for using digital
technologies (53%)
3. Digital resources and materials (49%)
4. Digital platform and tools (47%)
5. Infrastructure (46%)
5 greatest challenges:
1. Socioeconomic inequalities between learners (45%)
2. Insufficient infrastructure and internet at
school/campus and outside (42%)
3. A lack of teacher training and guidance (41%)
4. A lack of plan and vision for integrating digital
technologies in education and training (38%)
5. A lack of high-quality online learning content (24%)

22. • Digital competences became more important.
• Particular relevance of digital literacy (e.g. finding, filtering and managing information).
• 62% improved their digital skills and competences during the crisis.
• More than 50% want to further improve them in the future
• Particularly true for education and training staff (around 86%)
Digital competences today and in the future
Areas of improvement for the future: creating digital content
(48% in general – 60% for education and training)
followed navigating online safely
and protecting personal data and privacy
(especially for parents and learners)

23. Where can the EU add value?
1. Teacher competence development and training as leading
area of support (51%)
2. Connectivity and infrastructure (43%)
3. Support for education and training institutions to develop
digital education strategies/plans (42%)
4. Measures for disadvantaged groups (41%)
5. High-quality European online resources (37%)
More cooperation among stakeholders
as a key finding across OPC and
stakeholder consultations.

24. Research Participatory Workshop
Need for a sustainable approach
and better links between
research and policy
Need of further research
looking into the future

25. • Summary available in the SWD
• Detailed report co-authored with the JRC
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12453-Digital-Education-Action-Plan/public-consultation
To know more

26. Upcoming research
on digital education
Yves Punie, Deputy Head of Unit ‘Human Capital and Employment’,
Joint-Research Centre Seville, European Commission

27. Covid-19 related
– Educational inequalities in Europe and physical school closures – PIRLS data (JRC Science for Policy Briefs, July 2020)
– The likely impact of Covid-19 on education: Reflections based on the existing literature and recent international datasets (JRC
Technical Report, June 2020)
DEAP priority 1: High performing Digital Education System
– Emerging technologies and the teaching profession. Ethical and pedagogical considerations based on near-future scenarios
(JRC Science for Policy Report, October 2020)
DEAP priority 2: Enhancing Digital Skills and Competences for the digital transformation
– DigComp at Work: The EU’s digital competence framework in action on the labour market: a selection of case studies (JRC
Science for Policy Report, July 2020)
– DigComp at Work: Implementation guide (JRC Technical Report, July 2020)
Key transversal competences: LifeComp framework; EntreComp Playbook; EntreComp at Work; Entrepreneurial Employee
Recent JRC publications

28. Covid-19 related
– The impact of Covid-19 shift to digital learning in obligatory schooling: A qualitative analysis in 5 EU Member States (BE, EE, GR, IT, PL) (Nov
2020)
– Emergency remote schooling during Covid lockdown in spring 2020: Executive summary of the survey on families with children in 11 European
countries (Nov 2020) - Full report end of 2020 (KiDiCoTi)
DEAP priority 1: High performing Digital Education System
– Scaling-up and integrating SELFIE in Education and Training systems: Methodology and lessons learnt (JRC-ETF Joint report, Nov 2020)
– SELFIE representative analysis: Digital capacity in Spanish schools (Dec 2020, 3 reports, in Spanish)
– SELFIE Psychometric analysis; Teacher collaboration and students’ digital competence; the impact of policy interventions
– EdTechs in China and COVID-19 use; lessons for Europe (Nov 2020)
– DigCompEdu: Results from self-reflection tool (various publications, also for Higher Education: collaboration CRUE-Spain & Metared)
DEAP priority 2: Enhancing Digital Skills and Competences for the digital transformation
– DigComp Self-reflection: Item bank and methodological guide (Nov 2020)
– Priority Groups for Digital Competence skilling actions in the context of employment (Technical report and Policy brief, Nov & Dec 2020)
Upcoming JRC publications

29. Covid-19 related
– Update and follow-up qualitative analysis of the impact of Covid-19 shift to digital learning in obligatory schooling in 4 EU
Member States
– REDS: Responses to Educational Disruption Survey (REDS), by UNESCO, IEA & JRC
DEAP priority 1: High performing Digital Education System
– DigCompEdu -> SELFIE for teachers self-reflection pilot and instrument validation
– SELFIE Work-based Learning module
– SELFIE for schools: Text mining, qualitative impact, feasibility for a counterfactual impact analysis
– Computational thinking in obligatory schooling in Europe
DEAP priority 2: Enhancing Digital Skills and Competences for the digital transformation
– DigComp 2.2
– European Digital Skills Certificate
More research