Berlin Germany has become significantly more digital because of the corona pandemic. But while refugee children from Ukraine can take part in online lessons in their home country from here, in many cases German schools have not yet been digitized.
This is also suggested by a new study that was prepared by the mmb Institute on behalf of the FDP-affiliated Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and is available exclusively to the Handelsblatt.
It says: “Among other things, there is a lack of network infrastructure, suitable equipment, IT support and expert teaching staff.” Above all, the “school bureaucracy” has proven to be an obstacle, with its “lengthy, strategically unconnected and poorly coordinated in everyday life , mutually blocking organizational” processes.
Karl-Heinz Paqué, CEO of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, says: “The lack of digitization in schools has taken its toll in the corona pandemic.” Despite some progress in the last two years, the problem has not been solved.
“Especially the school administrations must finally move and use the many levers that are still hindering the digitization of schools,” demands Paqué. Above all, this includes giving the schools more freedom to make their own decisions – for example to use the money from the digital pact.
Different interests inhibit digitization
In fact, the lack of digitization in schools can hardly be explained by a lack of financial resources. Because the Digital Pact for Schools has been in place since 2019, which is now equipped with 6.5 billion euros due to the pandemic.
The goal is the “wide-spread development of a modern digital education infrastructure”. However, according to information published by the Federal Ministry of Education in March, only around 1.2 billion euros had been paid out by the end of 2021. According to the ministry, 2.4 billion euros have already been approved but not yet paid out.
The children are often better at using the devices than the teachers, and that is also a problem.
(Photo: dpa)
The mmb researchers also examined the processes of school bureaucracy and asked how schools, politics and administration can work together more effectively. The conclusion: So far, the school, school administration, municipality and federal state have each behaved “stubbornly”. Networked thinking and acting were missing.
“Teachers think about purchasing devices that go well with their didactic ideas,” the authors of the study sum up. On the other hand, funding law-compliant distribution of funds would be important for school authorities, and data protection authorities the requirements of the GDPR.
According to the study, state authorities often act “from a great height, in accordance with their educational guidelines and specifications”. In addition, the schools themselves cannot solve some problems. This is the case with broadband expansion or a shortage of skilled workers in the IT sector, which represents a “decisive brake” on school digitization.
Guidelines and model contracts instead of individual purchases
Researching the need for digitization empirically is also almost impossible. Sluggish processing, absence of employees, long coordination processes: Approval procedures in the state ministries for student or teacher surveys are “extremely lengthy”. The educational researchers therefore advocate a two-week period and a kind of “shipment tracking in the office”.
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And to make schools more digital, the researchers suggest the following:
- Procurement of devices and digital learning media
- Teacher training and IT support
- Application for funds from the digital pact
Computers, laptops, tablets, projectors, printers, whiteboards or data glasses are therefore the prerequisite for digitized learning processes. When it comes to procurement, however, there are problems between the schools and the school authorities. The same applies to digital learning materials, i.e. the software.
She must now ensure that schools are digitized more quickly.
(Photo: imago images/Metodi Popow)
The authors of the study recommend: The authorities should issue guidelines for hardware and software procurement, as they are repeatedly requested by school officials. “Such a guideline should not shy away from making recommendations for specific products or manufacturers – as has long been the case with textbooks.”
In addition, the public procurement law must also be checked: “It cannot be the task of school management to take care of the tendering of individual purchases.” The school authorities can, for example, negotiate model contracts with software manufacturers.
School authorities are overwhelmed with the digital pact
The study also states: “Even if suitable devices are available, it is of little use if they cannot be maintained and the teaching staff cannot, may or do not want to use them”. In order to familiarize teachers with the devices, the authors of the study propose internal training courses for teachers, so-called micro-training courses. That saves time and money.
In addition, school administrations and teachers, but also school authorities, need support from specialist staff. For example, “small, agile, interdisciplinary” teams could go to schools to help them with the
development of media concepts and to help the school authorities in the development of media development plans.
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It is also conceivable to create a separate training occupation for school IT specialists. In addition, IT specialists in the public sector could be better paid so that schools can compete with the private sector.
In the end there is still the problem with the digital pact: According to the study, the school authorities feel overwhelmed. Because once the devices and infrastructure for operation have been procured, they also have to pay for repairs and support. And the schools describe it as “very demanding” to write media education concepts for the application.
The educational researchers say that a simplified procurement process could be considered here. This could be done, for example, by allocating a free budget to schools, so that digital devices, learning software, or support services can be purchased independently: “The aim here would be to give schools more freedom to improve their own equipment more quickly and flexibly .”
Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) has already announced that she wants to work with the federal states and municipalities to remove the hurdles in the digital pact. In the coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP pledge to significantly “accelerate and reduce bureaucracy” in the procedure.
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