Lin Jing and Cheng Molei: Talent Cultivation Under the Conditions of Global Digital Economic Competition

By Lin Jing and Cheng Molei

With the widespread application of digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, traditional industries are accelerating their transformation and upgrading toward digitalization, intelligence, and networking. Today, as scientific and technological innovation increasingly becomes the core indicator of national competitiveness, cultivating digital talent with a high sense of responsibility and exquisite skills and unleashing their innovative potential will directly bear upon the speed and quality of the emergence of new technologies, new business forms, and new models in the economy and society. This will provide significant support for promoting high-quality development.

In September 2024, UNESCO formally released The Six Pillars of Educational Digital Transformation: A Joint Framework, providing comprehensive and systematic guidance for digital transformation in the global education sector. The outer layer of the framework consists of three components—educational system priorities, goals, and principles—while the inner layer contains the six pillars: coordination and leadership, connectivity and infrastructure, cost and sustainability, capacity and culture, content and solutions, and data and evidence. This framework aims to encourage all educational stakeholders to actively adapt to new developments and changes in education in the digital age. Against this backdrop, various countries have made digital talent cultivation a priority in educational reform. By formulating digital education policies, strengthening infrastructure and digital equipment construction, and promoting curriculum and pedagogical reforms, they are actively exploring digital talent cultivation paths suited to their own national conditions to better respond to the opportunities and challenges brought by digitalization.

Policy Safeguards: Formulation of Digital Education Plans

Following the rapid development of digital technology, governments worldwide have introduced a series of relevant policies aimed at effectively guiding and vigorously promoting the process of digital talent cultivation to meet the urgent needs of the era’s development.

As a pioneer in digital education, the United States Department of Education has regularly released "National Education Technology Plans" since 1996 to continuously advance the process of educational informatization. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Education released the 2024 National Education Technology Plan: A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design, and Use Divides. This document not only reveals the challenges faced by digital technology in supporting pedagogical transformation in the U.S. but also demonstrates a determination to utilize digital technology to optimize learning experiences and promote educational equity. Focusing on the "instructional core" of teachers, students, and content, the plan provides an in-depth analysis of three key divides that limit digital technology from fully realizing its potential in supporting pedagogical change: the "Digital Use Divide," caused by significant differences in how students apply technology; the "Digital Design Divide," caused by differences in teachers' capacity to access, process, use, and create digital resources; and the "Digital Access Divide," caused by differences in information, technology, and resource acquisition among different groups due to network connectivity issues. The plan explores how digital technology can assist in instructional design to improve equitable access to education for students.

The European Union also promulgated the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) in September 2020, proposing two strategic priorities—"promoting the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem" and "enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation"—supported by 13 specific actions. It emphasizes the importance of digital literacy and coding education, as well as utilizing AI and big data to optimize teaching content and methods to meet future social needs. To this end, the European Commission formally launched the "European Digital Education Hub" in 2022 to strengthen cooperation and exchange at the EU level. By strengthening digital skills education, promoting the open sharing of educational resources, and supporting teacher professional development, the EU aims to establish an inclusive, innovative, and high-quality digital education system.

The Schools Digital Strategy (2019-2026) released by New South Wales, Australia, in 2019 depicts a "learner-centered" blueprint for educational digital transformation. This policy focuses on the integration and application of digital technology, emphasizing the improvement of teachers' digital literacy and the cultivation of students' digital capabilities. It aims to create connected, collaborative, and digital schools to maximize the impact and value of digital innovation within the education system, thereby promoting the dual improvement of educational equity and quality. Meanwhile, the Australian government’s Digital Economy Strategy 2030, released in 2021, focuses on three pillars: growing the digital economy, building emerging technologies, and setting digital growth priorities. It proposes a national vision to "be a leading digital economy and society by 2030" and requires that all Australians be able to acquire digital skills by 2030 to adapt to rapidly changing work environments and technological trends, ensuring the nation takes the initiative in global digital economy competition.

Hardware Support: Infrastructure and Digital Equipment Construction

Digital talent cultivation cannot succeed without the support of sound infrastructure and digital equipment. In the process of advancing digital education strategies, countries have increased investment in infrastructure construction and comprehensively improved the penetration rate and performance of digital devices to provide solid hardware support for talent cultivation.

Since the 1990s, the U.S. has been committed to advancing network infrastructure. Based on accessibility, affordability, and usability, it launched the "Information Superhighway" plan, "e-Rate" program, "ConnectED" initiative, and Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative, enabling students to more conveniently enjoy digital education supported by "hardware" such as the internet and electronic communications. Simultaneously, the Office of Educational Technology’s 2022 publication, Advancing Digital Equity for All, proposed reducing internet costs and increasing connection speeds to ensure learners have equitable access to learning opportunities through digital technology.

The EU has issued documents such as the Digitising European Industry strategy, Building a European Data Economy, and the Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence. It provides financial support to universities and research institutes for digital talent cultivation to help the EU maintain a leading position in fierce global digital competition. In this process, the EU also utilizes various financing channels—including Erasmus+, the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, the European Social Fund, and the European Regional Development Fund—to promote the construction and upgrading of infrastructure and digital equipment, thereby providing strong financial guarantees for the implementation of digital education projects.

In 2019, Japan adopted the "GIGA School Program" (Global and Innovation Gateway for All), aiming to ensure every student has an information technology learning device. Through measures such as improving network environments, popularizing digital textbooks, and standardizing educational data, Japan promotes the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in learning to achieve deep integration between information technology and pedagogy. To ensure the effective implementation of this program, the Japanese government established a "Program Implementation Task Force" covering hardware environments, cloud service security, ICT application, 5G education, and school LAN services, thereby providing strong hardware support for Japan's educational digital transformation.

Key Links: Digital Education Curriculum and Pedagogical Reform

Deepening the reform of curricula and pedagogy is regarded as a key link in the digital talent cultivation chain. To more effectively cultivate talent that meets the needs of the digital age, countries worldwide are comprehensively improving the overall quality and effect of talent cultivation through the meticulous optimization of curriculum systems and the innovation of diversified teaching methods.

In terms of curriculum and pedagogical reform, the U.S. strengthens STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) to cultivate interdisciplinary talent capable of meeting the developmental requirements of the digital era. From the Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan (2013) to STEM 2026 and the Federal STEM Education Strategic Plan (2024), the U.S. has continuously deepened the connotation and extension of STEM education, integrating it throughout the entire educational growth process of students. Meanwhile, the "Four-Dimensional Education" concept (knowledge, skills, character, and meta-learning) proposed by the Center for Curriculum Redesign provides new ideas for curriculum design in the digital age. By introducing methods such as project-based learning and inquiry-based learning, it encourages students to solve real-world problems through practical activities, cultivating innovative thinking and teamwork.

As one of the first countries to implement educational digitalization, the United Kingdom began integrating information technology into core subjects in the 1980s and promoted interdisciplinary teaching methods. Through the Education Reform Act and subsequent amendments, information technology became a compulsory course independent of "Design and Technology," later renamed ICT, emphasizing its application across all curricula. In practice, British schools across all stages utilize blended learning models, providing rich interaction and content sharing via online teaching tools, virtual classrooms, and assessment systems. They also actively explore integrating emerging technologies like AI, VR, and AR into teaching practices to support digital pedagogical reform.

The Singaporean government and schools collaborated to develop the "Student Learning Space" (SLS), providing high-quality resources for major subjects across all levels to facilitate autonomous and collaborative learning. At the primary level, the "Code for Fun" program and co-curricular activities introduce simple coding to stimulate curiosity about computer science. Secondary students are equipped with personal learning devices and dive deeper into STEM and elective computing courses. In higher education, Singaporean institutes of higher learning keep pace with industry demands by offering cutting-edge courses in big data, AI, and cloud computing, ensuring university students master the core knowledge and skills required for the digital era and are fully prepared for their future careers.

(Authors: Lin Jing and Cheng Molei are, respectively, Professor and PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Marxism, Northeast Normal University)

Source: Guangming Daily (January 16, 2025, Page 14) Web Editor: Huihui