Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on 'Learning in the Information Society: Action Plan for a European Education Initiative (1996-1998)` (97/C 116/12)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Learning in the Information Society - Action plan for a European Education Initiative (COM(96) 471 final);

having regard to the European Commission's decision of 23 October 1996 to consult the Committee of the Regions, in accordance with Article 198C, first paragraph of the Treaty on the European Union;

having regard to the European Commission's intention, underlined by Commissioners Cresson and Bangemann in a letter dated 23 October 1996, for the COR to be fully involved in the implementation of the Action Plan in particular by promoting the exchange of experiences between local and regional authorities in the areas covered by the Action plan and the Commission's intention to provide support for reinforcing local and regional projects in this area;

having regard to its decision on 13 November 1996 to make Commission 6 - Education and Training - responsible for preparing this opinion;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 368/96 rev.) adopted by Commission 6 on 6 December 1996 (rapporteur: Mr Paul White);

having regard to the request from the European Council in Florence of June 1996 to propose an initiative for schools in the context of the European Confidence Pact for Employment ();

having regard to the guidelines set out in the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment () which the communication under consideration aims to support by providing pathways to meet the educational and cultural challenges presented by the information society;

having regard to the COR Opinion on the White Paper on Education & Training - Teaching and Learning: towards the Learning Society ();

having regard to the COR Opinion on Education and Training in the face of technological, industrial and social challenges: First Thoughts ();

having regard to the COR Opinion on Europe's way to the Information Society: an action plan ();

having regard to the COR Opinion on the Community programme for stimulating development of a European multimedia content industry and of encouraging utilization of this multimedia content in the emerging information society 'INFO 2000` ();

having regard to the COR's Opinion on the Multi-lingual Information Society and programme to promote the linguistic diversity in the Community of the information society ();

having regard to the COR Resolution on the Information Society ();

having regard to the EP Draft Report on the Information Society, Culture and Education (A4-0325/96 - 16. 10. 1996);

whereas the information society offers an important opportunity to address disadvantages experienced by certain groups;

whereas within the context of the information society, the strengthening of networks and partnerships enhancing learning through the transfer of information must be improved and supported;

whereas the Community must create an environment which will take advantage of complementarity and bring coherence between Community instruments and with national and regional actions whilst encouraging the dissemination of best practice;

whereas policies in support of the exchange of multimedia content and the development of permanent partnerships between public and private sectors within and between Member States and the regions must respect the principle of subsidiarity,

adopted the following opinion at its 16th plenary session on 15 and 16 January 1997 (meeting of 16 January).

1. Introduction

1.1. The Communication from the Commission 'Learning in the Information Society: action plan for a European education initiative` is a response to the request from the European Council in Florence in June 1996 for the proposal of an initiative for schools in the context of the European Confidence Pact for Employment ().

1.2. The action plan has a focus on primary and secondary educational establishments and follows the conclusions of the Council Resolution on educational software and multimedia () and the recommendations of the Research-Industry Task Force on 'Educational Software and Multimedia` ().

1.3. The action plan aims to:

- accelerate schools' entry into the information society by giving them new means of access to the world;

- encourage widespread application of multimedia pedagogical practices and the forming of a critical mass of users, products and educational multimedia services;

- reinforce the European dimension of education and training with the tools () of the information society whilst enhancing cultural and linguistic diversity.

1.4. The communication from the Commission proposes four action lines of significant Community added value:

- encourage the interconnection of regional and national school networks at a Community level;

- stimulate the development and dissemination of educational content of European interest;

- promote training and support for teachers and trainers in integrating technology in teaching methods;

- inform all the players of the educational opportunities afforded by audio-visual equipment and multimedia products.

1.5. The Communication from the Commission appeals to both public and private sectors for finance to:

- make use of Community resources through coordinated joint calls for proposals as recommended by the Task Force 'Educational Software and Multimedia` and the resources allocated to trans-European telecommunications networks and the Structural Funds;

- promote the setting up of permanent partnerships between the public and private sectors operating under a 'Memoranda of Understanding`;

- encourage the involvement of citizens and the emergence of talent to support the development of educational software and multimedia.

1.6. The cost of the four lines of action proposed will be met from within existing budgetary appropriations. The Commission aims to develop the close coordination of existing Community financial instruments (programmes and budget lines) and combine these different instruments, as well as other European and national instruments, both public and private, in order to take advantage of their complementarity, in keeping with the recommendations of the Task Force on 'Educational Software and Multimedia`.

2. General observations

2.1. Rapid technological advance is having a profound effect on the global economy, the provision of public-sector services and the social infrastructure of communities.

2.2. The Committee of the Regions (COR) welcomes the Action Plan 'Learning in the Information Society` which will provide an important impetus to the various activities in primary and secondary educational establishments that are contributing to the coordinated strategy at European level to create an effective information society.

2.3. The COR recognizes that the local and regional authorities of the European Union, as major providers, have considerable experience in providing tomorrow's citizens with relevant education and training and endorses the focus on schools in this Commission Communication.

2.4. The COR believes that the Action lines will enable best practice to be shared and built upon and that the needs of learners will be addressed in accordance with the priorities restated by the Commission in the White Paper on 'Teaching and Learning: towards the Learning Society`.

2.5. The COR wishes to reinforce that the role of parents in the home learning environment will be of increasing importance in the Information Society.

2.6. The COR is aware of the political support at both Community level and national level for action, and welcomes the recognition of the needs of the individual to be the first priority, but considers a greater dialogue with players from the private sector, particularly at strategic level, will be required if the tools of the information society are to be developed and deployed to the greatest effect.

2.7. The call for joint proposals for programmes involving educational multimedia will address many of the issues raised by the Task Force 'Educational Software and Multimedia` and the COR believes it provides the Commission with an important opportunity to take into account the needs of producers as well as those of users in the drive to fill an emerging 'content gap` of high quality European educational software and multimedia.

2.8. The COR welcomes the Commission's intention to take advantage of complementarity, both between Community instruments and with national and regional actions supporting the widespread use of technology in education and training. The COR, however, believes additional direct funding for high impact initiatives will be required in the short term to secure maximum benefit from this action plan.

2.9. Key outputs, outcomes and indicators will need to be developed to assess the added value these activities at community, national and local level bring to learning in the information society and how they contribute to the recommendations of the Task Force on 'Educational Software and Multimedia`. In this respect the COR looks forward to receiving the results of the European Commission's research study on information technology in schools.

2.10. The COR stresses the important role of local and regional authorities in enabling individual and pedagogical exchange within and between Member States, and in supporting experimentation in teaching and learning, whilst recognizing the many constraints limiting the speed of progress in their provision of these services.

2.11. The COR recognizes the challenges to the maintenance of rich cultural and linguistic diversity in the information society and welcomes the intention to enhance these features in the Community through the exploitation of educational software and multimedia and by preserving the interests of minority and disadvantaged groups.

2.12. The COR stresses the need to ensure that all schools are able to benefit from the Information Society and underlines the value of providing opportunities for access to networks in particular for schools in peripheral areas and areas facing social problems.

2.13. The COR recognizes that new information technology can reinforce social divides and wishes to encourage further research into learning attitudes to improve the training of social skills. Future developments in these key areas are vital to enhance competence, self-reliance and enable all learners to become more flexible in adapting to changing conditions.

2.14. The COR calls for this research to be considered as a priority in the Commission's forthcoming framework programme on research and development and looks forward to receiving the Commission's Communication on the use of new technologies in vocational training and in adult learning provision.

3. Specific comments

3.1. Action Line No 1: Encourage the interconnection of regional and national school networks at a Community Level

3.1.1. The COR stresses the fundamental importance of projects aimed at interconnecting school networks and is encouraged by the recognition of the role which local and regional authorities have in supporting these activities. It in particular welcomes the decentralized approach for the implementation of this Action line which will be managed by a consortia bringing together Education Ministries as well as local and regional authorities and companies concerned.

3.1.2. Local and regional authorities in Member States are currently supporting the development of many electronic schools networks and the COR underlines the knowledge gained by the authorities in assessing the educational potential of the electronic exchange of learning resources and digital information.

3.1.3. The COR welcomes the initiative to develop a Community 'network of networks` but wishes to reinforce the importance of both maintaining equal access for all learners as regional and national networks become interconnected. It also believes in the necessity of establishing European standards of quality in educational software and multimedia for both school and home learning environments.

3.1.4. The COR agrees with the Communication in stressing the need to share best practice of the successful integration of educational software and multimedia in education and training programmes whilst recognizing the unequal distribution of the appropriate tools and knowledge across Member States.

3.1.5. The COR would also propose action by the Commission to strengthen the promotion of Community instruments supporting the interconnection of school networks at Community level. The COR would strongly support the provision of additional resources to increase the accessibility of advice and guidance on bids to European programmes that target, and specifically contribute to, the development of the information society.

3.1.6. The COR believes such actions would be welcomed by primary and secondary schools and accelerate the development of partnerships that strengthen the European dimension in curriculum development within Member States. Moreover, it underlines the need to facilitate mutual academic recognition between Member States in order to promote greater mobility for all learners in the Community.

3.1.7. The COR is pleased that the 'network of networks` will be open to experiments conducted in third countries, in particular the countries of central and eastern Europe.

3.2. Action Line No 2: Stimulate the development and dissemination of content of European interest which can be used for educational purposes

3.2.1. Like the Commission, the Committee of the Regions believes that it is vital for producers and users of educational software and multimedia to cooperate at all stages of development and production if maximum benefit is to be gained from products and services.

3.2.2. Primary and secondary school teachers in Member States are best placed to identify specific education and training content. The local and regional authorities of the European Union have a key role in harnessing this knowledge and enabling the development of public and private partnerships at local level that meet the needs of both producers and users whilst not compromising the content of the educational material produced.

3.2.3. The COR refers to its opinion on 'Education and Training in the face of technological, industrial and social challenge: First Thoughts` (COM(94) 728 final) in which it calls for specific action to promote equal opportunities in access to education and training, particularly between men and women, and to ensure that disadvantaged groups (such as those in rural communities, elderly people and ethnic minorities) are not disenfranchised from new technologies in education and training.

3.2.4. The COR welcomes the Commission's recognition of the potential of digital television channels and its support for European Broadcasters developing educational content but reminds the Commission of the importance of encouraging parents also to learn about the potential value of on line services and educational content and themselves contribute to its development as is happening in some Member States.

3.2.5. The COR proposes that a European campaign be set up with the greatest urgency with the aim of involving parents directly in these approaches. The COR considers this to be the best way of bringing multimedia resources into the home.

3.3. Action Line No 3: Promote training and support for teachers and trainers in the use of new technology in their teaching methods

3.3.1. The COR welcomes the Communication's emphasis on the promotion of training and support for teachers to underpin the expansion of multimedia products available to support teaching and learning.

3.3.2. The local and regional authorities of the European Union, as major service providers, have direct experience of managing the introduction of new technologies in education and training programmes and support the Commission's view that the role of the teacher and trainer will change as learning becomes more self-directed and active.

3.3.3. The COR welcomes the Commission's proposal to identify a network of training centres but believes many local and regional authorities might have difficulty in securing the long term futures of such establishments during a period of repositioning and maximum delegation of funds to primary and secondary establishments and looks for further guidance on this.

3.3.4. The COR believes that previous experience in both technical and vocational education initiatives undertaken in Member States involving local and regional authorities has demonstrated the value of pump priming funds. In the UK, these have stimulated highly focused and targeted in service training programmes that have acted as a very effective catalyst for change in the short term.

3.3.5. The COR agrees with the Commission's view that open and flexible learning methods are proving to be very effective and supports the view that building on best practice found in schools, often in language learning, can provide a stimulus in other curriculum areas in schools. The COR points out that teachers are increasingly finding it difficult to 'experiment` in new methods as market forces impact on schools across many Member States. It stresses that experience gained from initial teacher training establishments might inform activities undertaken in this action line.

3.4. Action Line No 4: Inform those concerned about the educational opportunities afforded by new technologies

3.4.1. The COR welcomes the Commission's intention to use both electronic and more traditional media to inform communities about the potential afforded by the new technologies.

3.4.2. Stakeholders in primary and secondary establishments will require regular updating about the impact of educational initiatives using educational software and multimedia in learning and the COR believes that local and regional authorities will have a key role in enabling this to happen. To this end, each establishment could appoint information officers who would be responsible for keeping colleagues informed of opportunities and developments in the new educational technologies. These information officers could be the contact points for regional and local authorities, in view of the increased involvement of the latter in the sector.

3.4.3. The Green Paper 'Living and Working in the Information Society: People First` (), identifies both challenges and opportunities for the dissemination of information in the 'digital age` and schools have an important role to contribute as a focus of lifelong learning in the community. The COR agrees, however, with the Commission that teachers, headteachers and policy makers will all be required to contribute to the development of guidelines, the establishment of news groups and the promotion of meetings and exhibitions if the full benefit of the new technologies are to be valued and used by the wider community beyond the primary and secondary school gates.

3.4.4. The COR feels that school libraries and resource centres should be equipped with these new educational tools as a matter of priority so that teaching staff, pupils and possibly the general public can make use of these reading and study centres to put into effect knowledge acquired in the field of the new technologies.

3.5. Mobilizing resources and promoting private/public partnerships

3.5.1. The COR recognizes the critical need to secure the full support of both public and private agents at Community, national, regional and local level to achieve the objectives of the four courses of action. The COR believes the Commission can encourage greater participation and increase awareness in Member States through a coordinated and high profile information campaign that clearly demonstrates best practice in partnerships and projects and makes transparent the linkage across programmes. This would be welcomed by primary and secondary schools and could follow on from the experiences of the European Year of Lifelong Learning campaign. The first call for proposals in December 1996 provides primary and secondary schools with opportunities to contribute to Community programmes and will extend their knowledge and expertise in new fields. The COR stresses the need for coordinated support to make full use of Community resources as new partnerships are propagated in key areas of development.

3.5.2. The COR is encouraged by the intentions to establish a new agency, such as a Private Foundation, to act as a necessary focal point for reference and dialogue between actors at European level. The COR would request the Commission's support in developing appropriate and existing enterprises in Member States and the regions and thus provide a similar infrastructure of support for partnership programmes at local level in which the private sector has a major role.

3.5.3. Local and regional authorities are witnessing the emergence of centres of Lifelong Learning in communities across Member States, particularly in schools and libraries. The COR would encourage the Commission to consider such centres as important hubs in the development of learning communities and encourage these providers to take advantage of new opportunities to strengthen their role by offering more services to the business community under local 'Memoranda of Understanding`.

3.5.4. The COR welcomes the Commission's intention to work with all the actors in the sector to launch information and communication events and campaigns and believes that parents should be an important target group to be informed through the traditional media of press, radio and television broadcasting.

3.5.5. The COR will ensure that every opportunity is taken to promote and share best practice and calls for support to establish regional conferences and workshops to stimulate activity at local level.

4. Conclusions

4.1. Schools have a major responsibility to provide learners with the skills to use the new information and communication tools in an increasingly knowledge-based society. The COR believes this two-year Action Plan will encourage more primary and secondary establishments to experiment with new learning environments and exchange information and content through electronic networks.

4.2. To take maximum advantage of the opportunities provided by new technologies, to improve teaching and learning in schools, the COR believes more resources will need to be identified in addition to funds already allocated to existing Community Programmes.

4.3. The COR welcomes the joint call for proposals and the contribution to be made through existing instruments and programmes such as Socrates, Leonardo, Media II, INFO 2000, research and technological development programmes as well as resources from the transeuropean telecommunications networks. It also welcomes the utilization of funding opportunities from the Structural Funds.

4.4. However, the COR calls on the EU to consider bringing together the various funding opportunities from these Community programmes and instruments as well as additional funding under a single procedural framework, based on a decentralized approach, rather than having each instrument being used in accordance with its own different rules.

4.5. The COR believes that this would provide the most effective means of securing maximum benefit in order to achieve the Commission's objective of ensuring that all schools, universities and libraries are connected to the knowledge networks by the year 2000 and thus enable all young Europeans to participate fully in the Information Society.

4.6. By recognizing learning as a key strategic activity for individuals as well as organizations, the COR would ask the Commission to maintain an appropriate balance between meeting the needs of the economy and meeting the needs of individuals in this action plan.

4.7. To achieve maximum leverage from the private sector the COR believes that simplification in the procedure of some community instruments may be necessary. Local and regional authorities continually seek to improve learning services in the community and look forward to joining with all actors in this exciting education initiative.

4.8. The COR stresses the importance of disseminating information through local and regional conferences and activities mobilizing whole communities. Such forums would enable exchange of experience to be promoted in particular on establishing and developing public/private partnerships to support the relevant actions.

4.9. The COR calls on the Commission to fully acknowledge the wide diversity in terms of policy and good practice within and between different Member States in the EU in developing information technology in the education and training sector. In this respect, it underlines the opportunity provided by local and regional conferences to gain information on the different experiences and approaches involved.

4.10. The COR wishes to endorse most emphatically this Action Plan and offers a firm commitment to respond quickly and effectively to new challenges. It stresses the important role of local and regional authorities in the delivery of multimedia services and provision of education and training and welcomes the decentralized approach in the implementation of the Action Programme which enables local and regional authorities' experiences in this field to be effectively taken into account. It strongly supports the Commission's aim to build on existing local/regional projects and to promote the dissemination of good practice between local and regional authorities of the EU in the areas covered by the action plan.

4.11. The COR welcomes this opportunity to contribute to meeting global challenges whilst preserving the rich cultural and linguistic diversity within and between Member States.

4.12. The Committee of the Regions would wish to continue to play its full part in supporting the community education initiative and asks to be consulted on all decisions and measures provided for in response to the results of any action line.

Brussels, 16 January 1997.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Regions

Pasqual MARAGALL i MIRA

() European Confidence Pact for Employment, Florence, June 1996.

() White Paper: Growth, Competitiveness and Employment (COM(94) 700 final).

() OJ No C 182, 24. 6. 1996, p. 15.

() OJ No C 100, 2. 4. 1996, p. 106.

() OJ No C 210, 14. 8. 1995, p. 109.

() OJ No C 129, 2. 5. 1996, p. 39.

() OJ No C 337, 11. 11. 1996, p. 45.

() OJ No C 42, 10. 2. 1997, p. 31.

() European Confidence Pact for Employment, European Council, Florence, June 1996.

() The Education Council meeting of 6 May 1996 (6802/96 Presse 122).

() Educational Software and Multimedia, Report of Research Industry Task Force, July 1996.

() Tools can be defined as multimedia equipment, services, software.

() Green Paper 'Living and Working in the Information Society: People First`.