242
J. Schulz et al.
Virtual University of Saxony can act as a shared platform.”
4 This could also
be regarded as a solution for cooperation with international partners. Furthermore, the subject-independent (interdisciplinary) qualification of educational
staff should be promoted to strengthen the effectiveness of the self-regulation
of students in online or blended learning scenarios, for example by acquiring
online tutoring skills and abilities. Finally, individual Saxony-wide preliminary
courses and online self-assessments are supported with the use and creation of
OER.
5
2. In the future, an innovative approach could be the cross-location consideration
of partly new forms of generating and disseminating knowledge and learning as
a starting point. In this respect, the network—the meaning to be generated in coconstruction—becomes the starting point and replaces the primarily local focus,
which is usually only brought together in a few cases afterwards. Area-related
co-existence is also practiced, especially in the higher education sector, overcoming the primary location reference. Indeed, examples exist of such common
practices of operating and, above all, using digital educational infrastructures.
These include the Saxony educational portal
6 (as mentioned above), the education servers of school administrations, and the nationwide network for open
educational resources, represented by OER Info
7 at the German Institute for
Educational Research (DIPF). Obviously, one may find examples of shared
developments across individual institutions, leading to new institutional forms.
What are the lessons learned from and opportunities for equal spatial development? As already shown, digitalisation enables especially peripheral and rural areas
to participate fully in educational processes. However, this aspiration has only been
met to a certain degree as yet because there is no successful interplay of a nationally
available, powerful and sustainable digital infrastructure, digital services, and the
highest possible degree of innovation. The Digitalization Strategy of the Free State
of Saxony calls for the facilitation of a “high quality and attractiveness of a digital
offer for all areas of life” (cf. SMWA 2019: 15). It is important to note, however,
that uninterrupted broadband access is an urgent requirement that had not yet been
met by 2019, especially in the rural areas of Saxony. In this respect, great hopes are
associated with the introduction of the new 5G standard in mobile communications,
which is an essential element of the infrastructure for networked systems, such as
required for autonomous driving on roads.
In his recent study on how to apply digitalisation in education in an effort to
trigger opportunities for equal spatial development, Schulz (2018) proposes reorganising broadband expansion and related investments in the digital infrastructure
in special-purpose (public or municipal) associations. Indeed, he suggests that such
4 https://www.spd-sachsen.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Koalitionsvertrag_2019-2024.pdf (cf.
page 16)
5 https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de/portal/parentpage/projekte/hochschulvorhaben/projekte-20192020/virtuelle-lehrkooperationen
6 https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de
7 https://open-educational-resources.de
J. Schulz et al.
Virtual University of Saxony can act as a shared platform.”
4 This could also
be regarded as a solution for cooperation with international partners. Furthermore, the subject-independent (interdisciplinary) qualification of educational
staff should be promoted to strengthen the effectiveness of the self-regulation
of students in online or blended learning scenarios, for example by acquiring
online tutoring skills and abilities. Finally, individual Saxony-wide preliminary
courses and online self-assessments are supported with the use and creation of
OER.
5
2. In the future, an innovative approach could be the cross-location consideration
of partly new forms of generating and disseminating knowledge and learning as
a starting point. In this respect, the network—the meaning to be generated in coconstruction—becomes the starting point and replaces the primarily local focus,
which is usually only brought together in a few cases afterwards. Area-related
co-existence is also practiced, especially in the higher education sector, overcoming the primary location reference. Indeed, examples exist of such common
practices of operating and, above all, using digital educational infrastructures.
These include the Saxony educational portal
6 (as mentioned above), the education servers of school administrations, and the nationwide network for open
educational resources, represented by OER Info
7 at the German Institute for
Educational Research (DIPF). Obviously, one may find examples of shared
developments across individual institutions, leading to new institutional forms.
What are the lessons learned from and opportunities for equal spatial development? As already shown, digitalisation enables especially peripheral and rural areas
to participate fully in educational processes. However, this aspiration has only been
met to a certain degree as yet because there is no successful interplay of a nationally
available, powerful and sustainable digital infrastructure, digital services, and the
highest possible degree of innovation. The Digitalization Strategy of the Free State
of Saxony calls for the facilitation of a “high quality and attractiveness of a digital
offer for all areas of life” (cf. SMWA 2019: 15). It is important to note, however,
that uninterrupted broadband access is an urgent requirement that had not yet been
met by 2019, especially in the rural areas of Saxony. In this respect, great hopes are
associated with the introduction of the new 5G standard in mobile communications,
which is an essential element of the infrastructure for networked systems, such as
required for autonomous driving on roads.
In his recent study on how to apply digitalisation in education in an effort to
trigger opportunities for equal spatial development, Schulz (2018) proposes reorganising broadband expansion and related investments in the digital infrastructure
in special-purpose (public or municipal) associations. Indeed, he suggests that such
4 https://www.spd-sachsen.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Koalitionsvertrag_2019-2024.pdf (cf.
page 16)
5 https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de/portal/parentpage/projekte/hochschulvorhaben/projekte-20192020/virtuelle-lehrkooperationen
6 https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de
7 https://open-educational-resources.de