“The future of education in the context of digitalisation and equal opportunities”
The study addresses some important questions about the education of the future, especially with regard to the optimal teaching of digital skills in Austrian schools.
Experts and employers were also asked to assess the most important skills and existing skills gaps. In addition to outlining the opportunities and challenges associated with basic digital education, the digitalisation of teaching and artificial intelligence (see Chapter 5), 28 recommendations for strategy and action were formulated (see Chapter 4.5), which can strengthen all four impact goals of the Austrian school system if implemented.
There are weaknesses in digital security and digital problem solving
However, this project was only a first systematic step on a very small scale. Many questions still need to be clarified. Above all, there is the question of representative, valid evidence on the current level of digital skills among Austrian students. The ICT data from Statistics Austria indicate that young people in Austria between the ages of 16 and 20 are competent in the areas of digital communication and collaboration, but that there are clear weaknesses in the areas of digital problem solving and further learning as well as digital security (see Chapter 4.2).
Need for new measuring instruments and definitions
However, these results are only a first step, as the survey asked about frequency of use and not knowledge, and should be reproduced or supplemented with valid data. To this end, the definitions of digital competence areas need to be sharpened and measurement instruments need to be developed and validated. Although this process is lengthy and requires many resources, it is essential in order to create a serious data basis from which the specific needs and teaching success can be derived.
Reducing the digital divide
The need to acquire digital skills should be identified for both pupils and adults in Austria in order to create equal opportunities in the use of digital media for their own (professional) lives in the long term and to reduce the digital divide of the second and third levels.
Digital expertise alone is not enough
This project focussed largely on (the teaching of) digital skills in the Austrian school system. However, teaching digital skills alone will not be enough to equip young people for the future. Above all, experts also named personal, social and learning competences (in the terminology of the European Commission’s key competences for lifelong learning; 2006) and the overlapping 4Cs (competences in communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking) of the non-profit organisation Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21) as critical future competences that need to be strengthened in schools (see chapter 4.1).
Research outlook
The questions remain open as to how these can be optimally taught in the classroom and how they can contribute to equal opportunities for students. This report makes an initial contribution to closing this “blind spot”. Ideally, however, the present project is only the beginning of systematic research projects with valid data that should provide forward-looking findings for the Austrian education system.
