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Distance digital learning: gateway to the future?

ETF mapping report on distance digital learning in the EU Neighbourhood and Central Asia during COVID-19

The massive adoption of digital technology by public education systems, for years advocated by many, seems to have been achieved rapidly due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The ETF’s latest mapping report documents the achievements in distance digital learning in the EU neighbourhood and Central Asia during this period, the methods used, and how it has been managed, regulated and implemented. It focuses on the uptake across compulsory public education systems, and, where possible, in vocational and work-based learning contexts.

The priority during the pandemic has been on action, rather than monitoring, and there are knowledge gaps regarding the impact on learners and learning achievements, quality of learning and coverage. Distance digital learning is not a panacea: there are considerable challenges with respect to inclusion, pedagogy, connectivity, engagement and quality. Education policy makers are now challenged to coordinate, motivate and sustain these energies to remedy the detriments of COVID-19 and support education and training into the future.

The analysis is based on desk research and interviews conducted with counterparts from the ETF partner countries mostly from ministries and national agencies over a three-week period from 20 April to 13 May. Consult the full report for further detail. 

 

Photo by Fabio Caparelli, Unsplash

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Mapping distance digital learning, Covid-19 June 2020