From daycare to studies, from vocational training to adult education centers: digitization is playing an increasingly important role in all areas of our education and training system, regardless of whether it is a question of didactics, infrastructure or administration. The aim of the Education Digital Network, which is coordinated by the Education Digitalization Forum within the Digital Education Initiative and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funded.
A digital learning community – from daycare to lifelong learning
The project was presented on June 30, 2021 as part of a multifaceted digital kick-off event. Muschda Sherzada, known as the moderator of the Tiger Duck Club, hosted the afternoon. Federal Minister of Education Anja Karliczek and Jacob Chammon, board member of the Education Digitalization Forum, made the background and intentions of the network that is currently being established clear in their welcoming words.
“We want to establish a national, digital educational space with a common entrance,” said Minister Karliczek. From early childhood education through school to lifelong learning, all educational actors should work together, learn from one another and ensure an easier transition between the institutions. “One of the founding ideas of the Education Digitization Forum was to dare to look across the entire education chain,” says Jacob Chammon. “We started with school, but quickly saw how important it is for everyone to work together.”
Networking of all educational areas becomes a necessity
How can this cross-departmental exchange look like? How can the different actors find a common language? Afterwards, four other guests from the fields of early childhood education, vocational training, universities and adult education centers discussed this on behalf of the partner network. “The areas of life, work and learning have moved closer and closer together,” said Julia von Westerholt, director of the German Adult Education Association. Those who attend further vocational training today also benefit from it in their private lives – and vice versa. This makes networking of all areas a necessity.
Oliver Janoschka, Head of the Office of the Hochschulforum Digitisierung, looked back on the experiences of the pandemic months: “In the higher education sector, it has been shown that cooperation works!” During the numerous lockdowns, individual and institutional solutions were sought, including across national borders. Volker Born, Head of the Vocational Training Department of the Central Association of German Crafts, added: “The round shows for me: Many questions are very similar in the educational areas.” Driven by the challenges of the corona pandemic, now is the right time to learn from each other to be able to. “I would like the partners to see themselves as a learning community,” said Michael Fritz, chairman of the “House of Small Research” foundation, summarizing his expectations of the digital education network.
How does the transformation of the education system succeed?
In his keynote speech, Ekkehard Thümler from the Center for Social Investment (CSI) at Heidelberg University then presented how a “real” educational transformation can succeed. Using the example of the energy transition, he outlined the success factors for successful system transformation, including ambitious goals and visions, diverse new actors and technologies – and, last but not least, the importance of crises. He sees the Corona crisis as a “window of opportunity” for the education system because it clearly shows how much we need a transformation. “But we are in the process of squandering this opportunity.” In order for the transformation in education to succeed, the federal and state governments, civil society, science and digital education companies must move closer together and develop a common mission.
Claudia Nicolai from the HPI School of Design Thinking in Potsdam dedicated her keynote speech to the topic of “Cooperation in the Education Sector”. She sees the Design Thinking method as an opportunity to find new creative solutions to current problems of educational transformation together. In this collaborative working and thinking culture, multidisciplinary teams come together to find solutions to complex issues. From design thinking she built a bridge to the current education system: In order to prepare children and young people for jobs and technologies that do not even exist today, such new forms of cooperation are necessary.
© Phil Dera
“Presence is not an end in itself either!”
The highlight of the event was the concluding, highly opinionated panel discussion with representatives from the field on the question: “Digital education in Germany 2021 – where are we currently?”. In view of the corona pandemic and the past lockdowns, the participants from all areas of education discussed the value of digitization and the question of whether this would be at the expense of personal encounters. While Heidi Thelen-Schulte from the Herne Adult Education Center spoke of “digital oversaturation”, the other discussants advocated contemporary learning in the age of digitality that uses the potential of both worlds.
“Many experts ask: Do we need digitization – yes or no? From my point of view, that doesn’t matter at all, ”said Dario Schramm, General Secretary of the National Schoolchildren Conference. “The process is under way – and we have to help shape it.” Silke Müller, headmistress of the Waldschule Hatten, added: “We have to take the pupils’ living environment seriously, there is no turning back To face the world, teachers not only need digital skills, but above all an attitude, for example on questions of media use and cyberbullying. Marcus Lamprecht, student and chairman of the teaching, study and further education commission at the University of Duisburg-Essen, summed up the discussion about the value of digitization: “Digitization is not an end in itself. But presence is not an end in itself either! “
Manuela Fischer, head of the Zebra Verde day care center in Cologne, campaigned for the opportunities offered by digitally supported education when she reported on her experiences during the pandemic: “We asked ourselves: How can we keep in touch with families?” The next step was to set up a virtual daycare center, introduce a digital morning circle and even cook together. “At first it was pure chaos, but we grew from the experience.”
Conclusion and outlook: Talking about success and failure
Growing with one’s own experiences and with those of others, that is exactly the goal of the Netzwerk Bildung Digital. “We have to have the courage to share more with one another, to talk about successes, but also about failure,” says Jacob Chammon. In the coming months, the partner network is to be continuously supplemented with new partners in order to incorporate as different experiences as possible from the world of digitality – and to continue to expand the national, digital educational area mentioned by Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek.
The exchange will move along five central monthly topics that are relevant for all stakeholders: educational equality and democracy, relationships, didactics and learning culture, qualification offers and educational transitions and access to education. From July to November, the participants can meet in monthly dialogue forms and workshops – and work together on the specific focal points. “We are in the middle of the transformation,” summarized Anja Karliczek. “We have to roll up our sleeves!”
–
