Digital Education in Germany: Between Momentum and Untapped Potential

At a Glance

14th out of 27

Germany occupies a mid-ranking position in Europe in the 2025 Bitkom DESI Index.

54 per cent

The proportion of the EU population with at least basic digital skills in 2022.

81 points

According to ICILS 2023, this is the digital competence gap in Germany between pupils with no migration experience and first-generation immigrant pupils.

65.2 per cent

Almost two-thirds of first-generation immigrant pupils reach no higher than the second digital competence level.

€6.5 billion

The funding provided by the first DigitalPakt Schule between 2019 and 2024.

Digital education in Germany is often presented as a story of falling behind: slow internet connections, complicated funding procedures and schools that continue to work with outdated technology. This picture is not entirely wrong. By now, however, it is incomplete.

Germany is moving forward. Companies are digitising their processes, schools increasingly have access to Wi-Fi, tablets and interactive whiteboards, and the DigitalPakt 2.0 is intended to begin the next stage of development. At the same time, new international models are emerging that demonstrate how schools can provide teachers with lasting support and use digital tools in pedagogically meaningful ways.

The decisive question is therefore no longer simply:

How much technology is still missing?

It is:

How can technical equipment be transformed into genuine digital competence?

This is where the next major opportunity lies. Germany does not have to start from zero. Infrastructure is already available in many places, experience has been gathered and weaknesses are well documented. Individual digitisation measures can now become an education system that not only provides young people with devices, but also enables them to engage with digital media independently, critically and creatively.

Germany Is No Longer at the Starting Line

A European comparison presents a differentiated picture. Germany ranks 14th among the 27 EU member states in the 2025 Bitkom DESI Index. This is not a leading position, but it does represent an improvement. Germany performs considerably better in the digitisation of businesses, where it ranks eighth.

This provides an important indication: digital development is possible in Germany when responsibilities, investment and concrete applications come together.

Many companies have modernised their processes, developed digital business models and integrated new technologies into production, communication and administration. This progress demonstrates that Germany does not fundamentally lack the capacity to innovate.

The challenge is instead to transfer this momentum more effectively to education, public administration and social participation.

Digitisation must not end where a company becomes more efficient. It must also reach the places where a child learns how to assess a source, a teacher prepares a lesson or a citizen uses a public service.

The Next Stage of Innovation Is Empowerment

The first major wave of digitisation concentrated on infrastructure. This was necessary.

Schools required stable networks, modern devices, interactive whiteboards, servers and technical platforms. Between 2019 and 2024, the DigitalPakt Schule provided approximately €6.5 billion for this purpose. Almost all of Germany’s roughly 30,000 schools were reached through the programme.

This created a foundation that was still missing in many places only a few years ago.

The next step is more demanding. It is no longer primarily about bringing devices into schools. It is about using the technology that is already available in ways that create better learning processes.

This shift is itself an innovation.

In future, the success of digital education can no longer be measured solely by the number of tablets distributed or Wi-Fi connections installed. The decisive question will be whether pupils learn to:

• assess information critically,

• recognise sources and underlying interests,

• create digital content independently,

• protect their personal data,

• collaborate with others digitally,

• question algorithms and platforms,

• and use digital tools specifically to solve problems.

A tablet is not the objective. It is a tool.

Real progress occurs when young people understand when, why and how to use that tool meaningfully.

Digital Competence Is Becoming a New Form of Basic Education

According to the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index, approximately 54 per cent of people in the European Union had at least basic digital skills in 2022. The European target is 80 per cent.

Some countries were already considerably closer to this target. Finland and the Netherlands reached figures of approximately 79 per cent. Germany remained below this level.

These figures concern far more than technical routine.

Digital competence increasingly determines whether people can understand and evaluate information, use public services, develop professionally or participate in public debate.

Those who can use digital systems confidently have easier access to knowledge, employment and public services. Those who lack these abilities encounter obstacles in an increasing number of areas of life.

Digital competence is therefore developing into a form of modern basic education. Reading, writing and numeracy remain indispensable. They must now be complemented by the ability to understand, assess and use digital information responsibly.

This creates a major opportunity for education policy. Schools can teach these abilities systematically, regardless of the level of technical experience children acquire at home.

ICILS Shows Where Targeted Innovation Is Most Needed

The international ICILS 2023 comparative study examines how confidently pupils can use digital information and tools. Its findings reveal more than deficiencies. They also identify precisely where new forms of support need to begin.

In Germany, there is an average competence gap of 81 points between pupils with no migration experience and first-generation immigrant pupils. This difference has remained almost unchanged for approximately ten years.

The language spoken at home also has a clear influence. There is a difference of 59 points between young people who speak German at home and pupils who speak another language with their families. This gap is larger than the European average.

These findings demonstrate that schools have so far been unable to compensate adequately for digital inequalities.

At the same time, they indicate a clear direction for future development.

Instead of general digitisation programmes, more targeted support is required. Pupils with different circumstances need different learning pathways, more guidance and reliable opportunities to apply digital skills in practice.

Digital tools themselves could become part of the solution. Adaptive learning systems, multilingual resources, individually tailored exercises and immediate feedback could help identify learning needs earlier and provide support more precisely.

The data therefore shows not only where Germany is falling behind. It also shows where educational innovation could be particularly effective.

Being Able to Use Technology Is Not Yet Mastery

Another ICILS finding makes this particularly clear: 65.2 per cent of first-generation immigrant pupils reach no higher than the second digital competence level.

These young people can generally operate digital media. However, their ability to assess information critically or independently create more complex digital content remains limited.

Digital education must make a more precise distinction here.

A young person may use a smartphone every day, edit videos and navigate social networks. This does not automatically mean that they can assess the reliability of a source, identify manipulated content or understand how a platform functions.

Familiarity is not the same as competence.

The next generation of digital education must therefore go beyond basic operational knowledge. It should enable young people not only to consume digital media, but also to understand and shape it.

This is more demanding than conventional device training. It is also considerably more future-ready.

A Striking Finding Among Girls

The development among female pupils also deserves particular attention. The proportion of girls at the lowest competence level increased from six per cent in 2013 to 13.5 per cent in 2023.

The figure therefore more than doubled within a decade.

The data does not provide a simple explanation. It does, however, demonstrate that greater exposure to digital media in everyday life does not automatically lead to stronger digital skills.

A constructive conclusion can be drawn from this: support must pay closer attention to how different groups use digital media and which learning opportunities actually reach them.

More spaces may be needed in which female pupils do not simply use digital tools, but develop, programme, design and question them themselves. Project-based teaching, creative media work, robotics, data analysis and work involving artificial intelligence could help connect digital competence more closely with personal agency.

The innovation would not lie solely in the particular tool. It would lie in a form of teaching in which pupils experience digital technologies as something they can understand and actively help to shape.

Why More Technology Alone Is Not Enough

The ICILS findings show no clear relationship between how frequently digital media are used at school and the digital skills pupils actually achieve.

This is one of the central findings.

Digital media can be used frequently without fundamentally changing the learning process. A worksheet remains a worksheet, even when it is opened on a tablet. A presentation remains passive when pupils merely reproduce information.

Media education specialist Kerstin Mayrberger therefore describes digital education as a pedagogical, didactic and cultural responsibility. The decisive factor is not only which medium is used, but which form of learning the medium makes possible.

Digital media realise their potential most effectively when they support new forms of learning:

• Pupils conduct independent research and compare sources.

• They collaborate on digital projects.

• They develop videos, podcasts, simulations or applications.

• They receive rapid feedback on their progress.

• They can explore different approaches to solving a problem.

• They learn to assess technical systems critically.

• They connect knowledge from different subjects.

The innovation therefore does not lie in the device itself. It lies in the design of the lesson.

Teachers Are the Key to the Next Phase

No digital programme can achieve lasting success if teachers are left to implement it alone.

Teachers do not need to master every new application. They do, however, need confidence in determining which tool is suitable for which learning objective. They need time, advice, technical assistance and opportunities to exchange experience.

ICILS 2023 shows that digital media are used in lessons more frequently today than they were in 2013. Pupils’ skills, however, have not developed to the same extent.

Professional-development opportunities have also increased. Nevertheless, the transfer of knowledge into everyday school practice does not appear to be equally successful everywhere.

This does not mean that professional development has no effect. It indicates instead that individual events may not be enough.

A teacher who participates in a one-day workshop continues to work under the same conditions afterwards: limited preparation time, different technical systems, unresolved questions surrounding data protection, unstable applications and insufficient support during ongoing lessons.

The next innovation must therefore be organisational.

Instead of isolated training sessions, schools need sustained, long-term support. Digital school development should not be treated as an additional responsibility for a small number of particularly committed teachers, but as a shared process involving the entire teaching staff.

Estonia Demonstrates a Different Support Model

Estonia provides an interesting example. There, so-called Educational Technologists advise teachers directly within schools.

They do not take over the teaching. Their role is to support teachers in selecting and using digital tools, developing lesson ideas and connecting technical possibilities with educational objectives.

This addresses a problem familiar to many German schools: a gap frequently emerges between centrally organised professional-development programmes and the realities of classroom practice.

Educational Technologists close this gap directly on site.

The model is innovative because it does not simply expect teachers to develop digital competence on their own. Instead, it establishes a permanent support structure. Guidance is not treated as a one-off measure, but as part of everyday school life.

A comparable role could also be valuable in Germany, adapted to its different types of schools and federal structures. Such specialists could support teaching staff, develop classroom projects, coordinate technical matters and strengthen cooperation between schools.

“AI Leap” Combines Technology and Professional Development

With its AI Leap initiative, Estonia is planning a further stage of development. From autumn 2025, AI-supported learning resources are to be introduced gradually in schools. The first phase is expected to involve approximately 3,000 teachers and 20,000 pupils.

What is notable is not simply the introduction of artificial intelligence. The decisive factor is the combination of technology, professional development and gradual implementation.

AI is not merely being provided as a new product. Teachers are to be prepared for its use, and the introduction will take place in stages. This will allow experience to be gathered, applications to be evaluated and concepts to be refined.

This is precisely where its innovative value lies.

New technologies should not enter the education system without oversight. They require a clear pedagogical framework.

AI could, for example, help teachers create differentiated tasks, provide individual feedback or adapt learning materials to different levels of ability. At the same time, pupils must learn how AI systems work, where their limitations lie and why their outputs should not be accepted without critical examination.

Digital education therefore becomes relevant in two ways: young people learn with artificial intelligence—and, at the same time, about artificial intelligence.

Germany Cannot Copy Estonia

Any comparison with Estonia has its limits. The country has a population of approximately 1.3 million, a more unified school system and a nationally coordinated digital strategy that has been pursued since the 1990s.

Germany, by contrast, has 16 education systems, federal responsibilities and widely varying regional conditions.

A direct transfer would therefore be unrealistic.

The underlying idea nevertheless remains relevant: digitisation works more effectively when infrastructure, pedagogical development, administration and professional development are understood as interconnected responsibilities.

Germany does not need to adopt the Estonian system. It can develop models of its own:

• regional competence centres for digital education,

• permanent digital advisers within schools,

• cross-school development teams,

• long-term professional-development programmes,

• shared quality standards,

• open and independently reviewed learning materials,

• pilot projects accompanied by academic research,

• and networks in which schools share approaches that have proved successful.

In this context, innovation does not mean copying a model from another country. It means using proven ideas to develop sustainable structures of one’s own.

DigitalPakt 2.0 Could Become a Turning Point

DigitalPakt 2.0 is intended to provide a total of €5 billion in federal and state funding by 2030.

Unlike the first programme, the focus will no longer be limited to technical infrastructure. Digital teaching and learning, as well as the continued development of schools, are also explicitly included. The administrative burden is also intended to be reduced.

This is more than a continuation of the existing funding programme. It offers an opportunity to change direction.

DigitalPakt 2.0 could establish the connection that has often been missing:

Technology + Pedagogy + Professional Development + School Development

Several factors will determine whether it genuinely becomes a turning point.

1. Technical Support Must Become Reliable

Teachers should be able to focus on teaching rather than regularly managing devices, organising updates or resolving technical failures.

Schools need professional support that is available on a permanent basis.

2. Professional Development Must Move Closer to Practice

Individual workshops are not enough. Teachers need long-term learning pathways, development within their schools and support with practical implementation.

3. Digital Competence Requires Clear Objectives

There must be greater clarity about which skills pupils should acquire at different ages.

4. Effective Models Must Be Shared

Many schools are already developing approaches that work. These experiences should be systematically documented, evaluated and made accessible to other schools.

5. Innovation Requires Evaluation

New applications should not be introduced simply because they appear modern. What matters is whether they improve learning, reduce the burden on teachers or make education more equitable.

Equal Opportunity Becomes the Real Benchmark

The DESI report reveals a clear relationship between educational attainment and digital competence.

While 79 per cent of people with a high level of education possess at least basic digital skills, the figure is only 32 per cent among those with a lower level of educational attainment.

This difference demonstrates why digital education must not be treated as a specialist technical issue.

It is a question of social participation.

People who understand digital systems can access information, continue their education and develop professionally more easily. Those who lack these skills risk being excluded from an increasing number of areas of life.

Schools can therefore assume a central role. They are among the few institutions that reach all young people.

The real innovation would be an education system in which digital competence does not depend on a pupil’s family background—one that recognises inequalities early, provides targeted support and enables every pupil to participate actively in shaping digital technologies.

The success of DigitalPakt 2.0 should therefore not be measured solely by devices, networks and funding.

The decisive questions are:

• Are competence gaps becoming smaller?

• Can more pupils assess information critically?

• Are teachers receiving meaningful support?

• Are new and effective forms of learning emerging?

• Are schools with difficult starting conditions also benefiting?

• Are young people becoming independent participants in shaping digital spaces?

From Digital Teaching to Digital Agency

In recent years, Germany has established a technical foundation. That represents genuine progress.

The more demanding phase now begins.

Devices must become learning tools. Professional development must become permanent support. Individual pilot projects must grow into reliable structures. And media use must develop into digital agency.

Existing approaches demonstrate that this transformation is possible.

DigitalPakt 2.0 extends the focus beyond equipment alone. Estonia shows how teachers can be supported directly in their everyday work at school. AI-supported learning systems create new possibilities for individualised support. The ICILS findings provide a precise basis for identifying which groups require particularly targeted assistance.

The innovations are therefore already visible. They are simply not always found where they are first expected.

Success will not be determined by the most modern device.

What matters are the structures behind it: well-prepared teachers, clear educational objectives, reliable support and teaching that enables young people to think independently.

Germany’s digital education system therefore faces more than a deficit. It is undergoing a transition.

The first step was to connect schools technologically. The next is to ensure that every pupil is included.

Sources: Eickelmann et al. (Hrsg.): „ICILS 2023 #Deutschland“ (2024); Europäische Kommission: „Digital Economy and Society Index 2022: Thematic Chapters“ (2022); Mayrberger: „Partizipative Mediendidaktik“ (2019); Bitkom: „Bitkom-DESI-Index 2025: Deutschland auf Platz 14“ (2025); Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung: „DigitalPakt Schule 2019–2025: Bilanz und Ausblick DigitalPakt 2.0“ (2025).