The state of digital education discussed in Malta

From 19th to 20th of January, Malta hosted an international conference on the topic of digital education, with the title “The State of Digital Education: Engaging with Connected, Blended and Open Learning”. Our Executive Committee member, Aleksandar Šušnjar, participated in the conference on behalf of the European Students’ Union.

Most of the talks and discussions tackled one of the two broad issues: digitalization of education (e-learning, blended learning, impact and development of MOOCs) its possible future development, and open education (open access to all learning resources which are a part of the educational process).

“Participants agreed that digitalization is definitely one of the main elements of the future development of education, as well as a big opportunity to improve the quality of education. However, several issues which still need to be addressed are the question of using digital tools to broaden accessibility of education and the development of new pedagogies for digital teaching and learning.

Students warned that digitalisation may turn into a double-edged sword if it’s used as an excuse for further education budget cuts in the name of efficiency.

In this regard, education should not be the one to follow societal changes, but the one to lead such changes. Open education, on the other hand, was recognized as founded on the principles of public responsibility of education and educational stakeholders, and as a huge potential for future development.” says Aleksandar Šušnjar.

One of the most prevalent messages of the conference was that there is still a lot of work to do in order to maximise the usefulness of digitalisation for a better learning experience and that all stakeholders should dedicate a lot of attention to this process in the following period.

Photo source: https://www.eu2017.mt/en/Events/Pages/The-state-of-Digital-Education-Engaging-with-connected,-blended-and-open-learning.aspx