Steering the Digital Transformation of Education: UNESCO’s Human-Centered Approach

While digital technology holds great potential to help realize our collective educational commitments and to build the futures of education beyond 2030, it also comes with negative consequences and uncharted risks. To be effective, digital education needs to be properly steered and governed to ensure it serves public interests, happens in public spaces, and is accountable to the public. This paper first provides a comprehensive overview on UNESCO’s human-centered approach to steering digital education that counter-balances dominant techno-solutionist thinking. This includes ensuring that the use of digital technology enhances human capacity, rather than undermining it, adequately addresses digital divides and digital gender inequality, and assures effective regulation to minimize the negative impact both on human well-being, and on the environment. This paper then presents recommendations to help build integrated digital education systems which prioritize support for teachers, and which address connectivity issues, not only with opportunities for the strengthening of competencies, but also with open access inclusive quality digital learning content. Finally, this paper shares a forward-looking vision for the futures of school systems, exemplified by a framework of digital open schools.