Shaping the future of education… online
The European Commission’s latest communication and new Digital Education Action Plan aims to strengthen the contribution of education and training to the EU's recovery from the coronavirus crisis and help build a green and digital Europe.
The European Education Area and the Digital Education Action Plan are essential for European recovery and future growth. So said European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel.
Slated for completion by 2025, the European Education Area is expected to bring to the education and training communities the support they need to fulfil their mission.
“Education and training have faced huge disruption due to COVID-19 and a quick shift to distance and online learning,” she said. “The mass use of technology has revealed gaps and exposed weaknesses. This is also an opportunity to reset education and training for the digital age.”
The European Education Area will be based on a life-long learning approach, covering all age groups and aspects – from making education and training more inclusive and enhancing competence and motivation in the teaching profession. These are objectives fully in sync with the objectives of the TAXEDU portal, which contributes to the fiscal education of children, teens and young adults across Europe.
The TAXEDU model
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the TAXEDU portal has been creating, promoting and disseminating high-quality learning content and best practices, as well as user-friendly tools and digital teaching materials and resources. Content includes a multilingual training catalogue and the teachers’ corner providing material available in 22 languages, as well as eight e-learning courses and plenty of audio-visual treats, including a computer game Taxlandia!
To continue helping teachers address the numerous challenges related to online teaching, the portal is committed to presenting the online resources provided by the European Commission. Find them in our article dedicated to Education in the age of COVID-19.
How do you think the European Education Area and the new Digital Education Action Plan will change your classroom? Share your thoughts with other teachers in the TAXEDU Forum!
Majority consider crisis as a turning point
From June to September 2020, the Commission ran a public consultation to gather the views of citizens and stakeholders on the future of digital education during the COVID-19 recovery period and beyond.
The vast majority (95 %) of respondents to the public consultation on the Digital Education Action Plan said they consider the crisis as a turning point for the way technology is used in education and training. “This is a momentum to shape and modernise education for the digital age,” said Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager.
What’s next?
To ensure the European Education Area will be achieved by 2025, a mid-term review event will be organised with the European Parliament in 2023.
The Commission is determined to press ahead with initiatives to shape the future of education in Europe. Vice-President for Promoting the European way of live, Margaritis Schinas, said: “We propose new initiatives to learn and work together across the continent. For our youth, for our citizens, for our prosperity.”
Further reading