A constantly evolving digital revolution and rapid growth of information and communication technologies (ICT) have made the use of ICT and acquisition of ICT-related skills essential for participation in a modern knowledge and information society (UNESCO, 2018; TWI2050, 2019). Preparing students for participation in the 21st century, a time in which digitalisation enables and demands new forms of learning and working, poses a key challenge for educational institutions, highlighted as the guiding theme in the European Education Monitor 2020 (European Commission 2020b).  The ongoing technological transformation and corresponding digital skills necessitate a rethinking of education while paying attention to preventing educational inequalities (Voogt et al., 2013; OECD, 2020; Ottestad and Gudmundsdottir 2018). This key challenge is addressed in the European Commission's Digital Education Action Plan focusing on preparing schools for the digital age by outlining two core strategies: ‘Fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem’and ‘Enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation’. Connectivity, digital equipment and teachers being able and willing to fully harness the potential of digital technology are aspects highlighted in the Digital Education Action Plan as key factors in fostering digital education to prepare students for the 21^st century (European Commission, 2020a).

At the same time, research revealed that lack of resources, infrastructure and insufficient ICT skills of teachers were reported as barriers to the use of ICT in teaching and learning, challenging European Member States such as Germany (Fraillon et al., 2019). For Germany, it has been shown that the current teacher training neither ensures a minimum of digital competences nor a conceptual knowledge of digitalisation (Bertelsmann, 2018). The reform of initial ICT teacher training agreed by 2019 still has not been implemented (European Commission 2020b). A pioneering example is Estonia, where digital learning has been a focus for teacher professional development in recent years with around 80 percent of teachers participating in digital skills training the last four years, and 90 percent of students attending highly digitally equipped and well-connected schools (Haaristo et al., 2019, European Commission, 2019).

Strengths and weaknesses regarding ICT in education are now highlighted by the outbreak of COVID-19, with digital solutions and hybrid alternatives being necessary to provide education by combining online and offline tools regardless of location (Smeets, 2020). While for most schools in Estonia a rapid shift to hybrid learning could be implemented quickly, for the majority of German schools it was a challenging innovation and reorganisation (European Commission, 2020b). However, even in Estonia, learning by digital means has brought negative experiences among students and their teachers (Lauristin et al., 2020)

In this context the research project ‘ICT in education’, as part of the EU funded Horizon 2020project ‘The Impact of Technological Transformations on the Digital Generation (DigiGen)’, explores how educational institutions in selected European countries, during the contemporary challenging situation, prepare students for their future in the digital age by accessing student’s views. ‘ICT in education’ aims to develop an understanding of how students evaluate their teachers’ and schools’ views, capacity and readiness to support them in preparing for their digital future. To gain insight into two digitally different school systems, Estonian and German, pursuing the same goal, the following question is addressed paying special attention to students’ diversity, the following research question is addressed:

1. How do students in Estonia and Germany reflect on their distance learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. How do students in Estonia and Germany regard their education in terms of preparing them for future life in the digital age considering students’ individual background, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic?

To address the research questions and explore students’ perspectives in two selected European countries contrasted above, qualitative data is gathered from the research project ‘ICT in education’, as part of the EU funded Horizon2020 project ‘The Impact of Technological Transformations on the Digital Generation (DigiGen)’. Within the scope of the project ‘ICT in education’, an exploratory pilot study was carried out to get insights into a topic to be investigated on which less information has been available so far. It is not only intended to test the instrument and its implementation in preparation for the main survey in summer/ autumn 2021, but also to capture the specific circumstances in the different countries and the impact the pandemic has on ICT in education. Using a convenience sampling strategy (Cooksey & McDonald, 2019), students aged between 10 and 16 years were recruited considering varying background characteristics: type of school, gender, cultural and migratory background, socioeconomic status, geographic locations and also level of preparations and skills regarding ICT. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students in winter 2020/2021 on the topic of ICT in education facing the challenging circumstances of a pandemic and also student background characteristics were assessed. The interviews were based on a cross-country jointly developed guideline. Along with questions about the use of ICT for school during the pandemic and on teachers' skills and willingness to use ICT students have also been consulted on whether they think schooling and the use of ICT might change in the long term as a result of the pandemic, including questions on concerns and desires, in order to gain insights into the relevance students attribute to ICT and ICT skills, not only for school context but for their future lives. A qualitative content analysis is applied (Mayring, 2014) supported by using Nvivo, a qualitative data analysis software. Thematic coding serves to identify central themes and derive inductive categories from the data material itself followed by a deductive category application based on the interview guideline’s thematic structure, which was the same for the participating countries. The inductive approach to categorisation relates to an understanding that researchers’ focus throughout the qualitative research process is to learn the meaning that the participants have about the problem or issue rather than the meaning researchers bring to the research or is expressed in literature (Creswell, 2013). Besides grasping students' perspectives, an inductive approach offers more context and country-based findings.

Preliminary findings from interviews in Germany highlight contextual school factors as determining drivers of students' digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students attending highly digital schools perceived more benefits of using ICT and experienced more structured schooling in hybrid settings. In Estonia, preliminary results show that students experienced decrease in motivation in learning and struggles with planning one’s time and assignments. Some students fell behind with their studies, although this was revealed at the beginning of a new school year. It was highlighted that different subjects needed different approaches regarding learning with digital devices. Teachers’ coping with the rapid shift to distance learning was appreciated, although students did notice that some teachers needed more help regarding ICT use. Similarly in Germany, students appreciated teachers' efforts to continue schooling through distance, but communication and interaction proved to be an important issue. A lack of instructions and direct communication among students and teachers was experienced negatively with digital solutions being considered unsatisfying. It is also shown that students do not yet perceive hybrid learning as having potential for future learning, but rather as a tool inevitable for coping with schooling during the pandemic, whereas in Estonia classes conducted in hybrid settings were highly valued by students and seen as something worth practicing in the future. While preliminary findings relate to the first research question and further analysis will address the second research question, a starting point for future developments taking students' perspectives into account is provided. Furthermore, it is shown that beyond commonalities, differences in developments in European countries regarding the implementation of ICT in teaching and learning can be identified and leads to the prospect that beyond developing common strategies for Europe, the individual context of European countries should be considered and may contribute to European countries learning from each other.

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