Digital Cultural Heritage: Europeana for Education and Learning Releases New Policy Recommendations

From Europeana:

Policymakers from EU education and culture ministries led by Europeana have released a new set of recommendations to encourage better use of digital cultural heritage content in education and learning, supporting Europe’s Digital Agenda commitment to ‘Open Up’ education through the opportunities afforded by the digital revolution.
The nature of learning is changing, and as it increasingly takes place outside of the traditional classroom, and the importance of digital learning grows, demand for engaging and reliable content is rising.
The key recommendations:

• Set up a Europe-wide structured dialogue between policymakers, cultural heritage institutions and educators to improve access and reduce duplication of effort,

• Prioritise the provision of ‘Fit for Education and Learning’ content by cultural heritage institutions and ministries,

• Emphasise the development of inclusive and accessible digital learning resources,

• Promote open licences and improve the access and re-use conditions that underpin education and learning.

These recommendations aim to raise awareness of the availability of digital resources through Europeana and show their clear benefits for education and learners in Europe, while also providing information about proper use of the material, and encouraging the development and sharing of digital learning resources.
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“We want to make it straightforward for students and their teachers to access the rich cultural heritage which belongs to all of us, regardless of where they live or choose to learn,” says Jill Cousins, Executive Director of Europeana. “We must match the revolution in learning with high quality content, and build strong, productive relationships between the education industry and cultural organisations.”
Aligning its content and services with the needs of teachers, students and the wider education sector would fulfill part of the vision for Europeana. With over 40 million records, Europeana has huge potential as a valued resource for learners at every stage of their education, and at pan-European level. Digital learning resources Historiana, Inventing Europe and institutional sites such as the British Library’s World War One website demonstrate the value of using Europeana’s collections.
The recommendations, which are the work of policymakers and experts in the educational field from 21 different countries, were created at strategy meetings during the Italian and Latvian Presidencies, facilitated by Europeana Foundation, European Schoolnet and EUROCLIO – European Association of History Educators.

Direct to New Recommendations (8 pages; PDF)
On a related note…The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) recently released a report that might also be of interest in the area of digital collections and education.
DPLA Releases Findings of Study on Using Large Digital Collections in Educational Settings (April 9, 2015)

Filed under: Digital Collections, Interactive Tools, Libraries, Public Libraries, Resources, School Libraries