File:DigitalLearning DE.pdf

Summary

The description of the German educational system reveals that fostering specific education in schools and other educational institutions is not easy for the national government due to the fact that education is up to the federal states of Germany. This chapter reveals that many different approaches to digital learning have been developed by the states and the schools, and introduces which changes have been made so far to achieve digital learning. A categorization of the different levels of K-12 schools according to their stage on the journey to digital transformation is provided in this chapter. The “Digital Pact” (“Digitalpakt,” see below), which is Germany’s most important initiative to enhance the digital competences of young people by boosting digital education with an historic funding program, is explained. It is shown how this program accelerated digitalization in German and why it came at the right time to provide an effective means of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. On the basis of the Digital Pact, many innovative programs could be funded, and digital learning could be fostered in a sustainable way. It is claimed that school and teacher attitudes changed, and interest in digital learning increased. It is argued, however, that the digital change led to overload for teachers because concepts and technical administration is up to them, besides all of the teaching tasks. Additionally, the national government did not announce if and when the Digital Pact will be continued when it expires in 2024. Will the positive proceedings of the digital learning of recent years come to a turning point soon?

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