Artificial intelligence and digital technologies are transforming education. They are changing how we teach and learn, how educational systems are managed, how data is used and how decisions are made. The question is no longer whether education systems should respond to this transformation, but how they can govern it while keeping the purpose of education firmly in focus.
In answer to these challenges, the Council of Europe has developed the Compass for Governance of AI & Digital Transformation in Education as part of its Learners First Education Strategy 2024–2030. The Compass provides a method for thinking about governance and implementation of technologies holistically to help education systems navigate technological change while keeping human rights, democracy and the rule of law at the centre.
Education and democratic resilience
Education plays a vital role in strengthening democratic resilience. Quality education systems develop knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that enable people to participate meaningfully in democratic life. Digital transformation can create new opportunities for education, but it also raises questions about autonomy, equality, participation, trust, privacy, accountability and human oversight. The Compass therefore seeks to help education systems ensure that technological transformation strengthens and empowers their capacity to fulfil their democratic mission.
Four cardinal points
At the heart of the Compass are four cardinal points, uniting two unique dimensions.
- The governance of people and the governance of processes, which includes capacities, leadership, policies, structures and oversight needed to guide transformation.
- Education with AI and education about AI, which encompasses using AI meaningfully and responsibly in education, while ensuring that learners, teachers and other stakeholders have the knowledge and critical capacities to understand, question and shape its use.
By providing guidance across these four connected areas, we create the conditions for human agency and enable people and education systems to not only adapt to technological change, but also participate in shaping it.
Eight interconnected domains
The Compass provides directional guidance across eight key topics within these dimensions;
- Regulation: keeping legal and ethical frameworks responsive to technological change and protecting quality education at the intersection of new technologies;
- Capacity building: developing the capacities needed to understand, use and govern AI, including AI literacy;
- Education policy: building system readiness and sustainable strategies for AI and digital transformation;
- Ecosystem Governance: combining change management, infrastructure, human oversight, ecological considerations and stakeholder participation;
- Monitoring and evaluation of technology: ensuring that technologies used in education are safe, transparent, effective, aligned with human rights and democratic values and with a clear educational added value;
- Data management: governing educational data and learning analytics while balancing opportunities, risks and rights;
- Equity and inclusion: addressing accessibility, discoverability, diverse learning pathways, well-being and the needs of vulnerable groups;
- Quality and innovation: supporting quality assurance, including auditing mechanisms, and responsible experimentation and innovation.
Decisions about technology, data, infrastructure, skills or innovation must remain connected to a wider educational strategy. These areas must be addressed together.
A direction, not a destination
The Compass does not prescribe a single model of digital transformation, nor does it attempt to predict where technology can take education. Instead, it supports quality education systems in asking the fundamental questions:
- What are we trying to achieve?
- What choices do we have?
- What risks and opportunities do we need to consider?
- And how can we ensure that our decisions remain aligned with the purposes and values of education?
The ambition is ultimately to ensure that education systems remain capable of choosing where they want to go, with supportive guidance for the directions and navigation they need to get them there.
For a more detailed overview of the compass, download the slides here.
