Today, digital education has emerged as a transformative force in education systems worldwide. International organizations such as UNESCO, OECD, and EU, along with many countries, have placed a greater emphasis on evaluating the development level of digital education. To facilitate comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of global digital education and promote the exchange and mutual learning among countries, the China National Academy of Educational Sciences assembled a dedicated research team to develop the Global Digital Education Development Index (GDEI) following an evidence-based evaluation paradigm. After rigorous analysis of data from over 200 countries, the research team selected 62 countries at the forefront of digital education to establish a global evidence base and calculate the index. The GDEI was officially released at the 2024 World Conference on Digital Education held in Shanghai, China on January 31, garnering widespread attention from society.
GDEI is generated under the paradigm of evidence-based evaluation, with the following characteristics:
1. Rigorous data collection: GDEI prioritizes first-hand, open, authoritative and official data, ensuring the credibility and fairness of its evaluation.
2. Dynamic global evidence database: GDEI leverages a comprehensive database of global digital education development, providing solid evidence for ongoing updates of international evaluations.
3. Structured data transformation method: GDEI utilizes a method that transforms unstructured evidence into structured data, enabling internationally comparable evaluation of digital education development.
As an evidence-based evaluation, GDEI still has room for improvement in terms of evidence sources, evidence processing, and validation of index results. In order to continuously improve GDEI, more extensive and in-depth international cooperation is needed in following aspects.
1. Data collection. On the basis of current public data collection, a data collection mechanism actively participated by all countries is needed to improve the comprehensiveness, richness, and authority of data.
2. Development methods. An index development team involving more international organizations, national education science research institutions, and experts in different fields is needed to jointly explore more scientific and reasonable technical methods.
3. Wider application of the index. International organizations such as OECD can play bigger roles as coordinators in index development and facilitators in expanding the scope of countries participating in index calculation.