C Explanatory memorandum
by Lord Alexander Dundee, rapporteur
1 Introduction
1. In May 2021, in the wake of
measures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Committee on Culture,
Science, Education and Media tabled a
motion for a resolution on a question which has had a significant impact on
pupils and students, as well as their educational institutions.
The goal was to identify the lessons learnt and their scope for
promoting online learning and cross-border co-operation beyond the pandemic.
2. Millions of people are eager for proper access to knowledge
and education, yet many are either denied it or else given insufficient
access. This report focuses on online education and user-friendly
programmes and courses which could appeal to both young and advanced
students as well as to adult learners and professionals. It aims
at assessing different approaches to online learning and new forms
of open higher education. These may have been developed by several
different educational institutions. The report will also draw attention
to online research networks, which have flourished in recent years
in all Council of Europe member States.
3. Targeted public support for educational institutions and students,
criteria for admissions of those studying abroad, recognition of
distance-learning accomplishments, and inter-institutional co-operation
across national borders are still in their infancy and need to be
further analysed.
4. The Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly are well
placed to address this issue and to put forward recommendations
to member States. The aim is to ensure that online education develops
in ways that are consistent with the values of democracy, human
rights and the rule of law, promote democratic citizenship and participation,
non-discrimination, broad access to inclusive quality education,
internationalisation of higher education and lifelong learning as
well as the principles of ethics, transparency and integrity in
education.
5. Our committee organised three hearings: firstly, on 2 December
2021, with the participation of Dr Michael Remmert, Head of the
Education Policy Division, DGII – Directorate General of Democracy,
Council of Europe, and Professor Derek Robertson, School of Education
and Social Work, University of Dundee, United Kingdom; secondly,
on 23 June 2022, with Sir Ian Livingstone, author and entrepreneur,
United Kingdom; thirdly, on 5 December 2022, with Dr Christian M. Stracke,
Co-ordinator for Virtual Collaboration at the German University
of Excellence in Bonn and former Chair of the International Council
for Open and Distance Education, Mr Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, Deputy
Head of Division, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation
(CERI), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
Paris, and Mr Mark West, Project Officer, Future of Learning and
Innovation Team, UNESCO, Paris.
2 Defining distance learning, e-Learning
and online learning
6. The scientific community has
yet to agree on common definitions of the terms “distance learning”,
“e-learning” and “online learning”. In spite of that, technology
continues to innovate relentlessly. Some non-exhaustive definitions
available in scientific literature
Note are as follows:
- Distance learning means the
delivery of teaching materials, using both print and electronic
media. The latter delivery includes an instructor who is physically
in a different place from the learner, as well as possibly teaching
from a different time zone. While distance learning tends to imply
the assimilation of skills, distance education, on the other hand,
is instead simply taken to be the learning of any subject at a distance.
The term “distance learning” is sometimes understood to contain
a pejorative element, as if its obvious restrictions of time and
place are bound to be disadvantages, even if that might not be the case
at all.
- E-learning, a term which started circulating in the 1980's,
is a form of learning that is accessible via technological tools
that are web-based, web-distributed, or web-capable (including teaching
methods delivered via CD-ROM, audio and videotapes, satellite broadcasting,
and interactive TV). However, although its electronic techniques
are useful, e-learning must still show that from their application
the learner has gained knowledge all the same. Interactive learning
between teacher and learner is also assumed to be part of the process
or offer of e-learning; or at least considered to be part of its
future scope and development.
- The term online learning may appear to be hardly different
from that of distance learning. Its definition is access to learning
experiences through the use of some technology. Yet its claim to
differ from distance learning may rest not so much upon its present
analysis but rather more upon its future prospects. For online learning
is already viewed as an updated version of distance learning, which
improves access to educational opportunities, thanks to its connectivity,
flexibility and ability to promote varied forms of interactive education.
7. Other forms of learning range from technology-mediated, online
collaborative, interactive, to virtual or web-based learning. The
first prerequisite is that some form of teaching occurs between
two parties (a learner and an instructor). The second is that this
should happen at different times and/or places. Thirdly, that different forms
of teaching materials are used.
8. Distance education has increased along with the development
of technologies and the implementation of new educational approaches.
For each mode of engagement, different types of knowledge, learning,
and contexts must be applied. In turn these challenge distance educators
and students alike to select the best mix of both pedagogy and technology.
9. The first e-learning experiences of the 1990s computer-assisted
instruction refer to cognitive-behavioural approaches, with a focus
on individual learning. The “third generation”, marked by the advent
of the internet and the introduction of the first courseware platforms,
has greatly influenced the definition of new systems for online
training.
Note
10. New technologies certainly inform and inspire learning design.
The network may now have become indispensable and part of daily
life; its digital tools and environment facilitating unexpected
endeavours and outcomes along with journeys towards hitherto unanticipated
horizons: those of communicating, sharing, negotiating, and building
of knowledge. The central feature being an unprecedented high level
of interaction between the internet players involved. Thus equally
the education corollary being a blue international open sky of fresh
opportunity for learning and the acquisition of knowledge.
3 Council
of Europe’s work and online education
11. International organisations,
such as the Council of Europe, are well placed to find out what
are the shared interests and needs of its member States, offer platforms
of co-operation for national and international experts to collaborate,
take stock of their collective intelligence, then develop joined-up
thinking.
12. The Council of Europe’s Digital Agenda 2022-2025 calls on
member States to examine the implications of advanced digital technologies,
in particular artificial intelligence systems on education, then
develop new policy tools to help member States. This along with
their digital transformation of school education and higher education
in order to widen opportunities for all.
14. In particular, policy makers are encouraged to explore ways
to safeguard the quality of online education from gender, ethnic,
cultural, age and other stereotypes. The hasty transition to online
teaching and learning during the pandemic has exposed the gaps in
digital infrastructures and skills between schools, regions, countries
and socio-economic backgrounds. One of the main disadvantages of
remote e-learning is that it can deepen inequalities and reinforce
stereotypes.
15. The Covid-19 pandemic also caused a focus upon the relevance
of micro-credentials. These relate to “a certified small volume
of learning”, often in an online format. Micro-credentials once
awarded then enable the students concerned to take on jobs connected
to new and emerging needs in society and the labour market. It is
essential to work on common quality standards for micro-credentials
and ensure their recognition.
16. Member States were encouraged to guarantee free access to
virtual learning environments. Students should have access to the
software and the tools they need for learning, like simulators and
virtual reality programmes. Open educational resources must be prioritised
as public education cannot be dependent on digital platforms provided
by private companies.
17. The Assembly also noted the negative effects of the pandemic
upon education. These include the absence of socialisation and the
undermining of personal development. The physical health of learners
has also been adversely affected by the extended use of digital
devices. These factors, combined with enforced loneliness, have
posed challenges to students’ mental health and well-being. Quality
online education has to recognise collaborative group work as a
powerful means to help change behaviours and attain better results. Sharing
experiences, giving feedback and working to a common plan, since
all increase motivation, thereby lead to richer and enduring outcomes:
covering higher levels and more creative forms of thinking, while equipping
learners with relevant social and emotional skills.
18. In the early days of the pandemic, the Council of Europe Education
Steering Committee tasked the Education Department’s Digital Citizenship
expert group to develop lesson programmes. These would help educators
discuss with their students relevant topics ranging from cyberbullying,
fake news, solidarity to responsible consumption, such topics being
suitable for teaching in online learning environments (thereafter translated
into various languages) to which so many schools resorted during
different stages of the pandemic.
19. All the training offers are now gathered under one umbrella,
where new training methods can relate to recent developments and
emerging challenges. These comprise online workshops and webinars
bringing together education professionals from different countries.
Recently, a webinar on video game culture discussed the pedagogical
potential of video games as a cultural tool offering incentives
for learning, personal development and fun.
20. Online learning should be able to foster a culture of democracy,
as set out in the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences
for Democratic Culture, especially in the context of the pandemic.
Yet equally so within other adverse conditions and circumstances
including those of climate change, populism, political extremism,
authoritarian rule, disinformation and online hate speech.
21. Citizens need to be fortified in the first place with a set
of key competences. Principally these are critical understanding,
empathy, self-efficacy, flexibility and adaptability. They also
include tolerance of ambiguity, and civic mindedness. Training of
teachers on the RFCDC and the Digital Citizenship Education Programme
will be among the top priorities of the Education Department over
the coming years.
22. Several projects have already identified new avenues for action.
These relate to the digital transformation of education and the
growing use of artificial intelligence, including standard-setting
instruments on inclusive online learning and the right to education
in times of emergency. Developments are also expected in the field
of fraud prevention; occurring through digitalisation in education
and higher education and the modalities of recognition of qualifications
obtained via online education or transnational education.
23. In 2019, the Committee of Ministers adopted a recommendation
on digital citizenship education in which a central focus was the
application of artificial intelligence in educational contexts.
Note The
2022 Council of Europe report on “Artificial Intelligence and education
– a critical view through the lens of human rights, democracy and the
rule of law” explores both the application and the teaching of artificial
intelligence in education, while also assessing opportunities and
challenges.
Note
24. Regarding the recognition of foreign qualifications, the Council
of Europe, with UNESCO, is co-depository of the Convention on the
Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European
Region (ETS No. 165, Lisbon Recognition Convention). This consists
of 54 contracting Parties and includes 44 out of the 46 Council
of Europe member States. The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated existing
trends and developments of digitalisation in the recognition field,
including the use of online verification systems and databases.
The last monitoring report on the implementation of the Lisbon Recognition
Convention indicated that 83% of countries have online open databases/resources
for information. The report also noted that “the recognition process
has become faster and smoother while, at the same time, a fair,
transparent and accessible evaluation of qualifications in line
with Lisbon Recognition Convention principles and criteria has been
guaranteed (...)”.
25. The recognition of qualifications of migrants was specifically
addressed in the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees –
an important instrument, which allows the recognition of qualifications
of refugees, even when their papers are incomplete. That project,
which celebrates its 5th anniversary this year, is gaining political
momentum, with 20 countries already participating.
26. Students’ virtual mobility and “internationalisation at home”,
are already having an impact on the recognition of qualifications.
Based on the work of the ETINED Platform, the Platform on Ethics,
Transparency and Integrity in Education, the Committee of Ministers
recently adopted a draft recommendation to member States on countering
education fraud and promoting ethics, transparency and integrity
in education.
Note ETINED also addresses
the impact of online teaching on final qualifications and how to
protect personal data and prevent the growing numbers of diploma
mills, along with fake and fraudulent qualifications.
27. The Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape
and EBLIDA (the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation
Associations) have been drafting Guidelines on library legislation
and policy in Europe,
Note which include online learning and
research.
28. Furthermore, the Council of Europe HELP online platform (Human
Rights Education for Legal Professionals) is a successful example
of online courses covering various human rights-related topics.
These combine European Union and Council of Europe law and case
law, and assist judges, prosecutors and lawyers to apply both systems
in a practical and effective way.
Note The
platform offers self-study courses, available publicly with unlimited
access, as well as tutored courses, organised in co-operation with
national partner institutions and facilitated by a certified HELP
tutor. Successful participants are certified jointly by the HELP Programme
and the national partner institution.
29. Council of Europe’s efforts regarding online courses should
be reinforced and seek possible synergies with the private sector,
non-governmental institutions and other national and international
organisations, in line with human rights standards.
4 International
action
30. The Centre for Educational
Research and Innovation of the OECD has also analysed online tertiary education
and pedagogic innovation, since universities are bringing e-learning
into the mainstream of their programmes and offer entire courses
to students enrolling from their home country. The impact of Open Educational
Resources on education systems has also become an issue of public
policy and international intergovernmental organisations such as
UNESCO, the Council of Europe, EU and OECD play a prominent role
as well.
31. In 2019, UNESCO launched Open Educational Resources,
Note which the pandemic had brought to
the forefront of the agenda in a large number of member States.
The Council of Europe ought to complement this effort, in particular
by reducing the geographical and linguistic divide, while encouraging
regulations by public authorities of the offer of private industries
producing digital educational resources (accessibility, affordability, non-discrimination,
reduction of the social divide, responsiveness to the local context,
multilingualism etc.).
32. At European level, the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027)
is an initiative of the European Union. This calls for greater co-operation
among European countries to seize opportunities offered by online
learning and support the development of digital education systems.
It provides funding in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity
and high-performance computing, while also promoting the development
of advanced digital skills. These are considered a priority by the
EU, as the decision to mark 2023 the “European Year of Skills” indicates.
The EU has also marked 2025 as the “European Year of Digital Citizenship Education”.
5 The
use of computer or video games in education
33. Debates held in the committee
also pointed to some harm caused by the rhetoric of digital education. For
descriptions of digital “revolution”, “transformation” and “improvement”
are often evocative, aspirational and misleading stories, rather
than sober, objective and accurate accounts of actual changes in
education.
34. Today, a growing field of research is also focusing on the
beneficial effects of computer games in education and the ways in
which students can learn without being able to explain how. Online
games can often enable the learner to take an interest in a wider
selection of subjects while also improving the ability to understand
and assimilate items of knowledge themselves.
35. Not least is the learning process demonstrated by children
interacting with others in their environment. Play represents a
social form of embodied imagination, leading as it does to advantages
ranging from quite complex symbolic constructions, control of behaviour,
co-operation with others to the understanding of expected limits.
Learners are able to follow rules in play before they can adhere
to those in real-life situations.
36. Creativity and computing are necessary skills for the 21st
century. A report in 2019 by the Nesta foundation set out 20 recommendations
to the British Government in this area, highlighting the deficiencies
in the education system for the future of high-tech and digital
industries.
Note
37. The committee debates have underlined the importance of developing
good quality games paying special attention to the use of artificial
intelligence, subject, nevertheless, to proper regulation. Good
citizenship training can also become more effective through interactive
learning.
38. It makes sense to explore synergies between the video games
business and the Council of Europe’s training offer which could
match those programmes. The aim is to assess quality standards and
promote Council of Europe values of democracy, human rights and
the rule of law.
39. The Council of Europe ought to build up co-operation with
game developers in order to encourage the consideration and consolidation
of fundamental values in their products. That only corresponds to
a growing tendency in any case and there is a current trend among
independent game developers towards creating games with a socially
responsible focus. And it is also quite feasible for the video game
industry as a whole to collaborate in reviewing and updating the
existing human rights guidelines for game developers from 2008 so that
these include civic and social concerns as well.
40. Chiefly it is the payment of licensing fees which prevents
the use of games in schools. That apart, there is much future scope
for video games to enhance training and creativity. In terms of
gamification, video games can be viewed as a different way of online
education and learning. Examples are Microsoft Minecraft and LEGO Learning
Through Play. However, most of these high-quality games are not
free. And even if they were, other important issues in any case
to be taken into account include privacy, data protection and child
protection. Clearly, as soon as properly researched and deployed,
the promotion of socially responsible games initiatives allied to
award system incentives, then becomes a sensible and desirable direction
to take.
6 Conclusions
and recommendations
41. Online education should contribute
to building up a culture of democracy. It must not be left alone
to the private sector or dismissed as just another market. Even
more to the point, it has to avoid exacerbating existing gaps and
inequalities. Local authorities, regional administrations and national
education ministries ought to become much more active. They have
to co-operate at European and international levels, in order to
achieve the objectives outlined in this report.
42. The Council of Europe is well placed to address these issues:
firstly, in view of its mandate to promote democracy and respect
for human rights; and secondly, thanks to its existing standards
on education policies. In particular, it should work on:
- state of the art of online education
in Council of Europe member States;
- the strengths and weaknesses of online education (thus
admission criteria, use of artificial intelligence, teaching and
learning impact assessments, risks related to deepening inequalities
and reinforced stereotypes, possible negative effects of the extended
use of digital devices for physical and mental health; the rights
of the actors involved (students, teachers, researchers), and issues
related to fraud and trust in institutions;
- how perspectives of online education have changed with
emergency situations (pandemic, war, economic recession);
- future developments (learning analytics, open badges),
support ways for educational innovation (free online open education),
tools to enable accessibility (networks and infrastructures), online
cross-border co-operation between research institutions, etc;
- possible uses of online education to develop “personalised”
education which takes into account the specific strengths, interests
and needs of each student and creates a unique learning experience
based on individual traits;
- the role of the Council of Europe and interaction with
the private sector, including the computer games industry, as well
as other national and international organisations;
- the definition of common quality standards for the recognition
of online study periods as well as of certificates and diplomas
delivered, in particular also for degrees in higher education;
- development of common standards for micro-credentials,
including those in an online format, in order to ensure their transparency
and improve their scope for recognition.
