We are witnessing a period when education is changing. Groundbreaking shifts are happening in this field and the EU must be a part of this change. Open educational resources (OER) – improved by information and communication technologies – are used more and more in schools and universities. Digital technologies are exploited, but not to their full potential in education and training across the union. There is a great potential in OER, but there are challenges which must be overcome, and that could use the help of the European commission.
In the EU, in light of the current economic crisis, and against the backdrop of high youth unemployment, an increasingly important challenge is to provide young people with quality education in order for them to adapt to the new realities of the labour market. There are high levels of unemployment, but at the same time there are a significant number of vacancies that cannot be filled, due to skills gaps. The continuous updating of knowledge and skills (especially digital skills) is essential for successful labour market integration, and OER can help in this direction.
The European aim is to enjoy a single labour market, but this is only a theory at the moment. Any university graduate may engage in any job market virtually anywhere in Europe; there should be no barriers, but in practice, the differences are tremendous. In all 28 member states, the knowledge that students acquire in school can differ greatly from state to state and, even within the EU, there are differences between west and east and north and south.
"The uneven availability of digital infrastructure across the union poses [a] challenge"
As the European Union is diverse, there are obviously fears that changes in technique may lead to a further fragmentation of teaching and learning approaches. The uneven availability of digital infrastructure across the union poses another challenge. Europe must catch up with other parts of the world, such as the United States and Asia. The solution to this problem must lie in EU support and frameworks (the Erasmus+ programme already gives funding for such strategies), and in cooperation between member states and regions.
The use of open educational resources has many advantages and access to educational materials is made easier. However, challenges can arise in different areas, such as quality control, which languages may be used, access to the internet, or the training of teachers. OER are more commonly used in universities and are mainly in English, but we must encourage their use in primary and secondary school and for them to be produced in pupils' own languages.
We are witnessing the emergence of educational courses and other resources available via the internet, either free as OER or as paid-for resources. Knowledge is increasingly available for everyone, and often for free. There is a need for harmonisation of existing limitations and exceptions in copyright for the purpose of illustration for non-commercial teaching. This can help to facilitate OER and distance learning across borders and allow European platforms to compete globally by creating economies of scale.
The use of OER requires investment in education facilities that are well-equipped in terms of ICT, but at the same time we must not forget the importance of traditional ways of teaching and learning. In the field of education and training, it is essential to continue to improve existing methods and promote innovative ones, in order to make a strong contribution towards reaching the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy and making lifelong learning a reality.