About the study
The Well-being in Digital Education study, launched in 2023, aims to:
- provide evidence for the wellbeing of the school community through an analysis of policies and through research with school leaders, parents, students in both compulsory general education and VET
- produce a set of practical tools for schools to use: i.e. a repository of effective practices and questions on digital well-being, for integration into the SELFIE tool.
It takes into account the broader ecosystem and covers not only the state of play but also the needs and ways forward.
Outputs
- Conceptualisation of wellbeing in digital education (Literature review).
- Analysis of EU policies in EU-27 Member States.
- Analysis of well-being in the design of digital technologies.
- Research evidence on the well-being of the school community in the context of school education.
- Practical instruments for Member States and for schools to pursue the well-being of the school community: i.e. efficient practices feeding into SELFIEforTEACHERS and SELFIE and a school model of well-being in digital education structured by and integrated in to SELFIE.
- Recommendations on how to support well-being in digital education, to policy makers and EdTech providers.
“'Well-being in digital education' is understood as a feeling of physical, cognitive, social and emotional contentment that enables all individuals to engage positively in all digital learning environments including through digital education and training tools and methods, maximise their potential and self-realisation and helps them to act safely online and supports their empowerment in online environments”
Council of the European Union, 2022, p. 5
The concept of well-being is not new, and it affects several policies concerning various aspects of it, such as cyberbullying, disinformation, digital divide, ethical use of AI.
According to Burr & Floridi, “the emerging technologies and the new modes of being they enable, may have altered our conceptual understanding of well-being”.
This can be clearly seen in:
- How the widespread implementation of ubiquitous computing, AI and machine learning have altered significantly the use, function, effects and experience of technologies.
- The way these technologies have greatly reduced the need for human control and supervision, as they are capable of automatically creating and shaping our "environmental niches" so that they are continuously adaptable to the individuals or the segmented groups in which they belong.
Education and policy are some of the sectors where drastic changes have taken place.
This study is a follow up action to Council Conclusions supporting well-being in Digital Education. The key points of these conclusions are as follows:
- The focus is not only on the risks of technology but also on its potential to empower schools in enhancing the well-being of learners and of the school community in general (including teachers and parents). This includes aspects such as inclusion/exclusion, cyberbullying, contentment, self-confidence, and more.
- Well-being in digital education is a broad concept that encompasses various aspects, including inclusion/exclusion, the digital divide, stress, physical/mental health, disinformation, cyberbullying, fear of missing out, and the empowerment of teachers and students. It also considers the design principles of digital technologies, among others.
Funding, coordination and implementation
This study is funded by the European Commission and it is a collaboration between the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit T.1- Digital Economy, and The Directorate General of Education Youth Sports and Culture (DG-EAC), Unit C4. Digital Education.
The study is implemented under the steering of JRC and EAC, by a research based advisory company -UAB Visionary Analytics- together with a team of experts.