ALLEA Statement in Response to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on Digital Education and Digital Skills

The European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) is committed to supporting the advancement of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education throughout Europe to equip young students with the skills and knowledge to develop into active and informed citizens. The ALLEA Working Group on Science Education therefore welcomes the opportunity to share its recommendations on the European Commission’s initiatives for “Digital education – enabling factors for success” and “Digital skills – improving their provision”.

The aim of both initiatives is to build support for stakeholders in European countries to further develop the field of digital education and training in all age groups and institutions. In order for the proposed actions to be implemented most effectively, we recommend that a systemic approach is needed that addresses teaching and learning at different levels: policy, research, curriculum design, teacher education, and practice. In addition, we propose that a greater emphasis be placed on interdisciplinarity, the integrated nature of digital technologies within STEM education, and the critical roles of empirical educational research, initial teacher education (ITE) and teachers’ professional learning (TPL). We illustrate our arguments with a subject that will have significant impact in the field of digital education in the coming years — Artificial Intelligence (AI).