DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION: INSIGHTS FROM THE EUROPEAN DIGIFLED PROJECT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31499/2306-5532.1-2.2025.346718Keywords:
digital transformation, language education, benchmarking, DigiFLEd, higher educationAbstract
The full-scale war in Ukraine has intensified the need for resilient and flexible models of language education, accelerating the transition toward digital formats across higher education institutions. At the same time, the digital transformation of language instruction remains uneven, limited by disparities in infrastructure, instructors’ digital competence, and the integration of innovative pedagogical technologies. The study examines key features and trends of digital transformation in Ukrainian university language education using the benchmarking report of the Erasmus+ CBHE project “Modernisation of university education programmes in foreign languages by integrating information technologies (DigiFLEd)” as the primary analytical source. The report’s comparative insights into European partner universities serve as reference models for assessing digital transformation potential in Ukraine.
The methodology combines comparative analysis of major European frameworks (DigCompEdu 2.0, Digital Education Action Plan, CEFR Companion Volume) with content analysis of DigiFLEd benchmarking materials. Structural analysis of practices in three European partner universities – Maynooth University, University of Western Macedonia, and Tampere University – was used to identify strategies related to digital governance, pedagogical models, AI integration, and instructor support.
The findings reveal universal components of effective digital transformation: strategic institutional alignment, strong teaching-support centres, coherent LMS-based ecosystems, extensive use of multimodal and autonomous learning formats, and responsible implementation of artificial intelligence. Compared with these models, Ukrainian universities show both substantial potential and persistent constraints, particularly regarding infrastructure, digital competence development, and pedagogical integration of digital tools.
The study concludes that insights from the DigiFLEd benchmarking process provide a strong basis for developing sustainable digitalisation strategies in Ukrainian language education.
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