Educators in Europe agree: Schools are responsible for promoting future competencies – the so-called ’21st century skills’ – for students, which include digital competencies.
11/16/2022
nationally
press release
Vodafone Foundation
A survey of 3,082 teachers in 11 European countries conducted by IPSOS on behalf of the Vodafone Group Foundation shows that schools in European countries are prepared very differently for creating a digital culture in the classroom. There are significant differences between countries in a number of areas of digital education. For example, teachers from Greece, Spain and Portugal rated their digital teaching skills much higher than German teachers, who are at the bottom of the list in a European comparison.
“Especially since spring 2020, teachers in Germany have faced enormous challenges when it comes to digital teaching. Many have made the transition quickly. However, the results of our study show that not all teachers feel selected and empowered when it comes to digital education. Matthias Graf von Kelmansig explains, Managing Director of Vodafone Foundation Germany, the majority of them do not yet realize the full potential that good digital teaching can provide.”We want to successfully prepare the next generation of young people to face the challenges of an increasingly complex world. To do this, we must give teachers the opportunity to experience that good digital teaching is actually help and support rather than an added burden.”
Despite the shift to digital teaching and learning in times of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the study shows that the digital skills of European teachers are very different. In Germany, only 38 percent of teachers (48 percent in a European comparison) rated their digital skills as high. 24 percent of German teachers surveyed stated that they had little or no experience using digital technologies in the classroom. When it comes to teaching digital skills in schools, teachers surveyed in Germany are more pessimistic by comparison: 45 percent say their school is not currently equipped enough to teach digital skills adequately (38 percent in a European comparison).
Only a minority of teachers believe that digital technologies and media have the potential to make teaching more effective in general and to ease their teaching work. Fifty-seven percent of teachers say their students have better access to information through digital technologies. But only a third consider it an appropriate tool in the classroom to bring students of different learning speeds and learning strengths to a similar level. Only 17 percent see it as helping to improve the school performance of young people and only 15 percent see the potential for better support for children and young people with specific support needs (33 percent in a European comparison). Seventy-eight percent of European teachers also complain that regional governments’ expectations for digital education are too high and unrealistic – at least for the time being.
In an international comparison, it is noted that teachers in Germany ascribe a high but lower relevance to their students’ 21st century skills (in addition to digital skills, including a sense of responsibility, flexibility, and resilience) compared to their European colleagues. Very few German teachers see the use of digital technologies as an opportunity to enhance other future skills in addition to digital skills and thus contribute to broader educational goals.
The survey was conducted by opinion research institute Ipsos on behalf of the Vodafone Group Foundation. The survey was conducted in 11 countries: Albania, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Turkey.
The survey was conducted from May 4 to May 16. carried out June 2022. 3,082 teachers in elementary, middle and high schools were surveyed by phone, in person, or online. In Germany, 317 teachers were interviewed in person.
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