He adds, "Economy 4.0 needs Education 4.0. We need to devote just as much concentrated attention to teaching and learning via the use of digital media and to the changing technical and media-education competences of training staff and trainees."

Professor Esser is of the view that the proportion and significance of digital media in educational and added-value processes will continue to increase. He believes that learning will be more individual and more mobile in the future, will take place on learning platforms via social media or in virtual classrooms, and will be independent of time and venue. "All of this will have implications for the structure and forms of learning in initial and continuing vocational education and training,” he went on. “However, trainees, employees, and training staff will need to be trained in media-aided learning and teaching."

Professor Esser feels that training staff in particular will need assistance and continuing training for their new role as supporters of teaching and learning because trainers are the crucial target group within the companies for learning and activity in a digitalised world of work.

Initial results emerging from BIBB research projects were recently presented at BIBB in Bonn at a conference entitled "Vocational education and training – automation, digitalisation and polarisation". They showed that it is highly likely that the IT and media competence needed by training staff in future can be defined. Professor Esser sees this as a route to the subsequent description of models for IT and media competence.
He considers such models to be important in order ultimately to serve as a basis for the development of excellent and quality-certified continuing-training concepts for training staff that can be used for the targeted activation of the potential of digital media, something which has not been fully exploited as yet. In terms of content, the focus could be on elements such as the imparting of specialist knowledge via wikis, blogs, apps, or explanatory videos in order to provide preparation for online examinations or deliver additional knowledge in the areas of IT, IT security, and data protection.
In order to bring trainers up to speed for a "Vocational education and training 4.0" concept that is structured in this way, BIBB has been commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to provide support for the programme "Digital media in vocational education and training". The programme is embodied in a travelling road show that visits event venues, staging user workshops for trainers in which deployment scenarios for digital media in training practice for joint piloting are presented. Because of its success and the high level of demand, BIBB will continue this road show in 2017.

BIBB’s trainer portal has also put its current thematic focus online. Entitled "Digitalisation of the world of work and employment", this new service for company-based training staff offers hints and conceptual approaches to user-oriented handling of digital media in training. It also provides support for the operationalisation of the specific training remit in a digitalised world of work.