Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "Adoption of a multi-annual programme (2004-2006) for the effective integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education and training systems in Europe (eLearning Programme)"
Date: 2003-04-10
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU programme, Internet, education policy, educational system, information technology

C 244/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

10.10.2003

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Adoption of a multi-annual programme (2004-
2006) for the effective integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in
education and training systems in Europe (eLearning Programme)’

(2003/C 244/09)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the proposal for the Adoption of a multi-annual programme (2004-2006) for the
effective integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education and training
systems in Europe (eLearning Programme) (COM(2002) 751 — 2002/0303 (COD));

having regard to the decision of the Council of 22 January 2003 to consult it on this subject, under the
first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to the decision of its President of 26 June 2002 to instruct its Commission for Culture and
Education to draw up an opinion on the subject;

having regard to the decision of its President of 28 February 2003 to appoint Mr Risto Ervelä, Chairman
of Sauvo Local Council and Chairman of the Regional Council of Southwest Finland (FIN-ELDR), as
rapporteur-general, under Rule 40(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 49th plenary session of 9 and 10 April 2003 (meeting
of 10 April).

1. The Committee of the Regions’ views

that this contributes to and could further exacerbate disparities
in the achievement of the programme’s objectives;

The Committee of the Regions

takes the view that the creative and innovative use of
1.1.
ICT will
improve the quality of European education and
training systems and considers the Commission’s proposal for
a multi-annual eLearning Programme to be a key element in
this development;

highlights the important role of local and regional
1.2.
authorities in education and training and feels that their close
involvement in the implementation of the programme is a
prerequisite for achieving the objectives;

1.3.
insti-
emphasises that all students and educational
tutions must be able to exploit the potential of the information
this
society and further stresses that the achievement of
objective is particularly difficult in regions which face special
challenges because of location or the structure of the com-
munity such as in remote areas and the outermost regions,
or owing to insufficient infrastructure, poor purchase and
maintenance budgets, unequal opportunities for accessing
information, etc.;

1.5.
believes that the possibility of new Member States to
participate in the programme before accession supports the
overall objectives of enlargement;

1.6.
points out that the cooperation of grass-roots players
(such as local and regional authorities, NGOs, companies) has
a major role to play in achieving the programme’s objectives;

stresses that equipping people with the skills needed
1.7.
for the workplace is one of the main goals of education and
training and considers that this requires close cooperation
between the education and training sector and companies
as skill requirements change rapidly in a knowledge-based
information society;

notes that, in creating a new learning environment,
1.8.
special attention needs to be paid to content production and
the quality of learning, while bearing in mind the human
dimension of education objectives and the importance of
interaction between people;

1.4.
notes that there are major regional and local disparities
in the provision of telecommunications services in Europe and

emphasises that the use of

1.9.
ICT in education and
training and, on the other hand, the teaching of ICT skills are
different things and feels that the Commission proposal lacks
conceptual clarity in this regard;

10.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 244/43

1.10.
in line
considers it essential that the programme,
with the Commission proposal, transcends the boundaries of
education and training and stresses that this requires a new
kind of partnership, which, in addition to local and regional
authorities, includes different levels of education, adult edu-
cation and employers;

2.3.
believes it is important as a prerequisite for preventing
exclusion that attention is paid in the implementation of the
programme to the need to develop user-friendly equipment
and software for all user groups;

1.11.
feels that the Commission’s proposed lines of action
(fighting the digital divide, European virtual campuses and
school twinning via the Internet) meet the priorities previously
identified by the Committee;

2.4.
hopes that the programme will make a major contri-
bution to fostering the use of open source software in
education and training;

1.12.
the programme are inadequate in relation to the objectives;

notes that the resources earmarked for implementing

takes the view that the eLearning Programme and the
2.5.
document setting out
the future objectives of European
education and training systems, as well as its related monitor-
ing process, should clearly support each other;

for the programme and that

considers it important that clear objectives have been
1.13.
set
the objectives will be
monitored and evaluated but points out that evaluation must
not become unnecessarily burdensome in economic and
administrative terms;

2.6.
hopes that, in addition to supporting the Bologna
process in the area of higher education, the programme will
also take on board the Copenhagen process in the context of
vocational training;

1.14.
notes that promoting the use of ICT in education and
training is not enough to guarantee the high quality of
education and training and that it is only one way of improving
learning;

2.7.
proposes a flexible approach in the implementation of
the programme so that development work in Member States
can be supported and encouraged regardless of the stage it has
reached or the way in which it is advancing;

endorses

1.15.
the programme’s aim to offer virtual
mobility as an alternative for all people who, for one reason
or another, are unable to benefit from physical mobility and
feels that,
in this respect, the programme is an excellent
complement to the EU’s other education, training and youth
programmes.

2. The Committee of the Regions’ specific comments

The Committee of the Regions

2.1.
feels that the key role played by local and regional
authorities in combating exclusion in the information society
should be recognised in the implementation of the programme
and hopes that this work receives support from different levels
of decision-making;

2.8.
feels that, in order to achieve the objectives set for it,
the scope of the programme should be broadened as soon as
possible to include primary education;

2.9.
emphasises that the lifelong learning objectives require
that elearning opportunities are also accessible outside edu-
cational establishments wherever people are;

assumes that the social, individual and ethical devel-
2.10.
opment of children and young people will also be provided
for in the Internet age and that effective action will be taken to
combat harmful content;

2.11.
safeguard Europe’s cultural and linguistic diversity;

takes the view that the eLearning Programme must

2.2.
points out that teaching materials are often culturally
rooted and therefore the programme must support content
production in minority languages, as it is often not profitable
to produce such material in digital form;

2.12.
stresses that cooperation and coordination with other
EU education and training programmes are essential so as to
avoid duplication and ensure that the programmes comp-
lement each other effectively;

C 244/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

10.10.2003

2.13.
considers it important that ICT be used to develop
quality distance learning methods that can be used to increase
and broaden the provision of education and training also in
regions and municipalities where it would otherwise be unduly
expensive or difficult such as in remote areas and the outermost
regions;

2.14.
hopes that it will be possible to extend the eLearning
Programme to include cross-border school twinning in regions
which are and will continue to be located outside the EU;

believes it is important

2.15.
from the point of view
of developing content production and e-learning that it is
recognised that teachers and trainers have a role to play not
only in the use of e-learning resources but also in their
development and further feels that special attention needs to
be paid to the IT training of teachers and student teachers
and to the pedagogical use of digital teaching materials in
education;

2.16.
takes the view that digital teaching materials should
contain adequate pedagogical instructions for teachers so as to
facilitate their use;

2.17.
considers it is appropriate to allocate the programme’s
resources to the most effective and strategically important
actions, with special emphasis on the most innovative peda-
gogical approaches;

2.18.
notes that evaluations should focus on the added
value which ICT brings to learning and hopes that the results
of the interim evaluations of the programme can be utilised in
developing the structure and contents of EU education, training
and youth programmes (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates)
after 2006;

emphasises that,

2.19.
in addition to ICT and virtual
mobility, electronic school twinning needs to be backed up by
actual teacher and student exchange schemes.

3. The Committee of the Regions’ recommendations

Recommendation 1

Article 2

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

2.

(e)

The specific objectives of the programme are:

to provide mechanisms for encouraging improve-
ment of quality of products and services as well as
for their effective dissemination and for exchange
of good practice.

2.

(e)

The specific objectives of the programme are:

to provide mechanisms for encouraging improve-
ment of quality of products, and services and
pedagogical solutions supporting e-learning as well
as
their effective dissemination and for
exchange of good practice.

for

Reasons

More innovation is needed in the use of e-learning. e-Learning can only be successful if adequate
consideration is given to the needs of the learner and the nature of what is to be learnt. It is important to
emphasise the quality of elearning products and services and to take account of pedagogical aspects in
their use.

10.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 244/45

Recommendation 2

Article 3

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

1.
The objectives of the programme shall be pursued
in the following areas of intervention, in accordance
with the action lines described in the Annex:

The objectives of the programme shall be pursued
in accordance

1.
in the following areas of intervention,
with the action lines described in the Annex:

(b)

European virtual campuses: Actions in this area
will address a better integration of the virtual
dimension in Higher Education. The objective is to
encourage the development of new organisational
models for European virtual universities (virtual
campus) and for European exchange and sharing
schemes (virtual mobility), building on existing
European co-operation frameworks (Erasmus pro-
gramme, Bologna process), and providing an ‘e-
tools
learning dimension’
(ECTS, European Masters; quality
assurance;
mobility);

to their operational

(b)

European virtual campuses: Actions in this area
will address a better integration of
the virtual
dimension in Higher Education. The objective is to
encourage the development of new organisational
models for European virtual universities and other
higher education institutions (virtual campus) and
for European exchange and sharing schemes (vir-
tual mobility), building on existing European co-
operation frameworks (Erasmus programme, Bol-
ogna process), and providing an ‘e-learning dimen-
sion’ to their operational tools (ECTS, European
Masters; quality assurance; mobility);

Reasons

The concept ‘university’ does not cover the whole of higher education. In many European countries
higher education embraces both universities and polytechnics.

Recommendation 3

Article 3

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

2.
These actions shall be realised in accordance with
the procedures set out in the Annex, and through the
following approaches, which may be combined where
appropriate:

2.
These actions shall be realised in accordance with
the procedures set out in the Annex, and through the
following approaches, which may be combined where
appropriate:

(c)

support for strategic actions by European networks
and partnerships designed to foster innovation,
quality in the design and use of products and
services, based on the relevant use of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) for edu-
cation and training;

(c)

support for strategic actions by European networks
and partnerships designed to foster innovation,
quality in the design and use of products, and
services and pedagogical solutions supporting e-
learning, based on the relevant use of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) for edu-
cation and training;

Reasons

More innovation is needed in the use of e-learning. eLearning can only be successful if adequate
consideration is given to the needs of the learner and the nature of what is to be learnt. It is important to
emphasise the quality of elearning products and services and to take account of pedagogical aspects in
their use.

C 244/46

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

10.10.2003

Recommendation 4

Article 10

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR amendment

Budgetary distribution between the actions shall

1.
be as follows:

Budgetary distribution between the actions shall

1.
be as follows:

(a)

(b)

e-learning for fighting the digital divide: around
25 % of total budget;

European virtual campuses: around 30 % of total
budget.

(a)

(b)

e-learning for fighting the digital divide: around
2530 % of total budget;

European virtual campuses: around 3025 % of
total budget.

Reasons

Fighting the digital divide is a particularly important objective given Europe’s changing age structure, the
challenges of lifelong learning and changes in the workplace and economic activity.

Brussels, 10 April 2003.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on:

— the ‘Review of the European Employment Strategy and the Employment Guidelines for
2003 based on the Communication on Taking stock of five years of the European
Employment Strategy’, and

— the ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on “The future of the
European Employment Strategy (EES): A strategy for full employment and better jobs for
all”’

(2003/C 244/10)

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 Taking stock of five years of the
European Employment strategy (COM(2002) 416 final) and the Communication from the Commission
to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions on The future of the European Employment Strategy (EES): A strategy for full employment and
better jobs for all (COM(2003) 6 final);

having regard to the Decisions of the European Commission of 18 July 2002 and 14 January 2003 to
consult it, under the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to the Decision of its President of 23 September 2002 to instruct the Commission for
Economic and Social Policy to draw up an opinion on this subject;