Methodology “E-Learning-Index 2021”

In order to examine different countries for their potential for digital learning and e-learning, all
member states of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
Brazil and Russia were analysed for a selection of influencing factors in the fields of
investigation "Accessibility to online education", "Internet availability" and "E-learning
Climate".

Due to lack of data and in order to ensure comparability, the OECD member states
Colombia, Iceland, Korea, Lithuania, Latvia, Israel and Slovenia could not be included in the
analysis. All influencing factors contribute equally to the final result.

All data were collected on July 21, 2021.

Influencing factors, definitions and sources

Field of investigation 1: Accessibility to online education

Computer access: The percentage of the total population with access to computers in their
own household was taken from the OECD statistics“Access to computers from home”,
“Eurostat” as well as “Statista”. The most recent data was used. People who have private
computer access can use e-learning facilities more easily and independently of time than
people who do not have private computer access. The percentage of the population that has
private computer access is therefore an indicator by which access to digital education can be
measured. Distance learning courses:

Distance learning: The range of study courses and programmes, which can be entirely
carried out and completed online, was taken from the comparison portal
"DistanceLearningPortal" from Study Portal. All sources are listed in detail on page 5. A
diverse range of distance learning opportunities generally indicates good access and a
broad interest in digital education. As an indicator it reveals how widespread e-learning is in
the country examined.

Public expenditure on education: The share of GDP per capita spent on tertiary education
was taken from the statistics "Government expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per
capita)" by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. The most recent data was used. All sources
are listed in detail on page 5. Public expenditure on education is an indicator of how much
the states invest in the education of the population. The higher the expenditure on education,
the more budget is available for the further development of modern teaching methods, such
as e-learning.

Field of investigation 2: Internet availability

Broadband Internet Speed: The Internet speed when transferring data via broadband were
measured by the download speed in Mbit per second. The data was taken from the
"Speedtest Global Index" of the online portal Speed Test (as of July 2021). The higher the
speed of the Internet, the better the chances of participating in e-learning activities that
require Internet access. Internet speed therefore serves as an indicator of whether the
country has the necessary technical prerequisites for the widespread use of e-learning
methods.

Mobile Internet speed: Internet speed when transferring data via mobile data was
measured by the download speed in Mbit per second. The data was taken from the
"Speedtest Global Index" of the online portal Speed Test (as of July 2021). The higher the
mobile Internet speed, the better the chances of participating in e-learning measures that
require Internet access, regardless of location. Internet speed therefore serves as an
indicator of whether the country has the necessary technical prerequisites for the nationwide
use of e-learning methods.

Costs: The cheaper Internet access is, the more open the population is to participation in
e-learning measures. The cost of broadband Internet access is therefore an indicator of how
widely e-learning measures can be used. The average monthly coast for broadband-internet
was taken from cable.co.uk.

Field of investigation 3: E-Learning climate

Tutoring: The average hourly wage of a tutor was taken from the salary comparison portal
Salary Expert. Totals have been converted into Euro if necessary (exchange rate on
30.07.2021). Digital learning often relies on private teachers and mentors. Affordable private
tutoring enables nationwide access to educational support and suggests a balance between
supply and demand

Market volume: The market volume for e-learning is based on the total number of enrolled
students, pupils in primary and secondary education and preschoolers. The total volume was
taken from World Bank data (as July 2021). The total number of students is a good indicator
of the quality of resources available to students. This also includes e-learning.

Market growth: This factor is based on internal data from the e-learning platform Preply. For
this purpose, user figures (students, teachers, tutoring hours) from 2020 and 2021 were
evaluated, compared with each other and the corresponding percentage growth at country
level was calculated. A growing market indicates a growing demand and the desire to take
advantage of more e-learning services. As an indicator, market growth can be used to
measure the demand for digital education and e-learning.

Calculation
In order to be able to compare the results of all the countries examined in one influencing
factor, the results data were standardised on a scale from 0 to 100. The country with the
greatest potential for e-learning in the respective influencing factor received a score of 100.
The country with the smallest potential for e-learning in the respective influencing factor
received a score of 0.
The score of all other countries was ranked between 0 and 100 according to their results.
The final result of a field of investigation was the sum of the points of all influencing factors in
the respective field of investigation.

Therefore, for example, the evaluation result for the field of investigation 1 resulted from a
sum of the standardised results of the influencing factors "computer access", "distance
learning" and "public expenditure on education". The evaluation results of all countries were
also standardised in order to enable comparability.

The final result was the sum of the scores of the fields 1, 2 and 3, which were also
standardised on a scale of 0 to 100 and resulted in the final ranking. The following
normalization formula was used for the standardization:
Full data

Accessibility to online education Internet availability E-Learning climate

Distance Public expenditure Broadband Internet Mobile Internet

Rank Country Computer Access Costs Tutoring Market volume Market growth Final Score
Learning on education Speed speed

1 Denmark 95.0% 31 43.1% 211 mbit/s 94 mbit/s USD $51 £37 AUD $69 USD $34 £24 AUD $45 1,5 mio. 100.0 100.0

2 United States 72.0% 10 19.4% 195 mbit/s 84 mbit/s USD $59 £43 AUD $79 USD $23 £16 AUD $31 77,4 mio. 4.4 83.1

3 Ungary 88.0% 12 25.4% 194 mbit/s 57 mbit/s USD $15 £11 AUD $20 USD $8 £6 AUD $11 1,8 mio. 1.2 83.0

4 United Kingdom 97.0% 11 38,0 % 93 mbit/s 78 mbit/s USD $34 £25 AUD $46 USD $19 £14 AUD $25 15,3 mio. 3.5 80.1

5 France 90.0% 77 31.6% 199 mbit/s 73 mbit/s USD $32 £23 AUD $42 USD $22 £16 AUD $30 15,6 mio. 4.7 71.4

6 Sweden 94.0% 97 43.2% 170 mbit/s 96 mbit/s USD $48 £34 AUD $64 USD $21 £15 AUD $28 2,7 mio. 1.4 64.4

7 Poland 90.0% 26 25.4% 138 mbit/s 52 mbit/s USD $16 £12 AUD $22 USD $8 £6 AUD $11 7,5 mio. 1.1 59.7

8 The Netherlands 97.6% 358 35.8% 157 mbit/s 103 mbit/s USD $52 £37 AUD $69 USD $22 £16 AUD $29 4,2 mio. 2.5 62.6

9 Norway 96.0% 18 39.8% 165 mbit/s 150 mbit/s USD $78 £56 AUD $105 USD $27 £20 AUD $37 1,4 mio. 2.7 58.6

10 Brasil 39.4% 4 33.0% 95 mbit/s 33 mbit/s USD $24 £18 AUD $33 USD $5 £4 AUD $7 52,7 mio. 50.2 54.4

11 Turkey 91.0% 7 35.3% 35 mbit/s 43 mbit/s USD $11 £8 AUD $15 USD $3 £2 AUD $4 25,4 mio. 4.6 59.3

12 Luxumbourg 95.4% 1 42.8% 162 mbit/s 105 mbit/s USD $57 £41 AUD $76 USD $29 £21 AUD $39 111,6 mio. 2.1 54.6

13 Portugal 84.0% 39 26.9% 156 mbit/s 53 mbit/s USD $33 £24 AUD $44 USD $11 £8 AUD $14 2,0 mio. 2.9 49.7

14 Spain 78.4% 202 21.8% 190 mbit/s 58 mbit/s USD $43 £31 AUD $57 USD $14 £10 AUD $18 9,8 mio. 3,0 49.2

15 Switzerland 90.3% 167 37.4% 198 mbit/s 107 mbit/s USD $68 £49 AUD $92 USD $32 £23 AUD $44 1,6 mio. 3.4 49.1

16 Estonia 90.0% 17 36.9% 82 mbit/s 63 mbit/s USD $30 £22 AUD $40 USD $7 £5 AUD $9 0,3 mio. 1.3 45.5

17 Slovakia 81.8% 1 27.6% 103 mbit/s 55 mbit/s USD $19 £14 AUD $26 USD $10 £7 AUD $13 1,0 mio. 2.1 44.0

18 Germany 96.0% 204 33.6% 123 mbit/s 68 mbit/s USD $41 £29 AUD $55 USD $23 £17 AUD $31 15,4 mio. 3,0 42.3

19 Finland 96.0% 35 33.9% 123 mbit/s 79 mbit/s USD $43 £31 AUD $58 USD $21 £16 AUD $29 1,4 mio. 1.7 41.0

20 Chile 60.2% 76 20.3% 193 mbit/s 20 mbit/s USD $33 £24 AUD $44 USD $8 £5 AUD $10 4,9 mio. 11.1 38.4

21 Japan 74.0% 1 20.6% 177 mbit/s 60 mbit/s USD $47 £34 AUD $64 USD $19 £14 AUD $25 20,2 mio. 1.9 35.9

22 Canada 85.6% 458 31.4% 172 mbit/s 92 mbit/s USD $75 £54 AUD $101 USD $21 £15 AUD $28 7,2 mio. 3.6 35.2

23 Russia 39.9% 64 19.8% 88 mbit/s 27 mbit/s USD $7 £5 AUD $10 USD $3 £3 AUD $5 29,3 mio. 15.6 34.7

24 Czech Republic 82.2% 5 20.3% 92 mbit/s 62 mbit/s USD $24 £17 AUD $32 USD $10 £7 AUD $13 2,1 mio. 2.3 31.9

25 Austria 90.0% 38 36.2% 109 mbit/s 65 mbit/s USD $45 £32 AUD $60 USD $20 £14 AUD $26 1,7 mio. 3.9 29.2

26 New Zealand 80,0 % 292 25.3% 164 mbit/s 82 mbit/s USD $62 £45 AUD $83 USD $18 £13 AUD $24 1,3 mio. 0.9 28.3

27 Italy 88.0% 166 24.3% 96 mbit/s 51 mbit/s USD $32 £23 AUD $43 USD $19 £14 AUD $26 10,9 mio. 5.6 24.3

28 Australia 82.4% 3 17.8% 80 mbit/s 126 mbit/s USD $58 £42 AUD $78 USD $23 £16 AUD $30 6,8 mio. 1.1 23.1

29 Belgium 91.0% 48 32.2% 117 mbit/s 69 mbit/s USD $54 £39 AUD $72 USD $24 £17 AUD $32 3,0 mio. 3.7 19.8

30 Mexico 44.3% 6 29.7% 50 mbit/s 35 mbit/s USD $28 £21 AUD $38 USD $4 £3 AUD $5 37,7 mio. 3.8 17.5

31 Greece 80.0% 56 11.2% 38 mbit/s 87 mbit/s USD $38 £28 AUD $51 USD $12 £9 AUD $17 2,2 mio. 2.9 1.4

32 Ireland 92.0% 254 15.5% 115 mbit/s 51 mbit/s USD $48 £35 AUD $64 USD $22 £16 AUD $29 1,4 mio. 1.8 0.0
Sources

Accessibility to online education Internet availability E-Learning climate

Public expenditure on Broadband Internet

Countries Computer access Distance learning Mobile Internet speed Costs Tutoring Market volume Market growth
education Speed

The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World

OECD (2021), Access to Study Portals Online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Australia Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ AUS Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home Courses/ AUS (2021) / AUS (2021) / AUS Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Australia July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Belgium Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ BEL Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ BEL (2021) / BEL (2021) / BEL Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Belgium July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Chile Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ CHI Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ CHI (2021) / CHI (2021) / CHI Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Chile July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Denmark Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ DNK Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ DNK (2021) / DNK (2021) / DNK Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Denmark July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Germany Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ GER Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ GER (2021) / GER (2021) / GER Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Germany July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Estonia Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ EST Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ EST (2021) / EST (2021) / EST Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Estonia July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Finland Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ FIN Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ FIN (2021) / FIN (2021) / FIN Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Finland July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
France Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ FRA Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ FRA (2021) / FRA (2021) / FRA Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - France July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Greece Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ GRE Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ GRE (2021) / GRE (2021) / GRE Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Greece July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Ireland Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ IRE Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ IRE (2021) / IRE (2021) / IRE Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Ireland July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Italy Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ ITA Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ ITA (2021) / ITA (2021) / ITA Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Italy July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Japan Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ JPN Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ JPN (2021) / JPN (2021) / JPN Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Japan July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Canada Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ CAN Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ CAN (2021) / CAN (2021) / CAN Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Canada July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Luxembourg Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ LUX Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ LUX (2021) / LUX (2021) / LUX Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Luxembourg July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Mexico Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ MEX Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ MEX (2021) / MEX (2021) / MEX Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Mexico July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
New Zealand Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ NZL Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ NZL (2021) / NZL (2021) / NZL Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - New Zealand July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
The Netherlands Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ NLD Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ NLD (2021) / NLD (2021) / NLD Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Netherlands July 2021
 The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Norway Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ NOR Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ NOR (2021) / NOR (2021) / NOR Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Norway July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Austria Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ AUT Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ AUT (2021) / AUT (2021) / AUT Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Austria July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Poland Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ POL Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ POL (2021) / POL (2021) / POL Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Poland July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Portugal Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ PTG Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ PTG (2021) / PTG (2021) / PTG Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Portugal July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Sweden Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ SWE Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ SWE (2021) / SWE (2021) / SWE Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Sweden July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Switzerland Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ CHE Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ CHE (2021) / CHE (2021) / CHE Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Switzerland July 2021
The World Bank (2020),
The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Government expenditure per Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Slovakia Price Comparison (2021)
Salary Expert/ SVK Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ SVK student, tertiary - Slovak (2021) / SVK (2021) / SVK
July 2021
Republic
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Spanien Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ ESP Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ ESP (2021) / ESP (2021) / ESP Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Spain July 2021
The World Bank (2020),
The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Government expenditure per Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Czech Republik Price Comparison (2021)
Salary Expert/ CZE Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ CZE student, tertiary - Czech (2021) / CZE (2021) / CZE
July 2021
Republic
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Turkey Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ TRK Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ TRK (2021) / TRK (2021) / TRK Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Turkey July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
Hungary Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ HUN Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ HUN (2021) / HUN (2021) / HUN Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - Hungary July 2021
The World Bank (2020), The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
USA Government expenditure per Salary Expert/ USA Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ USA (2021) / USA (2021) / USA Price Comparison (2021)
student, tertiary - United States July 2021
The World Bank (2020),
The World Bank (2021), World
OECD (2021), Access to Study portals online Government expenditure per Speedtest Global Index Speedtest Global Index Broadband - Wordlwide
United Kingdom Salary Expert/ UK Bank Education and COVID-19, Internal Data: Preply
computers from home courses/ UK student, tertiary - United (2021) / UK (2021) / UK Price Comparison (2021)
July 2021
Kingdom