Just How Digital Are German Schools?
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Based on the findings of a fourth survey – which was preceded the Federal Indicators carried out by the IFS in 2015, 2016 and 2017 – the study provides up-to-date information on the use of digital media in teaching and learning in general secondary schools in Germany. The representative survey, in which a total of 1,512 teachers at the lower secondary level participated, provides a comprehensive view of the extent to which digital media have already made their way into classrooms and highlights the developments throughout the various federal states. Released four years after the previous Federal Indicator, the 2021 study continues to focus on topics that are central to teaching and learning with digital media: IT equipment in schools and IT support, the use of digital media in the classroom, the promotion of computer- and information-related skills among schoolchildren, and teachers’ ability to deal with digital media in class.
Teachers find IT equipment in schools inadequate
Just over half (56.6 percent) of the teachers surveyed described the IT equipment in their schools as sufficient – this figure has barely increased since the 2017 survey (55.6 percent). When asked about the availability of adequate internet access in their schools, the teachers’ responses were even more critical: While over two thirds (67.3 percent) of the respondents in 2017 described their internet access as sufficient, only 53.7 percent share this opinion in 2021. “The IT equipment in schools does not seem to be keeping up with the technical and pedagogical requirements for teaching and learning with digital media,” says Dr. Ramona Lorenz.
The percentage of teachers at the lower secondary level in Germany who use digital media on a regular basis (at least once a week) has risen sharply: From 50.1 percent (2017) to 73.3 percent (2021). When compared to other education systems, Germany is falling behind in this regard.
The coronavirus pandemic posed many challenges for schools – particularly on a technical level. Almost three quarters (73.6 percent) of the teachers surveyed in Germany stated that schoolchildren had the option of borrowing digital devices such as laptops or tablets if they did not have adequate equipment at home for distance learning. Three fifths (60.1 percent) of the teachers claimed to have noticed an improvement in this situation since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Different regional focuses
However, the 2021 Federal Indicator also clearly shows that the federal states are continuing to develop at different rates and are setting different priorities with regard to “digital teaching and learning materials in the classroom”. For instance, while 87 percent of the teachers surveyed in Bavaria stated that they use digital media in the classroom at least once a week, only 57 percent said the same in Hamburg. When considered as a whole, the findings of the study indicate that additional action is required, particularly in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg and Thuringia. This suggests that the educational opportunities of children and young people as well as general teaching and learning conditions continue to depend heavily on the individual’s place of residence – despite the nationwide strategies and measures implemented in Germany.
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