The ETF digital education reform framework 2.0

Over the last five years, digitalisation has taken centre stage in education and training like never before. In 2020, the global wave of online learning set in motion by the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the potential of digital technologies to make lifelong learning systems more resilient, efficient and inclusive, but also highlighted important equity and exclusion challenges in digital education (European Training Foundation, 2020). A few years later, the growing popularity of generative AI (GenAI) tools, along with the opportunities and challenges these technologies bring to education, have sparked debates on how to best integrate them into educational settings. In response, countries are investing more in modernising their education systems to make them more digital. In parallel, experts seem to agree that, given the complexity of the field and the multiplicity of actors involved, policymakers in charge of digital education should be aware of the many existing policy options and their respective benefits and risks. They must also understand that the steps involved in implementing, running and monitoring a digital education initiative must be tailored to the dynamics of contemporary digital ecosystems.