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Press Release
30.11.2017
Launch of “bildung.digital”, the interstate digital education program
ARAG SE and the Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (German Foundation for Children and Youth, DKJS) are supporting schools in digital education development projects
- 40 full-day schools are now developing and implementing digital education concepts and receiving support through interstate school networks.
- The program will be officially launched in cooperation with the initiators – ARAG SE and the DKJS as well as the Bavarian Ministry of Culture – in Würzburg on 29 and 30 November 2017.
Schools all over Germany face the challenge posed by the digital revolution. In addition to offering instruction in languages, social studies and science, schools in the digitized society are called upon to help their students improve their media literacy. The digitization of school educational programs also offers numerous opportunities – for individualized curriculum design, for school community-building and for the management of school organizational processes. ARAG SE and the Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (DKJS) have initiated the “bildung.digital” program as a means of enabling schools in Germany to benefit from the opportunities offered by digitization.
Dr. Dr. h.c. Paul-Otto Faßbender, Chairman and CEO of ARAG SE: “ARAG has always been committed to promoting fair and equal opportunity for all through its business model. ARAG’s educational initiatives reflect this guiding principle, which is still as valid as ever today. Digital education is especially important to us. Digital learning offers school students immense potential for personal development, and we are happy to make our contribution.”
Dr. Heike Kahl, Managing Director of the Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung: “The digital revolution has brought about fundamental changes in learning and teaching processes in our schools. These processes can become more individualized, more intuitive and more self-determined. To implement digitized learning in actual practice, schools need to develop new concepts and engage in dialog with each other. With the ‘bildung.digital’ program we hope to promote that dialog and encourage those concerned to try new approaches.”
Forty full-day schools are now about to begin this process within the context of the “bildung.digital – Netzwerk ganztägig bilden” (Building a full-day digital education program) concept in cooperation with the states of Bavaria, Berlin, Hamburg, Hesse, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein. In four interstate school networks, participating educators will receive professional guidance in matters of digitized education, exchange views with other team members and representatives of other school and move their development projects ahead. The findings and experience gained in these networks will be made available to schools all over Germany online at the “bildung.digital – Themenportal für Schulen” portal beginning in 2018.
At the program kick-off event held at the Novum Businesscenter in Würzburg on 29 and 30 November 2018, Michael Rißmann from the Bavarian Ministry for Education and Culture, Science and Art, Klaus Heiermann from ARAG SE and Dr. Heike Kahl dis-cussed the joint “bildung.digital” project. Prof. Dr. Julia Gerick, from the University of Hamburg presented the findings of the “International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS),” focusing on the all-day aspect. Representing the “Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia Diensteanbieter (Voluntary Self-Control Multimedia Service Providers, FSM), Björn Schreiber presented the study entitled “Bildungspartnerschaften zwischen Schule und außerschulischen Akteuren der Medienbildung” (Educational Partnerships between Schools and External Media Education Services).
Participants were given an opportunity to try out various digital tools and familiarize themselves with digital education concepts tested at participating full-day schools. On the second day of the kick-off event, members of school teams took the opportunity to engage in discussion within their networks and move their development projects forward.
Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (DKJS)
The Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (DKJS) is dedicated to helping young people achieve educational success and participation in society. In support of that goal, the DKJS engages representatives of government, business, the educational community and civil society and works with them to develop practical responses to current challenges facing the educational system.