EUROPEAN COMMISSION

PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 22 October 2014

EU high level group calls for targeted funding to boost

use of new technologies in higher education
The European Union's High-Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education
publishes its report today on 'new modes of learning and teaching in universities'. The
group, chaired by former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, makes 15 recommendations
(Annex 1) highlighting the need for better targeting of resources to promote the
development and use of more flexible digital learning and teaching methods in higher
education.
Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth,
welcomed the group's report today. "Europe is facing the challenge of coping with greater
numbers of students, greater diversity among them, and the need to improve the quality
of learning and teaching. Mary McAleese's group has identified realistic and practical steps
that can be taken by the EU and national authorities to make better use of new
technologies in learning and teaching to respond to those needs. I am especially pleased
that the new Erasmus+ programme, which I launched in January, will be able to support
the implementation of recommendations by the group."
Mary McAleese, who outlined the report's findings at a meeting with Commissioner
Vassiliou today, added: "I have been impressed by the excellent examples of good
practice presented to us in our work. These examples showed how important it is to have
not only dedicated individuals in higher education institutions, but also committed and
visionary governments supporting them if we are to maximise the potential of these new
modes of learning and teaching. Although Europe is starting to make progress, it is still
lagging behind the US in using new technologies in our universities and colleges. We
should capitalise on the strengths we have, such as the wide use of ECTS1 credits to
ensure that digital learning in Europe is recognised, accredited and quality assured."
Educational resources from around the globe are becoming more freely accessible and
increasingly interactive, moving beyond the simple, online lecture. Digital learning and
teaching can be better tailored to the needs of individual students and advances in
learning analytics allow professors to give quicker feedback on students' performance and
to identify areas where more support is needed.
Digitally based teaching methods are starting to be integrated both on-campus and online
as many European higher education institutions are using the new opportunities
technology offers. But too often developments rely on a few enthusiastic staff members
and there is no coherent strategic uptake within the institutions or across countries.
Based on a thorough analysis of the current situation and of good practices across the EU
and beyond, the high level group has identified pathways to support the introduction of
ECTS: European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. An academic year typically
consists of study leading to 60 ECTS credits.
1

IP/14/1188

new technology-based education. While accepting that higher education institutions

themselves are the main actors in delivering changes, the group has underlined the
responsibility of public authorities to create an environment which is conducive to change.

Background
The high-level group was launched in 2012 to tackle the most pressing issues in higher
education in Europe. In its first year the group developed recommendations targeted at
higher education institutions, Member States and the European Commission for improving
the quality of teaching and learning in European higher education.

For more information

Report on 'new modes of learning and teaching in universities'
Report on Improving the Quality of Teaching and Learning in Europe's Higher Education
Institutions
The agenda for modernisation of higher education
European Commission: Education and training
Androulla Vassiliou's website
Follow Androulla Vassiliou on Twitter @VassiliouEU

Contacts :
Dennis Abbott (+32 2 295 92 58); Twitter: @DennisAbbott
Dina Avraam (+32 2 295 96 67)

Annex 1: Recommendations
1. The European Commission should support Member States in developing and
implementing comprehensive national frameworks for diversifying provision and
integrating new modes of learning and teaching across the higher education
system. It should promote mutual learning on key aspects including skills
development, infrastructures, legal frameworks, quality assurance, and funding, in
particular by exploiting the potential of the Erasmus+ programme.
2. The European Commission should prioritise support to higher education institutions
under the Erasmus+ programme to enhance digital capacity and mainstream new
modes of learning and teaching within the institution. Erasmus+ funding should
also be made available to promote experimental partnering with specialist service
providers.
3. The integration of digital technologies and pedagogies should form an integral
element of higher education institutions strategies for teaching and learning. Clear
goals and objectives should be defined and necessary organisational support
structures (such as the European Academy for Teaching and Learning) established
to drive implementation.
4. National authorities should facilitate the development of a national competency
framework for digital skills. This should be integrated into national professional
development frameworks for higher education teachers.
5. All staff teaching in higher education institutions should receive training in relevant
digital technologies and pedagogies as part of initial training and continuous
professional development.
6. National funding frameworks should create incentives, especially in the context of
new forms of performance-based funding, for higher education institutions to open
up education, to develop more flexible modes of delivery and to diversify their
student population.
7. National authorities should introduce dedicated funding to support efforts to
integrate new modes of learning and teaching across higher education provision.
Funding should encourage collaborative responses to infrastructural needs,
pedagogical training and programme delivery.
8. National and regional authorities should utilise opportunities under the Structural
Funds Programme to support the development of necessary supporting
infrastructures, technologies and repositories.
9. Public authorities should develop guidelines for ensuring quality in open and online
learning and to promote excellence in the use of ICT in higher education provision.
10. The European Commission should support cross-border initiatives to develop
quality standards for open and online learning under the Erasmus+ programme.
11. Higher education institutions should ensure that quality assurance arrangements
apply to all forms of credit awarding provision in the institution. Institutions should
use the quality assurance system to monitor retention rates and inform the
development of appropriate supports.
12. The European Commission and national authorities should encourage and
incentivise higher education providers to award and recognise credits under the

European Credit Tansfer and Accumulation System for all forms of online courses.
The current revision of the ECTS Guide should incorporate these principles.
13. Governments and higher education institutions should work towards full
access of educational resources; in public tenders open licences should
mandatory condition, so that content can be altered, reproduced and
elsewhere. In publicly (co-)funded educational resources the drive should
make materials as widely available as possible.

open
be a
used
be to

14. Member States should ensure that legal frameworks allow higher education
institutions to collect and analyse learning data. The full and informed consent of
students must be a requirement and the data should only be used for educational
purposes.
15. Online platforms should inform users about their privacy and data protection
policy in a clear and understandable way. Individuals should always have the
choice to anonymise their data.

Annex 2: Members of the Group

Mary McAleese (Chair)

Mary McAleese was President of Ireland from 19972011. She graduated in Law from the
Queen's University of Belfast in 1973 and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1974.
In 1975, she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at
Trinity College Dublin and in 1987, she returned to her Alma Mater, Queen's, to become
Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 1994, she became the first
female Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Queen's University of Belfast.

Agneta Bladh

Dr Bladh chairs the Governing Board of the Jnkping School of Health Sciences and
Stockholm University Library Board. Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kalmar,
she is a member of Uppsala University governing board, the Board of Oslo and Akershus
College of Applied Science (Norway) and a board preparing the merger between two
universities in Norway. Dr Bladh is a member of the Danish Accreditation Council and the
Advisory Board of the Swedish Higher Education Authority. Dr Bladh served as State
Secretary at the Swedish Ministry of Education and Science and was responsible for higher
education and research. Agneta Bladh holds a PhD in Political Science from Stockholm
University (1988).

Vincent Berger

Since 2013, Vincent Berger has served as special advisor for higher education to President
Franois Hollande. Previously, he was President of the University Paris Diderot. In 2001 he
joined the University Paris Diderot as Professor, and until 2006 was head of the Quantum
Phenomena and Materials laboratory at the University. He received the Fabry-De Gramont
award and the MIT Young Innovator award in 2002. He was nominated in 2012 General
Rapporteur of the National Assizes on higher education and research in France by the
French Minister for Higher Education and Research.

Christian Bode

Christian Bode was Secretary General of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
for 20 years (1990-2010). Christian Bode was educated in law and received his PhD from
the University of Bonn in 1971. Between 1972 and 1982 he held different senior positions
in the Federal Ministry of Education and Science. From 1982 until 1990 he was Secretary
General of the German Rectors` Conference.

Jan Muehlfeit

Jan Muehlfeit is Chairman Europe, Microsoft Corporation. ICT industry veteran, almost 19
years in Microsoft. He served as Vice President of Microsofts Public Sector team in Europe,
Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in 2005, Vice President, EMEA Corporate & Government
Strategy in 2006 and later Chairman Europe, Microsoft Corporation, Mr. Muehlfeit is a
Vice-Chair of the Academy of Business in Society (ABiS), board member of JA, CoChairman of the European e-Skills Association and a member of the Board of AIESEC. He
graduated from Czech Technical University and later on completed executive development
programs at Wharton, LSE and Harvard.

Tea Petrin

Tea Petrin is Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Head of the
Entrepreneurship Academic Unit at the Faculty of Economics, and a member of the Senate
at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. Ms Petrin was a visiting professor at the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst and at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.
She is a renowned expert in entrepreneurship and innovation policies, and regional
development programmes. From 1999 to 2004, she was Minister of the Economy for
Slovenia. She is a member of the UN Committee for the Development Policy, appointed by
the UN Secretary General for the period January 2013 December 2015.

Alessandro Schiesaro

Alessandro Schiesaro is Professor of Latin Literature at the University of Rome-Sapienza

and Director of the Sapienza School of Advanced Studies. After studying in Pisa, Berkeley
and Oxford, Alessandro Schiesaro lectured in the United States of America, including as
Professor of Classics in Princeton, and in the United Kingdom as Professor of Latin at
Kings College London. Since 2008 he chairs the Technical Secretariat of the Italian
Ministry for Universities and Research.