Digitalisation in education

Call for proposals: 09/2017, 11/2018, 09/2021
Funding period: Since September 2018
Fields of action: Digitalisation and education; Quality in education
 

Objectives of the funding measure
Digitalisation extends to every area of our lives. That is why it is necessary to consider education across the entire lifespan of individuals as well as in relation to the multiple interdependencies between educational institutions and educational opportunities beyond their walls. For every stage of life, it is important to find answers to the challenges of technological change – for formal education in day care centres, schools, universities, initial and continuing vocational education and training, and adult education, as well as for non-formal and informal educational processes. The research priority ‘Digitalisation in education’ therefore scientifically flanks the implementation of the BMBF strategy ‘Educational Campaign for the Digital Knowledge Society’: The first call for proposals initially focused on research into fundamental questions and conditions for the success of digitalisation processes and requirements for their implementation. This was followed by further funding announcements for research on teaching and learning processes in a digital environment, and on the competencies required to be able to independently navigate the digital worlds in which we live, communicate and source our information.

The BMBF primarily funds interdisciplinary projects which, in addition to the classical reference disciplines of educational research such as educational science, subject methodology, sociology and psychology, also include contributions from such fields as communication and media sciences, educational economics and informatics. Funding is granted for projects that use qualitative or quantitative methods of empirical research or a combination of both. Preference will be given to projects that generate their lines of research enquiry in close cooperation with educational practitioners and with other institutions in the education system (for example, state institutes for school development or quality of schooling, professional associations, etc.). Moreover, projects should include the transfer of research findings into practice as an integral part of the proposal and be open to cooperation with educational practitioners during the research process, if this is feasible.

Link to funding directives:

Richtlinie zur Förderung von Forschung zu „Digitalisierung im Bildungsbereich – Grundsatzfragen und Gelingensbedingungen“ (Digitalisierung I)

Richtlinie zur Förderung von Zuwendungen für Forschung zur „Gestaltung von Bildungsprozessen unter den Bedingungen des digitalen Wandels“ (Digitalisierung II)

Richtlinie zur Förderung von Projekten zum Thema „Forschung zur Entwicklung von Kompetenzen für eine digital geprägte Welt“ (Digitalisierung III)

Status of the funding measure:

Grundsatzfragen und Gelingensbedingungen
Gestaltung von Bildungsprozessen