COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS - LEARNING IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY - Action plan for a European education initiative - (1996-98)
Date: 1996-10-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: educational system, exchange of information, information network, information technology, teaching curriculum

COMMISSION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 02.10.1996 
C< >M(%)  471 

final 

COMMUNICATION  FROM THE  COMMISSION 

TO THE  COUNCIL, THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT, 
THE ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
AND THE  COMMITTEE  OF THE  REGIONS 

LEARNING  IN THE  INFORMATION  SOCIETY 

Action  plan  for a European  education  initiative 

(1996-98) 

5 

6 

7 

8 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

I 

THE RATIONALE BEHIND A EUROPEAN INITIATIVE 

II 

ACTION PLAN FOR THE EUROPEAN INITIATIVE 

11.1 

11.2 

11.3 

11.4 

Action lineN°l: Encourage the interconnection  of school networks at a 
Community  level 

Action line N°2:  Stimulate the development and dissemination of contents of 
European  interest which can be used for educational purposes 

11 

Action lineN°3: Promote training and support for teachers and trainers in the 
use of new technology in teaching methods 

12 

Action line N°4: Inform players about the educational opportunities afforded  by 
14 
multimedia 

HI  MOBILISING  RESOURCES  AND  PROMOTING  PRIVATE/PUBLIC 

PARTNERSHIPS 

III. 1 Making use of Community resources 

111.2  Promoting public/private partnerships 

111.3 Encouraging the involvement of citizen and the emergence of talent 

CONCLUSION 

APPENDICES: 

15 

15 

16 

17 

18 

Recent national and European public initiatives for multimedia education in schools  19 

Proposed Timetable  1996-1998 

21 

?  -  ?~  4 

INTRODUCTION 

trade  globalisation,  technological  innovation  and  economic 
Against  a  background  of 
upheaval,  every  society  is  confronted  with  profound  changes.  Europeans  must  be 
prepared  to  cope  with  this  situation  and  their  education  systems  must  help  them  to  do 
so. 

With  the  emergence  of  the  information  society,  everyone  must  upgrade  their  skills 
constantly  and  obtain  new  qualifications  . 

Tomorrow,  jobs  are  at  stake,  therefore  it  is  why  it  is  important  for  the  tools  of  the 
information  society  to  be  deployed  in  new  learning  methods.  These  priorities  were 
restated  by  the  Commission  in  the  White  Paper  on  Teaching  and  learning:  towards  the 
knowledge-based  society  and  the  European  confidence  pact  for  employment  presented 
to the European  Council  in Florence  in June  1996. 

Political  leaders  at  both  Community  and  national  level  now  realise  how  much  of  an 
educational  and  cultural  challenge 
the 
the  Research-Industry  Task  Force  on  "Educational  Software  and 
Commission 
Multimedia"  has set about analysing  educational  multimedia  and their market  and  uses. 

information  society  presents.  Within 

the 

Its  work  has  given  rise  to  a  set  of  recommendations  aimed  at  reinforcing  research 
activities  in  this  field  and  facilitating  the  distribution  of  educational  multimedia  whilst 
taking  into  account  the  needs  of  users,  by  mobilising  and  coordinating  the  use  of  the 
numerous  instruments  at its disposal  . 

The  European  Education  Ministers  meeting  in  the  Council  on  6 May  1996  gave  a  clear 
political  signal  to  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States  by  adopting  a  Resolution 
encouraging  the  use of educational  technology  in partnership  with  the private  sector. 

In  Europe  and  throughout  the  world  many  countries,  such  as  the  United  Kingdom, 
Germany,  France,  Italy,  the Nordic  countries  and  also  the  United  Sates  and  Japan,  have 
recently  launched  initiatives  to  connect  schools  to  communication  networks,  train 
teachers  and  develop  software  to  meet  pedagogical  needs  (cf.  Appendix).  The  private 
sector  is  also  gearing  up  to  equip  and  network 
schools  in  partnership  with  the 
authorities. 

Considerable  technological  advances  have  been  made  with  regard  to  their  user-
friendliness,  the  pedagogical  requirements  are  clearer  and  are  better  understood.  Many 

See  document  produced  by the  Round  Table  of  Industrialists  on  "Education  for  Europeans  :  Towards  the 
Learning  Society" 

See  the  following  documents:  White  Paper  "Growth,  competitiveness  and  employment"  (1993);  "Towards  the 
information  society  in  Europe:  an  action  plan"  COM(94)  347;  Green  Paper  on  innovation  (1996);  Green  Paper 
"People  first:  living  and  working  in the  information  society"  (1996). 

Final  report  of July  1996  SEC(96)1426/final.  On this basis, the Commission  will  launch  a call  for joint  proposals  on 
15 December  1996 for  all programmes  involving  educational  multimedia. 

Such  as  Deutsche  Telekom  and  Bertelsmann  as  part  of  the  German  initiative,  the  association  of  cable  operators  in 
the UK and Apple, which  is setting up pilot classes  in five European  countries. 

5 

teachers  are  ready  to  experiment  with  the  new  educational  tools.  The  stage  is  set  for 
widespread  use  of  technology  in  education  and  training  and  we  now  need  to  create  an 
environment  conducive  to  its being  disseminated  through  a range  of  concrete  actions  at 
European  level  to support  national  and  local  initiatives. 

It is with  this  in mind  that the European  Council  in Florence  supported  this initiative  and 
asked  the Commission  to draw up a plan  of action  as soon  as possible. 

I  THE  RATIONALE  BEHIND  A EUROPEAN  INITIATIVE 

A  variety  of research  and pilot experiments  have shown  the value of information  society 
technologies  and  multimedia  for  teaching.  As  long  as they  are  geared  to  people's  needs, 
these  tools  help  them  to  acquire  new  knowledge  and  help  to  develop  new,  flexible 
customised  and  interactive  learning  methods.  They  increase  the  range  of  education  and 
training  facilities  and offer  more widespread  access to them. 

They  can  also  encourage  personal  and  pedagogical  exchanges  and, 
indeed  by 
encouraging  intercultural  and  multilingual  communication  between  72  million  pupils 
society 
and  students  and  4.5  million 
technologies  and  multimedia  are  likely  to enhance  the European  dimension  in  education 
and European  integration  through  teaching and  learning  exchanges. 

throughout  Europe, 

information 

teachers 

there  are  still  many  obstacles  to  the  widespread  use  of  these  tools. 
However, 
Educational  establishments  do  not  have  enough  equipment  of  sufficient  quality. 
Multimedia  "content"  available  on  the  market  often  fails  to  cater  for  the  pedagogical 
needs.  The  establishments'  capacity  for  funding  equipment  is  restricted  by  severe 
budgetary  constraints.  Finally, the new  tools  cannot  be  integrated  into teaching  practices 
until  the  teachers  have  been  trained  and  teaching  methods  and  systems  have  been 
adjusted,  which  is often  a delicate  exercise. 

It  is  the  duty  of  education  and  training  establishments  to  help  young  people  to  find  a 
place  in  the  information  society  by  avoiding  a  situation  where  only  the  children  of  the 
most  privileged  families  and  schools  will  reap  the  benefits  of  educational  multimedia. 
Education  and  training  establishments  and,  in  the  longer  term,  employment  and  social 
cohesion  in  Europe  will  pay  a  high  price  for  increasingly  inequitable  access  to  these 
new  practices. 

The European  multimedia  industry  could be severely  affected  if the number  of users  and 
producers  is  too  small.  After  all,  this  is  a  sector  which  has  considerable  potential  in 
terms  of the  development  of new  products  and  services,  rapid  growth,  and  employment 
creation.  Europe  counts  among  its many  assets,  its  cultural  heritage,  major  intellectual 
and  financial  resources  and  considerable  technical  expertise  which  should  be  exploited 
by  multimedia  companies  in the European  market. 

If  this  opportunity  is  missed,  our  increased  dependence  on  pedagogical  and  cultural 
content  originating  from  its  main  competitors  outside  Europe  would  be  particularly 
damaging  for  the  cultural  identity  and  linguistic  diversity  of the  Community. 

The  European  initiative  will  reinforce  the  concerted  efforts  that  have  already  begun  in 
several  regions  and  countries  of  the  Community,  thus  following  the  guidelines  laid 
down  by the Council  Resolution  on educational  multimedia  software. 

It aims  to  strengthen  the  impetus  of  the  often  fragmented  activities  at  national  level  by 
coordinating  them  and  by  focusing  on  those  actions  which  present  the  greatest  benefits 
for  the  Community  as  a whole  and,  in  full  respect  of  the  principle  of  subsidiarity,  take 
into  account  the  different  levels  of  development  between  the  regions.  The  initiative  will 
help  to  mobilise  a  large  enough  number  of  users  more  rapidly,  reinforce  the  European 
dimension  of  pedagogical  exchanges  and  create  a  genuine  European  educational 
multimedia  market. 

In  this  field,  a  well-targeted  approach  to  Community  actions  is  vital  to  achieve 
maximum  effect  given  the  limited  financial  resources.  The  current  Action  Plan  focuses 
on  primary  and  secondary  schools  (including  vocational  schools),  the  weak  links  in 
the  educational  chain  in  terms  of  the  use  of  these  practices  since  they  are  far  less 
widespread  than  in higher  education  or vocational  training. 

Nonetheless,  it  is  important  to  underline  the  need  to  give  a  life-long  perspective  to 
education,  from  the  school  to  vocational  training.  The  use  of  new  technologies  in 
vocational  training,  however,  involves  other  actors  and  other  responsibilities.  This  issue 
will  be  dealt  with  in  a  further  Communication  which  will  soon  be  presented  by  the 
Commission  in  the  light  of  comments  received  in  the  course  of  the  debate  launched  by 
the  publication  of  the  Green  Paper  "Living  and  Working  in  the  Information  Society: 
People  First". 

II. PLAN  OF ACTION  FOR  THE  EUROPEAN  INITIATIVE 

The  initiative  has 3 main  objectives: 

-»  To accelerate  schools'  entry  into  the  information  society  by giving  them  new  means  of 

access  to the  world. 

•* To  encourage  widespread  application  of  multimedia  pedagogical  practices  and  the 
forming  of a critical  mass  of  users, products  and  educational  multimedia  services 

•*  To reinforce  the  European  dimension  of  education  and  training  with  the  tools  of  the 

information  society  whilst  enhancing  cultural  and  linguistic  diversity 

In  order  to  achieve  these  general  aims  the  initiative  will  pursue  four  additional  action 
lines to support  local  and national  initiatives  . 

The  initiative  will  come under  the  European  Commission's  responsibilities  laid  down  by  the Treaty  on  European 
Union  in the fields of education  and training, regional cohesion,  industry, technological  research  and  development 
and trans-European communications networks. 

7 

T HE  COURSES  OF  ACTION 

1.  Encourage  the  interconnection  of school  networks  at a Community  level 
2.  Stimulate  the  development  and  dissemination  of  content 
3.  Promote  training  and  support for  teachers  and  trainers 
4.  Informing  all  the parties  involved  about  the pedagogical  opportunities  afforded  by 

multimedia 

The  Initiative  could  be  supported  by  a small  group  of  high  level  figures,  chosen  on  the 
basis  of  their  vision  and  conviction,  whose  role,  as  the  "champions"  of  the  Initiative, 
would  be to give it extra  momentum. 

II. 1  Action  line  N°T. 
Encourage  the  interconnection  of school  networks  at a Community  level 

(i)  Context 

Experimental  electronic  schools  networks  have  been  set  up  at  regional  or  local  level  but 
are  fragmented 
in  their  distribution  here  and  there  experimentally.  These  enable 
electronic  mail  to  be  transmitted,  cooperation  (on  producing  thematic  databases, 
practical  comparative  work  and  joint  products  incorporating  text  and  images)  to  be 
learned  andyôra  to  be  organised  for  both  pupils  and  teachers  to  exchange  information, 
advice  and  practices. 

The  experiments  under  way  clearly  show  the  educational  potential  which  can  be 
expected:  users'  access  to  the  outside  world,  more  freedom  to  search  for  information, 
writing  is more  rewarding  (by writing  for  somebody), there  is a sense  of collective  effort 
in  work  on  subjects  of  common  interest,  such  as  the  environment,  society,  art  and 
current  affairs,  and  users  become  familiar  with  cultural  and  linguistic  differences,  be 
they  regional  (such  as  the  differences  between  rural  and  urban  life)  or  national 
(linguistic  exchanges  and questions  and  answers  on social  and political  life, etc.). 

The  interconnection  of  regional  and  national  school  networks  could  make  a  significant 
contribution  to the teaching  of subjects  such  as  languages,  science, history,  or  art,  which 
would  most  benefit  from  a European  approach.  As  they  develop,  these  networks  should 
allow  schools  to  use  electronic  information  produced  by  museums  and  other  cultural 
and  educational  institutions. 

The  number  of  schools  in  existing  networks  is  still  small  -  less  than  5%  of  European 
schools  had  access  to  an  electronic  schools  network  or  to  the  Internet  in  mid-1996  . 
Moreover,  there  is  still  very  little  European-wide  communication,  partly  because  there 
are  technical  or  language  problems  but  mainly  because  they  do  not  know  enough  about 
the experiments  conducted  in other Member  States. 

6  The situation  varies greatly  from  one country  to another: two-thirds of schools are connected to networks  in  Finland 

and  in Sweden  but only  15% in the United  Kingdom and  less than 2% in France or Germany. 

8 

The  current  wave  of  connecting  schools  to  the  Internet,  which  has  come  about 
spontaneously or has been encouraged by the authorities, could soon subside rapidly due 
to technical problems caused by short-term saturation  of the Internet network  or because 
of  a  lack  of  awareness  on  the part  of educationalists  of  the  pedagogical  benefit  of  the 
new techniques. 

Furthermore,  the  Commission  supports  the  extension  of  "public  access"  to  the 
Information  Society. This includes especially the connection of schools, universities and 
libraries. Preparatory work is already underway, both at Community and national levels, 
with  the  aim  of  promoting  access  to  communications  and  information  services  in  the 
field  of education7. 

The interconnection  of schools networks will enable innovatory teaching practices to be 
exchanged  between  European  classes.  This  process  will  enable  cultural  and  linguistic 
diversity  to  be  expressed  and  will  integrate  pilot  projects  aimed  at  creating  a 
pedagogical  environment  which  is  conducive  to  innovation,  be  it  local,  European  or 
international  . 

languages  should  neither  be 
Difficulties  arising  from  communication  in  different 
ignored  nor  overestimated:  indeed,  schools  benefit  from  a  privileged  environment  for 
the learning of languages, and multimedia provides a versatile means of communication 
using sound and image which can greatly facilitate mutual understanding. 

This approach will go hand-in-hand with the development of local schools networks and 
will  be  a  gradual  process,  the  aim  being  to  connect  all  schools  in  Europe,  including 
those in the most disadvantaged areas. 

(ii) Implementation 

Projects aimed at interconnecting schools networks will be launched in the  aftermath 
of  the  "European  Year  of  Lifelong  Learning".  The  initiative  will  be  based  on  the 
networks  which  are  already  well-established  at  local  and  regional  level  and  establish 
contact between them. This "network of networks" will progressively  be extended to all 
school  networks,  either  existing  or  in  the  pipeline,  and  to  geographically  isolated  or 
socially  disadvantaged  schools, thus supporting the "twinning" activities between towns 
and regions of Europe. 

The  initiative  will  be  underpinned  by  the  policies  conducted  by  local,  regional  and 
national  authorities, which have the final  say in equipping schools and which  can  apply 
for aid from  the Structural Funds in the eligible regions. The initiative will also build on 
experimental  projects  under  Community  technological  research  and  development, 
education and training programmes. 

"Universal  service for  telecommunications  in perspective of a fully  liberalised  environment"  COM(96) 73 final,  cf 
also the initiative of the British telecommunications  office  Oftel  to create a Task Force on Education  in the process 
of consultation on the universal service. 
Examples  of  these  are  the  projects  resulting  from  Community  programmes  or  the  "Cross-cultural  education  and 
training" project launched at the G7 Summit in Brussels on the information  society. 

9 

The  "network  of  schools  networks"  will  be  open  to  experiments  conducted  in  Third 
countries, in particular the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. 

Several types of activities are necessary: 

•  The  Commission  will  also  promote  experimental  educational  environments 
involving  a  limited  number  of  establishments  to  explore  further  research  on  the 
interaction  between  technology  and  teaching,  mainly  for  developing  cooperative 
working tools in networks. 

•  The  Commission  will  encourage  the  creation  and  interconnection  of  multimedia 
discovery  classes, like those which  have already  been  set up and networked  in some 
countries  ,  and  enable  teachers  and  pupils  to  devise  teaching  projects  using 
multimedia and to familiarise  themselves with the use of new technology at specially 
equipped sites. These sites could also offer  remote counselling services for teachers. 

•  A conference will be organised before the end of  1996 to take stock of developments 
in  national  schools  networks,  as  well  as  the  needs,  practices  and  difficulties 
encountered  (technological, legal, financial,  etc.). The conference  will be attended by 
people  involved  in  local,  regional  and  national  initiatives  (teachers,  computer 
companies,  network  operators,  on-line  service  providers  head 
teachers  and 
associations). 

One  workshop  will  examine  questions  linked  to  the  copyrights  of  multimedia 
products  to  promote  their  pedagogical  utilisation  as  well  as  security  questions 
regarding  the  use  of  the  Internet  by  school  networks  (e.g.  violent,  racial  or 
pornographic contents, paedophilia). 

•  Technical  scenarios  for  the interconnection  of schools networks  at Community  level 
(the infrastructures  used could be the automatic telephone network, integrated  service 
digital  network  or  broadband  research  networks  providing  access  to  Internet),  the 
costs  involved  and  suitable  financing  mechanisms  will  be  identified  in  a  feasibility 
study, on the basis of the results of the conference. 

The  management  of  the  project  to  interconnect  regional  and  national  schools 
networks  at  Community  level  could  be  entrusted  to  a  consortia,  bringing  together 
Education  Ministries  as  well  as  local  and  regional  authorities  and  companies 
concerned  . 

Furthermore, the Commission  will examine  experiments  in progress  in the  countries 
of  the  Community  and  its  main  partners  to  extend  the  field  of  application  for  the 
training 
universal 
establishments. The results will be used to  formulate  proposals  in a report which the 

linking  education  and 

telecommunications 

service 

for 

An  example  of  this  in  France  is  the  "Mmultimedia  interactive  teaching"  project  of  the  Ligue  Française  de 
l'Enseignement  et de l'Education  Permanente. 
The  regions  are  particularly  involved  in  information  society  activities.  For  example,  six  regions  committed 
themselves  in  1994 to develop telematics  applications  (The  IRIS  initiative) 

10 

Commission  will  present  before  the  end  of  1997  on  the  level,  quality  and  extent  of 
the universal telecommunications service. 

II.2  Action line N°2: 
Stimulate  the  development  and  dissemination  of  content  of  European  interest 
which can be used for educational  purposes 

(i) Context 

Existing schools' networks can  enhance educational  exchanges  within  groups  of pupils, 
between pupils and teachers and between teachers. They also enable teaching  resources 
for  conducting these exchanges to be transferred.  It is therefore  important  to  encourage 
the development and dissemination of "contents" which lend themselves to these. 

Each medium  still has its own creation, production  and distribution  methods. However, 
with  the  development  of  digital  technologies,  audiovisual  or paper  products  can  easily 
be transferred  to electronic media (CD-Rom, CD-I or on-line service). All the same, the 
content and narrative structure of the products often  has to be considerably  re-organised 
for  multimedia  production.  It  is  vital  for  audiovisual,  multimedia  production  and 
education professionals  to cooperate to take full  advantage of these capacities. 

Opportunities  for  developing  content will  multiply  with  the arrival  of large numbers  of 
digital  television  channels.  Educational  and  cultural  broadcasts  ought  to  be  highly 
successful,  given  the  public's  expectations  and  demands.  As  the  use  of  television  is 
widespread,  audiovisual  products  could  constitute  the  ideal  vehicle  for  educational 
multimedia in schools and homes. 

Such  audiovisual  products  could  be  either  educational  broadcasts  designed  to  meet 
specific  training  aims,  or  high-level  information  or  quality  broadcasts  for  the  general 
public which teachers feel can be incorporated  in their teaching syllabus. 

Many  broadcasters  have  already  integrated  "continuity  of  use"  in  their  strategy  by 
adopting  a  multi-product  approach,  like  educational  television  in  Sweden  or  the  BBC, 
which  regularly  distributes  video  cassettes  made  from  its  broadcasts.  This  approach  is 
now being extended to take advantage of digital technology. The BBC is producing CD-
ROMs on Shakespearean  theatre from  its audiovisual productions. In France, Channel 5 
is  digitalizing  many  of  the  programmes  which  it  broadcasts  in  order  to  build  up  a 
repertoire.  This  will  be  available  for  consultation  by  institutional  users  depending  on 
their  specific  needs.  The  technical  issues  have  virtually  all  been  settled  now  but  legal 
problems remain. 

Several  broadcasters  favour  the inclusion  of a European  dimension  in their  commercial 
strategy.  Indeed,  fourteen  public  members  of  the  European  Broadcasting  Union  have 
decided  to  promote  the  exchange  of  European  cultural  programmes  by  sharing 

11 

programming  through  common  broadcasting  pool.  Plans  by  a  number  of  European 
broadcasters  for  a European  education  channel  are also on the drawing  board11. 

(ii)  Implementation 

The  following  actions  are  envisaged: 

•  There  are  many  ways  of  both  producing  and  disseminating  audiovisual  and 
multimedia  contents.  In  order  to  examine  these,  a working  group  made  up  of  high-
level  representatives  of  producers  and  distributors  of  educational  programmes  and 
multimedia  productions  will  be  formed  by the end of  1996. 

Its  mission  will  be  to  explore  opportunities  for  cooperation  in  the  production  of 
general  educational  content  (learning  of  languages,  science,  culture  and  European 
civilisation,  arts,  music,  etc.)  which  caters  for  the  needs  of  European  education  and 
training.  It  will  have  to  lay  down  the  general  principles  governing  the  quality  and 
exchange  of  educational  products  and  examine  the  technical  and  legal  conditions  for 
their  use  by  schools  or  other  educational  and  cultural  institutions  in  order  to  promote 
the  dissemination  of such  content. 

•  The  Commission  will  provide  support  for  an  inventory  of  European  multimedia 
products  which  can  be  used  for  teaching  through  various  media  (educational 
broadcasts,  CD-ROM,  CD-I  and  on-line  services).  Results  of  this  survey  will  be 
widely  distributed. 

•  Finally,  the  Commission  through  its  support  for  concrete  projects  will  promote  the 
development  and  electronic  networking  of  multimedia  resource  centres  (such  as 
multimedia  libraries,  teacher  training  centres  and  on-line  "digital  libraries")  with 
which  users  can  gain  access  to a wide  range  of European  multimedia  and  audiovisual 
products  and  services. 

II.3  Action  line  N°3: 
Promote  training  and  support  for  teachers  and  trainers  in  the  use  of  new 
technology  in their teaching  methods 

(i)  Context 

Teaching  methods  are  always  evolving.  What  are  known  as  "active"  teaching  methods 
are  already  widely  used  in  language  teaching,  which  has  long  used  audiovisual  media. 
Many  teachers  are open  to innovation  but  do not always  get sufficient  encouragement  or 
institutional  support 
is 
compounded  by  confusion  as to how the new  tools  are to be used.  Simply  to  get them  to 
work,  newcomers  often  have  to  invest  more  time  than  the  majority  of  teachers  are  able 
to do on their  own. 

to  experiment  and  validate  new  teaching  methods.  This 

Many  educational  audiovisual  experiments  are  being  carried  out  in  other  countries.  In  Israel,  time  slots  for 
educational  purposes  are  allocated  on  all  channels,  including  commercial  channels,  rather  than  an  educational 
channel  proper  being created.  In Canada,  public television  channels  are obliged  to broadcast  at  least  one  programme 
a week  for  reuse for  teaching  purposes. 

12 

Where  the  technologies  have  been  introduced  success fully  they  have  been  used  to 
support  new  teaching  methods  which  largely  leave  the  initiative  in  the  hands  of  pupils 
and  teams.  The  teachers'  role  is  thus  slightly  different.  They  have  to  learn  to  supervise 
and  organise  groups  of pupils whilst  monitoring  and  assessing  individual  progress. 

One  of  the  key  factors  in  successful  integration  and  dissemination  of  multimedia  in 
teaching  methods  is  to  prepare  the  teaching  staff  properly  and  to  ensure  that  technical 
support  is available  when  new tools  are being  used.  Such  training  is one  of the  priorities 
in  the  Member  States'  initiatives  (such  as  in  "Multimedia  in  teacher  training"  in  the 
Netherlands  and  the  work  carried  out  by  the  National  Council  for  Educational 
Technology  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Many  experimental  projects  have  already  been 
launched  and  the  results  and  methods  used  should  now  be  promoted  at  a  Community 
level. 

(ii)  Implementation 

Practical,  on-the-job  experimentation  appears  to  be  the  most  promising  way  of  training 
teachers.  Training  activities  have  to  accompany  the  development  of  schools  networks 
and,  in  the  long  term,  must  be  aimed  at  a  large  number  of  teachers,  and  trainers,  and 
thus take  advantage  of the similarity  between  different  methods. 

Training  covers  the  use  of  tools  (equipment,  services  and  software),  searching  for  and 
structuring  information  from  the  networks,  and  design  and  distribution  of  multimedia 
teaching  materials.  It  is  underpinned  by  educational  and  technical  support  services  to 
help  teachers  use  multimedia  in  the  classroom  once  they  have  been  trained.  It  concerns 
the  following: 

•  To  step  up 

training  activities  under 

the  Community  programmes.  The 
Commission  will  encourage  exchanges  of  teachers  between  European  schools  in 
order  to  enable  them  to  compare  notes  and,  for  less  experienced  teachers,  to 
familiarise  themselves  with  using  multimedia  in  a  classroom  situation.  In  order  to 
involve  as many teachers  as possible, the project  will  also encourage  the  development 
of  distance  learning  courses  to  enable  teachers  to  gain  such  experience  without 
having to travel  to the  course. 

•  To  ensure  that  the  results  of  discussion  and  experiments  conducted  at  national  level 
can  be  of  benefit  to  the  whole  teaching  profession.  A  network  of  training  centres 
for  teachers  and  trainers  will  build  on  local  and  national  initiatives  and  current 

Community  projects 

to enable  good practice to be disseminated  at European  level. 

12 

12  Such as the "Trends" (Telematic applications programme), "Fetiche" (Socrates programme) and "Web for Schools" 

(information  technologies programme) projects. 

13 

II.4  Action  line N°4: 
Inform  those  concerned  about  the  educational  opportunities  afforded  by  new 
technologies 

(i)  Context 

Networking  schools  and  encouraging  the  development  of  educational  content  are 
important  but  are  not  in  themselves  sufficient.  For  the  use  of  educational  multimedia  to 
become  more  widespread, 
they  are 
responsible  for  the  evolution  of  their  teaching  methods,  along  with  head  teachers  and 
policy-makers.  The 
latter  must  be  particularly  aware  of  the  need  to  create  an 
environment  which  is conducive  to multimedia  learning. 

informed,  since 

teachers  need 

to  be  better 

Sources  of  information  on  the  use  of  multimedia  and  educational  audiovisual  products 
are  few  and  far  between.  They  are  difficult  to  access  at  Community  level  and  often  at 
national  level  too.  However,  in  Europe,  many  sites  have  been  created  on  the  Internet 
presenting  teaching  projects  using  new  technics. Databases  on  educational  technologies, 
software,  multimedia  services  and  audiovisual  products  also  exist  and  are  being  created 
in several  Member  States and at the  Commission. 

By  simplifying  access  to  this  information,  the  education  sector  can  be  kept  better 
informed  giving  teachers  and  administrators  the  opportunity  to  discuss  the  situation  and 
to draw  up  some practical  guidelines. 

(ii)  Implementation 

The  linking  of  various  Internet  sites  and  databases  created  in  the  Member  States  will 
help  improve  access  to  information  on  ongoing  projects  and  on  educational  multimedia 
and  audiovisual  resources  in Europe. 

That  means: 

•  The  Commission  will,  with  the  support  of  the  Member  States,  help  to  create  a 

platform  for  the exchange  of information  accessible  on the  Internet. 

This platform  will  offer  a guide to the various  sites on the Internet  presenting  projects 
in  progress  in  the  Community  and  databases  in  the  Member  States  for  the  special 
attention  of  players  in  education  and  training  sector  and  the  multimedia  and 
audiovisual  industries.  This  guide  will  make  it  easier  to  obtain  precise  information 
on,  for  example,  the  creation  of  schools'  networks,  software,  reviews  of  tools  and 
practices 
testing  and  purchasing 
in  the  Member  States 
equipment  and  software  at preferential  rates. 

and  procedures  for 

13 

The platform  will  also provide  a site for  discussions  between  teachers,  educationalists 
and  managers  of educational  establishments. 

13  See,  for  example,  the  experiments  conducted  in  Germany  with  the  SOD1S database,  in  the  United  Kingdom  at  the 
National  Council  for  Educational  Technology  and  the  French  National  Educational  Ministry's  project  to  produce  a 
catalogue  of digital  resources. 

14 

A  feasibility  study will be carried  out to establish  the technical  specifications  for  the 
networking of existing databases  and servers and creating a multilingual  platform  on 
the Internet. 

Teachers  and  administrators  who have  not yet  used  telematic  networks  also  need  to 
be  informed.  The  Community  will  use  traditional  media  (leaflets,  radio  and 
television  broadcasts,  and  conferences)  to  inform  about  ongoing  experiments, 
exhibitions, meetings and useful  contacts. 

III.  MOBILISING  RESOURCES  AND  PROMOTING  PRIVATE/PUBLIC 

PARTNERSHIPS 

The  success  of  the  Initiative  depends  on  the  large-scale  involvement  of  public  and 
private  agents  of  the  educational  multimedia  sector  in  partnerships  at  a  European, 
national  or  regional  level  or  in  awareness-raising  activities  aimed  at  spreading  the 
message  as  widely  as  possible  and  to  encourage  the  participation  of  citizens  and  the 
emergence  of  talent. The Commission  will  support  activities conducted  in the  Member 
States  whilst  respecting  the  principle  of  subsidiarity  and  the  different  stages  of 
development  between  the  regions.  It  will  promote  interaction  between  the  various 
actions and their mutual enhancement through the four courses of action outlined above. 

III.l  Making use of Community  resources 

The  Initiative  will  take  advantage  of  the  complementarity  both  between  Community 
instruments  and  with  national  actions  which  it  will  coordinate  through  joint  calls  for 
proposals  following  the recommendations  of the Task Force "Educational  Software  and 
Multimedia", each instrument being used in accordance with its own rules. The first  call 
for proposals  of this type should  be launched  on  15 December  1996 and will  cover the 
following programmes: 

•  telematics  applications,  information  technologies,  targeted  socio-economic  research, 

through experimental projects or accompanying measures 

•  MEDIA II and INFO 2000 for development of multimedia content, 

•  Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci for education and training. 

•  funds  allocated  to  trans-European  networks  for  the  deployment  of  multimedia 

applications for education and training purposes 

The  Initiative  will  also  encourage  the  full  utilisation  of  the  funding  opportunities 
afforded  by: 

•  the  Structural  Funds  in the education  and training sector (including the equipment  of 

education and training establishments  in eligible regions14. This can be done to the extent 

Spain is  currently preparing regional plans for equipping schools. 

15 

that  Member  States  programming  documents  cover  the  objectives  of  this  initiative 
and  once the procedures set out in the Structural Fund Regulations have been  followed. 

funds  intended  for the promotion of the information  society. 

III.2 Promoting public/private  partnerships 

Equipping  schools  with  multimedia  and  audiovisual 
teaching 
resources  and  providing  training  and  logistic  support  for  teachers  will  require  a  solid 
collective  effort.  In  some  countries  of  the  Community  and  in  the  United  States, 
partnerships  between  the private  and public  sectors  are already  in place  to develop  the 
use  of  new  technologies  in  education  and  vocational  training  . These  provide  schools 
with the opportunity to benefit  from  opening up more to the business community. 

tools,  developing 

These actions will aim to: 

Encourage  the  dissemination  of  best  practices  in  terms  of  the  launching  of  projects 
(mechanisms and management) based on; 

Facilitate  the  forging  of  permanent  partnerships  between  the  public  and  private 
sectors. They  will  be responsible  for  adopting  suitable  means  of  financing  equipment, 
services  and  software  tailored  to  the  needs  and  financial  constraints  of  education  and 
training establishments, whilst meeting the partners' needs. 

A workshop  on public-private  partnership  will  be organised  at the  beginning  of  1997. 
This  will  be  attended  by  representatives  of  associations,  public  authorities  and 
enterprises  and  will  encourage  them  to  sign  "Memoranda  of  Understanding"  to  join 
forces on the basis of common principles for cooperation. 

In  order  to put  these  "Memoranda  of  Understanding"  into  practice,  the  workshop  will 
also  examine  the  possibility  of  the  public  and  private  players  in  the  educational 
multimedia  sector  and network  operators  forming  a non-profit  European  body,  such as 
a private Foundation, whose legal structure is yet to be determined. 

This  body  would  act  as  a  point  of  reference  and  of  dialogue  between  actors  at  a 
European  level.  Its  task  would  be  to  encourage  the  setting  up  of  new  partnerships  in 
Member  States  and  in  the  regions  and  to  bring  together  existing  federations.  The 
Commission  could  support  contacts  between  those  concerned  to  coordinate  their 
activities with the help of the Member States. 

Associations  such  as  Campo  in  Italy,  Schulen ans  Netz  in  Germany,  Forum  in  France  and  Fimmbo  in  the 
Netherlands have been created  for vocational training in Europe. Initiatives of this type have also been launched  for 
schools in the United States. 

16 

III.3 Encouraging the involvement of citizen and the emergence of talent 

The  Commission  will  launch  information  and  communication  events  and  campaigns 
with  a  view  to  raising  awareness  of  the  benefits  of  educational  multimedia  in  the 
education  sector in collaboration  with all the actors in the sector, multimedia  enterprises 
and network operators. Higher education establishments could also be associated . 

Two types of events will be organised every year: 

•  "Action  Days  or Week-Ends  for  school  networking" will  highlight  activities  and 
the state of play with regard to the electronic networking of schools.  Enterprises  and 
organisations  will  be  asked  to  sponsor  schools  in  various  ways  and  to  provide  the 
logistic support required to put new schools on-line. The European  Action  Days will 
provide  a  framework  for  an  "Open  Days"  events  inviting  schools  to  highlight  their 
multimedia  activities  and  inform  parents, pupils,  school  heads  and  local  authorities. 
The events will take place on the week-end following the European day (9 May). 

•  A  European  award  scheme  for  the  best  educational  multimedia  products  (with 
the attribution  of a European  label) created  in partnership between  young people and 
teachers  will  be  organised  regularly  with  the  support  of the  Commission,  following 
on from  the experiences of the "European  Year of Lifelong  Learning". The aim is to 
encourage  schools  to produce  and  disseminate  multimedia  "content"  on-line  and  to 
introduce talented young people to producers. 

17 

CONCLUSION 

Europeans will have to learn to use the new information  and communication  tools  from 
an  early  age  if they  are  to  find  a place  for  themselves  in  an  increasingly  knowledge-
based  society.  Upon  this  will  depend  their  employment  prospects  and  their  future  as 
indicated in the European confidence pact for  employment. 

The  European  Council  has  acknowledged  the  need  to  act  without  delay  in  order  to 
ensure that schools are not left out of the information  society.  Further to its request, this 
2-year  Action  Plan will  focus  the use of different  Community  instruments  on  a  limited 
number  of  actions  to  provide  the  added  benefits  of  a  Europe-wide  approach  and 
contribute a European  dimension to initiatives at local, regional, and national levels. 

Linking  schools  using  information  society  tools,  promoting  the  production  and 
exchange  of  European  content  and  stimulating  the  diffusion  of  "best  practices"  in 
multimedia teaching methods, will help bring different  cultures together, strengthen  the 
European identity and reinforce  European  integration. 

In order to succeed, the implementation of the Action Plan should go hand-in-hand  with 
a  firm  commitment  from  the  Member  States,  the  regions  and  the  private  sector.  The 
Community,  along with the Member  States, should ensure that all schools, universities, 
and libraries are connected to the knowledge networks by the year 2000 in order that all 
young Europeans can benefit  fully  from the multimedia revolution. 

18 

APPENDICES 

Recent public initiatives for multimedia education in schools 

1.  Europe 

Germany 
The  Ministry  of  Education,  Science  and  Technology,  with  the  support  of  Deutsche 
Telekom,  has  launched  a  three-year  initiative  called  "Schulen Ans  Netz"  to  connect 
10 ©00 schools to on-line information services. 

Denmark 
Under its general action plan  "INFO 2000 TF&TAction Plan", which was introduced in 
1994,  the  government  has  made  provision  for  connecting  all  primary  and  secondary 
schools to tfee national and mternational network by the year 2000. 

Finland 
In  1995,  nie  Ministry  of  Echtcation  introduced  a  five-year  plan  entitled  "Education, 
Training and Research in the Information Society: a national strategy" mainly designed 
to  connect  all  schools  and  teaching  institutions  to  information  networks  by  the  year 
2000. 

France 
In  1995, the government identified  244 projects  as being  "in the public  interest", some 
of which cover the fields of education. The Ministry  of Education draws up a catalogue 
of digital  resources  and  set up services  in partnership with  content  and on-line  service 
providers. Schools belonging to  13 Académies will  be connected  using the RENATER 
research network. 

Italy 
In October  1995, a decree from  the Ministry of Education set up a task force to develop 
the use of technology  in  the  education  system  and  introduced  an  action plan  to  fit  out 
20% of primary  schools and 30% of secondary  schools with multimedia  equipment and 
software  by the year 2005. 

United Kingdom 
In  November  1995  the  government  launched  an  initiative  entitled  "Superhighways in 
Education  -  The  Way Forward'  to  connect  schools  and  colleges  to  the  information 
networks.  This  is the  final  step  in  a broad  consultation  process  which  commenced  in 
April  and  has  involved  400  organisations.  23  pilot  projects  will  be  allocated 
12 million ECU. 

Sweden 
A  national  school  network,  Skoldatanatet,  has  been  operational  since  1994  using  the 
Internet.  Since  1995, every municipality  has been  obliged to prepare measures  for  the 
introduction  and  use of new technologies  in the classroom.  A bill  has been  debated  in 
Parliament  which  would  make  the  use  of  new  technologies  compulsory  in  the  basic 
training of teachers.  Teachers' continuous training in this field will also be reinforced. 

19 

European Community 
Numerous  programmes  such  as  the  Telematic  Applications  programme  (1994-1998), 
Media  II  and  Info  2000  (1996-1999),  Socrates  and  Leonardo  (1995-1999)  give  their 
support  to  research  activities  in  the  field  of  educational  multimedia  production  and 
distribution, and in the training of teachers in this domain. 

2.  United States 

In  February  1996,  President  Clinton  launched  a  national  initiative  "The Technology 
Literacy Challenge" to connect all American schools to the information  highways by the 
year 2000. A  "Technology Literacy Challenge Fund" of  1.6 billion ECU established  for 
a  five-year  period  will  encourage  partnerships  on  an  equal  footing  between  the  states 
and private  enterprises. A  "Local Innovation Fund" with  a budget  of 39 million  ECU a 
year will finance  local initiatives under the same public/private partnership conditions. 

3.  Japan 

In  1990,  the  Ministry  of  Education  introduced  a  nine-year  action  plan  to  familiarise 
pupils with the use of the multimedia, equip  all  schools with  multimedia  hardware  and 
software,  train  teachers  to use multimedia  in teaching  and  support  the use  of  advanced 
technology. The MITI launched a " Programme for  Info-Communications" in May  1994 
with the main emphasis on developing multimedia applications in teaching (cf.  the "100 
schools network  project"). 

20 

"LEARNING  IN THE INFORMATION  SOCIETY" 
PROPOSED TIMETABLE 1996-1998 

The  Action  Plan  "Learning  in  the  Information  Society"  will  be  based  on  the  close 
coordination  of  existing  Community  financial  instruments  (programmes  and  budget 
lines)  managed  by  the  Commission, 
in  full  respect  of  their  rules  and  specific 
characteristics.  No  extra  budgetary  appropriations  are  required.  The  aim  is  to  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". 

Action Line N°l 

Encourage the interconnection  of regional and  national school 
networks at a Community  level 

Timetable 

Inventory of local, national and international  school networks (working  October  1996 
document) 
European conference 
Techno-Economic Feasibility Study for the European interconnection of  March 1997 
networks 
Preparation and follow up of the networking of schools 
Pilot project  for the implementation of a network of experimental 
multimedia classes 

1997-1998 
1997-1998 

December  1996 

Action Line N°2 

Stimulate the development  and  dissemination  of content 

Workshops on the Image and Scientific  Education in Europe 
Preparation and coordination of the workshop with the participation of 
representatives from the educational multimedia and audiovisual 
products sector 
Inventory of content and survey of practices (study results) 
Stimulation and follow up of the co-production of European educational 
products 
Inventory of multimedia resource centres 
Feasibility study and preparation of their connection to a network 

Timetable 
October  1996 
January  1997 

June  1997 
1997-1998 

December  1996 
March  1997-1998 

21 

Action Line N°3 

Training and  support  for  teachers and trainers 

Management of training projects 
Management of teaching and technology research using existing 
networked experimental  multimedia classes 
Management of network  projects between training centres 

Timetable 

1996-1998 
1997-1998 

1997-1998 

Action Line N°4 

Inform  players  of the educational opportunities  afforded  by 
multimedia 

Timetable 

Inventory of educational  sites and services supplied on-line 
Feasibility study for the creation of an information  exchange platform 
on the Internet 
Creation and coordination of the Internet platform  project 
Information  exchange and contacts with the public authorities concerned  1996-1998 
1996-1998 
General information  using traditional  media 

December  1996 
March 1997 

September  1997 

General Accompanying Measures 

Make use of Community  resources and encourage 
Public/Private  partnerships 

Preparation of memoranda of understanding on public-
private partnerships and preparatory work for the 
establishment of a European association 
Workshop on public-private partnerships and 
encouragement of project  start-ups 

Timetable 

December  1996 

1997-1998 in association with 
the Bangemann sub-group 

Encourage the participation  of citizens and  the 
emergence of creative talent 

Timetable 

European Multimedia School Days 
European Award for the Best Multimedia Products 

May  1997 and 1998 
December  1997 and 1998 

22 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(96) 471  final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

16  15  04 

Catalogue number  : CB-CO-96-492-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-09750-0 

Office for Official  Publications of  the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg