Digital Media in Education TAB Report

• Duration: 2015 – 2016
• Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter

Funding institution: Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag

As a comprehensive process of social change, digitalization is also affecting institutions in various areas of education. Education policy, research and the public have been dealing with the “new media” for over two decades, and their importance in education and training is constantly growing. With their ability to process data digitally, computers, tablets, smartphones etc. enable the comprehensive provision, storage and dissemination of this data. Access to these current digital tools and the ability to use them are an important prerequisite for social and professional participation.

At the same time, the use of digital media in schools, universities, professions and further education is also caught between the technological developments of the Internet to the ubiquitous and universally usable “Social Web” or “Web 2.0” on the one hand and the necessary media skills of teachers and learners to adequately use these types of media in an educational context on the other. In addition, there are the technical, legal and organizational requirements that are necessary to be able to exploit the potential that arises from the interactive nature of new media for their use in the various areas of education.

At the same time, however, skills in dealing with digital media and critical reflection on their use are difficult to verify and their importance for learning effectiveness has not yet been directly proven. Nevertheless, there is often a desideratum in education policy to formulate requirements for media literacy as a cross-sectional competence in all personal development stages and educational settings. This also raises fundamental questions about the effects of the “omnipresence” of digital media on the performance of the education and training system, its equal opportunities and its ability to integrate.

Of particular individual and social importance is the question of the extent to which education increasingly influenced by digital media shapes the course of life in terms of employment-related options and what effects digital media have on the institutional structure of the education system. The sufficient availability of current ICT systems for use by educational institutions and learners is also a relevant aspect of the digitalization of education, both in terms of hardware and software systems and content offerings adapted to them. In addition to accessibility, there are also special requirements regarding the protection of (personal) data.

The TAB Working Report No. 171 “Digital Media in Education” summarizes the relevant scientific findings on the scope and consequences of the diverse uses of new types of digital media in education and for teaching and learning methods. For the various educational contexts, it identifies the necessary framework conditions for the use of new digital media while exploiting their potential. At the same time, obstacles and challenges to the use of digital media in education are identified and the necessary conditions and possibilities for overcoming them are presented.

The report was presented and put up for discussion at a public meeting of the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment on June 8, 2016.