Digitalization of Education: the Experience of France

Abstract

At the present stage of development of Ukraine’s education and science, the issue of digitalisation requires consideration and further research, and since European Union countries possess more solid achievements in the field of digitalisation of education, their experience is extremely useful for Ukraine. The author of this article considers it reasonable to focus on the experience of France. The research goal is analysing the experience of France in the aspect of digitalisation of education, generalising and finding a scientific rationale of present-day challenges of information society for all stages of continuing education. Methods. In the course of the research, general scientific methods were used (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison, generalisation), which enabled us to perform a complex and systemic analysis, consider and summarize developments of prospective best practices of digitalisation of education in France. The results. Basing on examination of specific facts and phenomena in digitalisation of education, the author has singled out the most important associations that provide opportunities for remote learning in France and offer a variety of courses – commercial, free of charge and mixed, permanently available or available for a certain period of time according to the curriculum, designed for laymen and specialists, unlimited and limited (with limitations as to the number of participants), with support or without it, with participation of an expert/several experts, or developed by amateurs. Conclusions. France has been introducing remote learning since 1996. Over time, the transition to digital education has proven the ability of France’s education system to adapt to new conditions, and the ability of its higher education institutions to defend and ensure importance of their activities ‒ universities did not disappear but instead, they created the background for introduction of remote learning and further development of informatization in education. Meanwhile, the many years’ experience has shown that much has been done, but even more remains to be accomplished to ensure effectiveness and quality of digitalisation of education. This is evidenced, among other factors, by activities of Digital Estates General, which has developed (in cooperation with the entire educational community) 40 proposals concerning digitalisation strategies. Hence, the work in this direction never stops but continues to be implemented in a newer version that takes into account previous mistakes and corrects them.