EUROPEAN EDTECH POLICY MAP
3.2. Skills and knowledge for selection and adoption
3.2.1 Pair infrastructure investments with training and support
Summary of suggested actions
Ensure that all investments in digital infrastructure, including devices, connectivity, platforms, and digital content, are systematically accompanied by adequate training, pedagogical support, and capacity-building for educators, school leaders, and future teachers.
Description
Effective digital transformation in education depends not only on the provision of infrastructure, but also on the capacity of educators and institutions to integrate technologies purposefully into teaching and learning. The Council Recommendation on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training (Council of the EU, 2023; document 15741/23) emphasises that investment in digital equipment, infrastructure, tools, and content must be accompanied by corresponding training. Without such alignment, technology adoption risks being superficial or misaligned with pedagogical goals.
Research and sectoral insights indicate that when teachers are not adequately supported in understanding the pedagogical use of tools, technology may be underused, misused, or even resisted (Lindroos Cermakova et al., 2025). This results in negative learning outcomes and wasted investment. Sustainable EdTech adoption therefore requires coupling infrastructure procurement with systematic professional learning, continuous support, and community-based mentoring.
Teacher education and professional development systems play a crucial role. Embedding digital pedagogy and technology-evaluation competences into initial teacher training, as well as into ongoing in-service professional development, ensures long-term capacity. At the same time, policymakers should consider linking infrastructure grants and procurement frameworks to minimum training requirements and institutional development plans, promoting an integrated approach to innovation readiness.
By viewing infrastructure, pedagogy, and training as interdependent components rather than separate investment lines, Member States can ensure that technological modernisation leads to genuine pedagogical improvement and equitable outcomes.
Major enabling factors
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Policy alignment and guidance: The Digital Education Action Plan (2021–2027) and Council Recommendation 15741/23 provide a clear framework for linking infrastructure and training investments at EU and national levels.
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Existing EU support mechanisms: Programmes such as Erasmus+ Teacher Academies, Digital Europe Programme, and European Social Fund+ can finance teacher training and institutional capacity building alongside infrastructure deployment.
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Integration of digital competences frameworks: Widespread use of DigCompEdu and DigCompOrg enables the design of coherent professional learning pathways aligned with infrastructure upgrades.
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Established professional learning networks: Communities of practice (e.g. eTwinning, European Digital Education Hub) already connect educators across Member States and can disseminate best practice on effective EdTech use.
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Partnerships with EdTech providers and research organisations: When governed transparently, co-created training modules and usage guidance from providers can enhance contextualised understanding of digital tools.
Major roadblocks
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Fragmented funding streams: Infrastructure budgets are often separated from professional development allocations, leading to mismatched implementation timelines and incomplete delivery.
Unequal access to training: Rural schools, under-resourced institutions, and substitute teachers often lack access to high-quality continuous professional development, exacerbating digital divides. -
Short-term procurement logic: Hardware and platform investments are typically project-based, while training requires sustained engagement over multiple years.
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Insufficient inclusion of EdTech competences in teacher education curricula: Many teacher training programmes still treat digital pedagogy as optional
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Lack of monitoring and evaluation: Few systems track the pedagogical impact of digital investments or ensure that training leads to measurable improvement in practice.
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Overreliance on vendor-led training: Without independent quality assurance, vendor-specific training can prioritise product familiarity over critical evaluation and pedagogical integration.
Suggested actions:
Defining EdTech and consistently including definitions
WHO (Potential actors)
European Commission programmes funding digital infrastructure, in cooperation with national education ministries, teacher training institutions, and EdTech providers
Where available: School-based ICT coordinators and local education authorities to oversee implementation at school level
WHAT (Goal of suggested activities)
Make training a compulsory and funded component of all EU- or nationally funded digital education procurement and infrastructure projects.
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HOW (Suggested activities)
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Strong policy commitment at both EU and Member State level, referencing Council Recommendations 15741/23.
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Availability of coordinated funding streams that explicitly combine infrastructure and training.
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Engagement of EdTech providers to deliver context-specific, product-relevant training.
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Develop impact-focused, standardised metrics to assess whether training is delivered, completed, and applied effectively in classroom practice.
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Provide continuous support through school-based ICT coordinators, peer networks, and accessible online resources to ensure knowledge retention and application
Existing steps in the right direction
School-based ICT coordinators
Several Member States have introduced designated ICT coordinators or digital lead teachers within schools to guide technology implementation, provide peer support, and ensure that infrastructure investments are accompanied by pedagogical integration. In Finland and Estonia, such coordinators play a formal role in school development plans and connect teachers to national digital education strategies. In Ireland, the Digital Learning Framework for Schools supports each institution to nominate a digital learning coordinator responsible for continuous professional development and linking technology use with teaching objectives.
This model directly addresses the gap between procurement and pedagogical application. ICT coordinators translate policy and technical investments into classroom practice, serving as intermediaries between educators, administrators, and technology providers.
As a result of the EU-funded project “Digital Transformation in the Flemish Education System: Reforming ICT Teams in Schools”, the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training and its Knowledge Center Digisprong now support schools in embedding the role of the ICT coordinator more broadly within team-oriented ICT operations.
They promote a model of ICT teams in which, alongside the ICT coordinator, other colleagues also take on responsibilities such as learning environment management, social media coordination, media coaching, and various technical, pedagogical, and administrative ICT tasks. This approach ensures a more balanced distribution of ICT-related work, reduces the workload of the ICT coordinator, and helps attract a wider range of profiles.
Such a model also aligns with contemporary forms of school leadership, where leadership is viewed as a shared team responsibility.
As part of the new Digiplan program in Flanders, schools are now required to develop a training plan within their IT policy plan. This is also a responsibility of the ICT team, and input from colleagues other than the ICT coordinator is essential, since the coordinator is often not fully aware of the specific needs of education professionals.
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Specific support required to achieve the Goal:
Establishing or formalising the role of school-based ICT or digital learning coordinators across Europe could ensure that infrastructure roll-outs are supported by sustained mentoring and skills development. Support could include EU-funded training modules (through Erasmus+ Teacher Academies) and national co-funding for dedicated time allocations, enabling coordinators to act as long-term capacity-builders within schools.
Flanders’ Knowledge Center Digisprong and Digiplan initiatives
Knowledge Center Digisprong, part of the Ministry of Education and Training, supports teachers, IT-coordinators and schools to develop a qualitative, safe and sustainable digital learning environment.
To this end, schools receive additional funding for ICT infrastructure in 2025 and 2026. The funds are intended for digital tools for staff, shared use of ICT devices for students, network infrastructure, and support systems. There is a strong focus on sustainability, with a focus on circular purchasing and the reuse of refurbished devices.
As one of the conditions to receive this funding, schools have to have an IT policy plan. The knowledge center supports schools in developing such a plan through an online platform called Pictos. Pictos offers a diverse range of information and tools, tailored to the diversity within education, and uses scientifically proven building blocks to support the ICT policy planning process. Pictos also contains substantive information on digital topics such as cyberbullying, cybersecurity, and professional development.
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Specific support required to achieve the Goal:
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Support schools to select EdTech tools and services that fit their needs and align with their vision and values.
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Develop a quality label for (digital) learning materials.
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Train education professionals to develop an IT policy plan.
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Encourage dialogue and collaboration between EdTech providers and education professionals
Norwegian Digital Learning Arena
NDLA is a collaborative public initiative among Norway’s counties that provides open educational resources, digital platforms, and shared infrastructure for secondary education. Its model combines centrally funded infrastructure and content development with local pedagogical training and teacher involvement in resource creation. The initiative demonstrates how infrastructure investments can be embedded within a participatory system where educators co-create and contextualise digital resources. This ensures ownership, sustainability, and continuous capacity building.
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Specific support required to achieve the Goal:
A similar model could be applied in the EU context through regional or national hubs combining open educational resources, professional learning communities, and infrastructure procurement. EU and national co-financing should support not only platform maintenance but also teacher co-creation and training activities linked to content use.
OECD Framework on Teacher Digital Competences (2023)
The OECD’s Digital Education Outlook (2023) identifies national practices where teacher digital competence frameworks are integrated into policy and pre-service education. Countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Denmark have embedded digital pedagogy and EdTech evaluation skills into teacher certification and career progression systems, ensuring that educators are equipped to integrate technologies meaningfully.
These competence frameworks ensure that digital training is not an optional add-on but a systemic component of teacher education. By linking training to qualification standards, they create accountability and ensure sustained professional learning aligned with pedagogical objectives and technology investments
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Specific support required to achieve the Goal:
Adopt a similar approach at the European level by embedding EdTech-related competences within DigCompEdu updates and requiring Member States to align teacher training curricula accordingly. EU support could fund harmonised modules on EdTech evaluation, data literacy, and ethical use, ensuring that infrastructure projects are matched by professional capacity.