EUROPEAN COMMISSION
PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 25 September 2013
Commission launches 'Opening up Education' to boost
innovation and digital skills in schools and universities
More than 60% of nine year olds in the EU are in schools which are still not digitally
equipped. The European Commission today unveils 'Opening up Education', an action plan
to tackle this and other digital problems which are hampering schools and universities
from delivering high quality education and the digital skills which 90% of jobs will require
by 2020. To help kick-off the initiative, the Commission today launches a new website,
Open Education Europa, which will allow students, practitioners and educational
institutions to share free-to-use open educational resources.
Between 50% and 80% of students in EU countries never use digital textbooks, exercise
software, broadcasts/podcasts, simulations or learning games. Most teachers at primary
and secondary level do not consider themselves as 'digitally confident' or able to teach
digital skills effectively, and 70% would like more training in using ICTs. Pupils in Latvia,
Lithuania and the Czech Republic are the most likely to have internet access at school
(more than 90%), twice as much as in Greece and Croatia (around 45%).
Higher education also faces a digital challenge: with the number of EU students set to rise
significantly in the next decade, universities need to adapt traditional teaching methods
and offer a mix of face-to-face and online learning possibilities, such as MOOCs (Massive
Open Online Courses), which allow individuals to access education anywhere, anytime and
through any device. But many universities are not ready for this change.
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A joint initiative led by Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture,
Multilingualism and Youth, and Neelie Kroes, Commission Vice-President, responsible for
the Digital Agenda, Opening up Education focuses on three main areas:
1. Creating opportunities for organisations, teachers and learners to innovate;
2. Increased use of Open Educational Resources (OER), ensuring that educational
materials produced with public funding are available to all; and
3. Better ICT infrastructure and connectivity in schools.
"The education landscape is changing dramatically, from school to university and beyond:
open technology-based education will soon be a 'must have', not just a 'good-to-have', for
all ages. We need to do more to ensure that young people especially are equipped with
the digital skills they need for their future. It's not enough to understand how to use an
app or program; we need youngsters who can create their own programs. Opening up
Education is about opening minds to new learning methods so that our people are more
employable, creative, innovative and entrepreneurial," said Commissioner Vassiliou.
Vice-President Kroes added: "My dream is to have every classroom digital by 2020.
Education must be connected to real life; it cannot be a parallel universe. Young people
want to use digital technology in every aspect of life. They need digital skills to get jobs.
All of our schools and universities, not just some of them, must reflect that reality."
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 to support teachers’ development through open online
courses. All educational materials supported by Erasmus+ will be freely available to the
public under open licences.
Background
We are living in connected societies, where more and more people of all ages use digital
technologies in their everyday lives. However, when many children go to school, they
enter a system that doesn't reflect this everyday reality.
The online world is changing how education is resourced, delivered and enjoyed. Over the
next 10 years, the e-Learning market is projected by some to grow fifteen-fold,
accounting for 30% of the whole education market. The benefits of these developments
should be available to all Europeans.
This transformation should be shaped by educators and policy-makers, rather than
something that simply happens to them.
A recent survey of the use of ICT in schools found that only one-in-four 9 year olds study
at a 'highly digitally-equipped school' – with recent equipment, fast broadband (10mbps
plus) and high 'connectivity' (website, email for students and teachers, local area network,
virtual learning environment). Only half of 16 year olds are in such 'highly digitallyequipped schools' and 20% of secondary students have never or almost never used a
computer in their school lessons.
The impact of Opening up Education will be boosted by recommendations due to be
published next summer by the high level group for the modernisation of higher education.
The group, launched by Commissioner Vassiliou and chaired by Ireland’s former President,
Mary McAleese, is currently assessing how higher education can make best use of new
modes of teaching and learning.
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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 900,000 unfilled ICT-related vacancies.
For more information
MEMO/13/813 Opening up Education – Frequently Asked Questions
Communication on 'Opening up Education: Innovative teaching and learning for all
through new Technologies and Open Educational Resources'
Staff Working Document 'Analysis and mapping of innovative teaching and learning for all
through new Technologies and Open Educational Resources in Europe'
European Commission: Education and training
Digital Agenda and Education
Digital skills and jobs in the European Commission
Androulla Vassiliou's website
Neelie Kroes website
Twitter @VassiliouEU and @NeelieKroesEU
Contacts :
Dennis Abbott (+32 2 295 92 58); Twitter: @DennisAbbott
Dina Avraam (+32 2 295 96 67)
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