European
Schoolnet (EUN)
by C. Langenegger; CTIE
Launched within the European Framework programme
"Learning in the Information Society" on a proposal of the
Swedish Minister of Education, this project is supporting
the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
in education. It will decide on priorities and contribute to
action points to create a European Schoolnet based on a
multimedia communication platform ( http://www.eun.org).
This network is build for the benefit of European schools
and will offer an environment within which national
educational authorities, universities and industry actors
can work together to promote ITC use in training based on
robust contents and pedagogical principles.
|
The initiative will ensure the interoperability of schools' networks of networks as they develop in each member state and provide a model platform giving teachers and pupils access to high quality information and services with European added value. It will bring important contributions to the evolution of syllabuses, school programs and teacher training schemes illustrated by good practice examples already available in member states. |
The
EUN European Schoolnet is not limited to European Community
members: currently, it includes Iceland, Norway and
Switzerland. All states who have sibscribed to the Agreement
on EUN are membres of the EUN
Consortium.
From the operational point of view, a model
platform exists on the Internet and offers access to
pupils
and teachers
alike at quality information and services. A set of
multimedia tools shall pave the way for the cration of a
virtual
classroom
and a virtual
resource centre for teachers' professional
development.
Moreover useful state-of-the-art resources are being
included to help the introduction of ICTs in schools.
EUN is not just another European Project: it is
a strategic initiative emanating from eighteen Ministries of
Education in Europe collaborating with the European
Commission. It is the first time that the development and
use of ITC in education has the support of such high-level
agencies and with such wide a scope bringing together the
major actors of the information technologies industry.
The Swiss participation to this
multilingual
and multicultural
initiative
is of foremost importance: it aptly matches the basic goals
of an Educational policy open to other cultures and to the
application of information and communication technologies in
teaching and learning.
The CTIE (Centre for information technologies in
education) has been given the mandate by the
Swiss
Federal Office for Education and
Science
(OFES) of co-ordinating the Swiss participation to the EUN
Schoolnet.
Four key Swiss institutes are involved in this
effort:
- the Federal Office for Education and Science (OFES) in Berne;
- the Centre pédagogique des technologies de l'information et de la communication (CPTIC) in Geneva;
- the Educational Technologies Unit (TECFA) of the Faculty of psychology and educational sciences of the Geneva university and
- the CTIE in Berne.
These
institutions will guarantee that Switzerland will have a
role to play within the different work packages of the
project, be it in the Steering Committee, the Editorial
board (responsible for the contents of the EUN project), the
Communication Group or the Technical Group.
CPTIC will contribute to the evaluation and analysis of multimedia authoring systems and their impact on teaching and learning. Thanks to its long term experience (since more than 10 years) with the professional development of teachers through the use of ICT, the CPTIC will bring an essential partnership. CPTIC will also provide for the dissemination of the knowledge acquired through the activities accomplished in its part of the project.
The TECFA will be active in a group that construct an application distinct from actual standards and that will supply the project with a virtual workspace. A component of the EUN platform, it will provide pedagogical and technical tools for collaborative and co-operative groupwork.
TECFA will also contribute to the development of a 3-D interface for a virtual library, that will be the basis of a educational site in a very innovative format.
The CTIE is involved in the European Network of Innovative schools (ENIS): a network of 500 schools, proven centres of excellence in pedagogical ICT activities. This part of the project will supply a strong basis for future ICT-related projects in education. Additional measure will be developed to support schools in their effort to use more efficiently ICT resources in learning and teaching environments.
The Swiss Group in charge of EUN Schoolnet-CH
will provide regular information to concerned circles and
people on the work and advance of the project.
©
CTIE 1999
24.3.99