"Every one of the 32,000 schools in Britain will be linked to the Internet by 2002," stated British Prime Minister Tony Blair.  More recently, the French government announced its decision to endow schools with information technology equipment.  Similar statements were made by U.S. President Clinton.  All political leaders, not only those of industrialized countries, are conveying the same message.

In an era where production systems are becoming less and less dependent on physical labour and the compartmentalization of tasks is now increasingly replaced by innovative production technologies such as computing, robotics and genetics, it is essential for the future workforce to master these new techniques in order to adapt more easily to the profound changes taking place in the labour market. Political leaders therefore have good reason to press for renewal. Education systems must be capable of effectively teaching the new skills required.

However, technology is no magic wand.  In the words of Kerry Mc Namara, a member of the Secretariat of the Conference on Global Knowledge, held in Toronto in June this year, "It is not enough to say 'we shall link up everyone with the Internet' for all our problems to be solved".  It is one thing to set an aim, and a very different thing to implement it taking all its practical implications into account.

Whatever the statements of intent made by political leaders, the use of computer technology in schools requires, to begin with, substantial expenditure for the purchase of equipment and the training of the staff responsible for teaching how to use it. This, at best will take place in a general context of containment of the available financial resources; but is liable to be in a context of limited or reduced resources in most cases.

Schools in developing countries will of course encounter the greatest difficulties in obtaining this type of equipment and, in consequence, inequality in the access to information technology is likely to increase.

Nevertheless, some experts are expressing a more optimistic outlook. In their opinion, information technology will provide a means of placing the industrialized and developing countries on an equal footing. Developing countries will be spared the birth pangs of a classical industrial revolution and avoid the problems that have beset the industrialized countries in implementing technology, particularly with regard to regulatory legislation and policy-making.

Because of its novelty, any new technology creates an insecure environment for those who do not master it, and often gives rise to scepticism and feelings of rejection.  However, information technology bridges gaps and shortens distances, generating a world in which the links between knowledge, economic results and social relations multiply as part of an interdependent whole.  We are witnessing the emergence of entire economies and societies based on information and know-how. Is this not the highest homage that can be paid to the men and women who devote their lives to transmitting knowledge?

Learning and increasing our knowledge throughout our lives by using information technology is the task that each of us must tackle, the task public education systems must accomplish in the 21st century.  We can only be equal to it by working together. Education International and its affiliates must accept the challenge.

The history of humankind shows that knowledge has increased by successive stages and complementary channels. The spoken word first, followed by writing and the development of printing; then the creation of complex images with the introduction of film and television and finally, today, the world of multimedia. All these different supports - the spoken word, writing, and images - are increasingly being used as mutually supportive tools in many teaching establishments. Television programmes for schools have not caused text books to disappear, just as text books did not supersede the teacher's spoken explanations. Today multimedia in schools are additional tools at the disposal of teachers which can be used to enhance educational performance in the same way that the more traditional supports do.

Elie Jouen
EI Deputy General Secretary

The introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in schools will radically modify the learning process :  the role of the teacher and the whole interaction between teacher and student will evolve; the curriculum will extensively cover the use of ICTs which will open up new areas and possibilities of learning, and, finally the school environment will have to adapt : schools and classrooms will have to be designed so as to function as multimedia environments.

Learning to use computers
In order to use computers – to become computer literate - everyone will need to learn the basics of the different computer applications such as word processing programmes, calculation programmes, E-mail, Internet, etc.

Due to the growing importance of ICTs in society, students also need to learn about the social, economic, psychological and environmental impact of computers and new technologies. There is a need to help young people to see the computer as a tool in a certain context and to help them to critically observe current developments in this field. Students have to learn to see technology as an aspect of human experience.

The use of ICTs also requires generic skills such as the ability to collect and analyse information, planning and organisational skills, the ability to work in a team, the practical use of mathematics, technology and science and the ability to solve problems. Learning to learn is another critical skill. This includes learning how to search and track information, to be curious and to develop a critical way of thinking. Although the use of computers by young people outside school (often for games and fun) is becoming more and more frequent, schools have the task of seeing that everyone has the opportunity to become computer literate independently of his/her social background or gender.

ICTs as learning tools
ICTs open up new ways of receiving information and of communicating. To some extent, you can say that they will give teachers and students an opportunity to come out of the isolation of the classroom. Access to Internet gives students almost unlimited possibilities for finding information. E-mail makes it possible to establish contacts with research institutions, other schools etc. It allows for the development of school networks and teamwork on certain topics and the exchange of information, no matter the distance or the continent.

Different softwares can be used, from drill exercises in a foreign language to qualified problem solving in physics or social sciences. These softwares can be special education software, but other types of softwares used professionally in an area of specialisation can also be applied.

“The virtual learning environment” is a new form of educational technology which will offer a complex set of opportunities and challenges. It is a kind of  interactive educational computer programme with an integrated communication capability. The student will be able to send questions, texts, tables etc. to other students and to the teacher while he or she is working. The programme might also keep records of the work of students and register the progress made over  time.

The role of the teacher
Some people have predicted that teachers will disappear as a result of these new teaching opportunities. This is not likely, but the role of the teacher will change : from being a lecturer, the teacher will become a facilitator. Obviously the new technologies will give the teacher the opportunity of using a range of new approaches to teaching and will allow the students to work more independently.

A crucial role for the teacher will be to guide and monitor the learning process. Students need to have guidance and society has an interest in seeing that certain subjects are given priority. Teachers provide the guarantee that the curriculum is followed. Even if computers will, to some extent, be able to organise the pace of the learning process, the teacher must be there to monitor the process and to accompany the students. The teacher has to see that the programmes and the work fit the students’ real needs. There is scope here for the teacher, together with the pupil, to discuss selection, to critically appraise information content and to advise and direct the student in his/her work.

New technologies might also have an impact on the relation between teachers. The opportunities to work together in teams will increase as well as the need to carefully take advantage of each teacher’s specific qualifications.

It is difficult to foresee how the workload of the teacher will change in the long-run. Of course, it will be easier to get information and to prepare presentations, but on the other hand the increasing amount of information available makes the selection more difficult. Students will need careful monitoring and will demand more planning and follow-up. What can be foreseen is that in the short-run, the process of finding new computer-based working methods will be time-consuming and add to the workload.

The working environment in schools
The use of computers will obviously have an impact on the school environment, since there must be sufficient space and equipment to allow different activities to go on at the same time. This can be done either through a large number of classrooms equipped for different types of activities or through the creation of a multimedia classroom. In a multimedia classroom, several activities are going on more or less all the time. The teacher can be teaching one group of students, while some students work on their own on computers and other students work together on the local network in the classroom.

To some extent, the normal work station of a student will change from an ordinary desk with a chair to a computer work station. It will be important to see that the work station is properly designed, taking all relevant ergonomic information into consideration. Schools should be models in this respect and set a good example.

The increased use of computers in combination with the growing possibilities for using the computers as a part of the learning process will open up new opportunities to learn not only in schools, but also at home and in the workplace.

The risks
As the new technologies provide new opportunities, there are also many risks involved in their development. Let us mention three :

Commercialism. There is a risk that the development of computer hardware and software will be in the hands of commercial interests. Programmes will be developed to entertain and amuse, but the question of how to use the full potential of the technologies for improving learning will not be on the agenda.

Technicalism. There is a risk that the technical aspect per se will be the driving force in the development. ICT innovations will be the result of technical demands and not the result of educational needs. Educational software will be developed by technicians and not educators.

Widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Even if computers are getting cheaper, it is still an investment to buy a computer. In developing countries, most people cannot afford to buy a computer at all, but also in the industrialised countries there are large groups of unemployed and people living on a minimal income who cannot afford these types of expense.

In conclusion, governments need to invest in education in order to really achieve changes in schools : the number of computers in schools must increase, quality educational software must be developed and teachers must be given relevant education, both pre-service and in-service.

Ulf Fredriksson
EI Coordinator
 
Long-distance learning

One of the most attractive potential applications of new information technology is tele-learning, which has a main advantage of being able to reach a very large number of people, at a very low cost.

Electronic networks of teachers are spreading rapidly across the United States and in other industrialised countries.  Some professional training courses for teachers are now entirely available on the Internet.  Research on the effectiveness of such new technology, however, is still greatly lacking.  One must not forget that a great part of the long-distance learning courses which have proved successful until now still mainly use traditional printed documents.

An international conference on the use of such technology in the delivery of long-distance learning in the world’s nine most populated countries took place in New Delhi in January 1996.  UNESCO has also just established a pilot database on the use of electronic media in long-distance learning.  Meanwhile, the International Bureau of Education (IBE) continues to register innovative experiences achieved throughout the world in the use of information technology in primary and secondary education on its’ database, INNODATA.  Within the framework of UNESCO’s 'Learning without Frontiers' initiative, methodological support has been supplied to a number of member states, including Egypt and South Africa, while a number of pilot projects have been financed in Costa Rica, India and Mauritius.

In almost all countries the number of computers in schools has increased considerably but most equipment is old fashioned and there is a shortage of softwares. This trend is confirmed by two studies on how computers are being used in education in 12 different countries conducted by the IEA in 1989 and in 1992  .

The most popular use of computers in schools is for teaching about computers and how to handle them. Computers are often confined to separate rooms and only a minority of students use computers regularly in the general curriculum. The use of information technology should be integrated as a learning tool in initial general and vocational education and not be taught as a separate subject.

Students, teachers and computers
Students seem to acquire a good deal of computer related knowledge outside school, underlines the IEA study. There also seems to be a gender difference, not only with respect to the knowledge of students, but regarding the attitudes and problems experienced.

Even if the skill level of teachers teaching students about computers is quite high, many indicate a lack of knowledge and a need for further training. More recent research by the Office of Technology Assessment  in Washington and the University of Twente in the Netherlands  have confirmed that a majority of teachers feel inadequately trained to use technology and are not aware of how information and communication technologies (ICT) can improve learning or help them improve their job.

It is felt that continuing education should be increased to guarantee that teachers and necessary support staff possess an adequate level of competence. All teachers need new knowledge, skills and competences in order to be able to use ICT in their teaching work. They must also become familiar with applications in their respective fields. Teachers of all subjects need to know how to utilize information technology and take account of the requirements of the information society in their work.

An advisory committee for the Dutch Ministry of Education (COMMITT)  has in the report “teaching and learning for the future” predicted that computers and ICT may change the learning process in schools from a teacher-oriented to a student-oriented process.

Threats
COMMIT also identified what they see as “potential problems or possible threats related to the integration of technology in the teaching and learning process”.

Ethical issues. The teacher used to be the gatekeeper who controlled the degree to which the outside world could enter daily classroom life. E-mail and Internet will give students almost unlimited opportunities to get information from all kind of sources. It is possible to find on Internet the worst kinds of pornography and racist indoctrination.

Social aspects. Students will spend a lot of time sitting in front of their computers. There is a risk that the interaction between students, needed for the development of social and communication skills, will be replaced by too much student-machine interaction.

Accurate and up-to-date information. The quantity of information available on Internet is increasing very quickly. Everything on  Internet is not useful and valuable information. There are a lot of junk and trivia to find. To find accurate and up-to-date information might take time if you do not have the knowledge and skills how to search.

Effectiveness, accessibility and equity. Students’ access to computers and educational software at home is heavily skewed to higher income families. Such differences can cause a new area of inequity.

This last observation has also been made by two other Dutch researchers (Lepeltak and Verlinden) . They emphasise that the State has a role to play in order to counteract new imbalances and to ensure the observance of the principle of equality. The State has to ensure the maintenance of the quality of education by, among other things, providing appropriate facilities in the area of computer hardware and software. The State should also play a central role in the introduction of innovations.
 
 

The COMMITT's report identifies several shifts in the teaching methodology :  - from whole-class to small-group instructions;  - from lecture and recitation to coaching;  - from working with better students to working with weaker students;  - from assessment based on test performance to assessment based on product, progress and effort;  - from competitiveness to co-operation;  - from all-students learning the same things to different students learning different things;  - from the primacy of verbal thinking to the integration of visual and verbal thinking.

 
 

A group of researchers  asked teachers who had used Internet as a part of the learning process what changes they had noticed :  - their role had changed to that of facilitator and mentor;  - students became active participants; discussions became more detailed and deeper;  - access to information resources expanded significantly;  - learners became more independent;  - access to teachers became equal and direct;  - interactions among teachers were increased significantly;  - education became learner centred; learning became self-paced;  - learning opportunities for all students became more equal;  - teaching and learning increased;  - the teacher learner hierarchy broke down: teachers became learners, and learners became teachers.

 
 
 
 

How teachers become experienced technology users  Based on studies in the field, COMMITT identifies three stages that teachers pass on their way to become experienced technology users;  1) the teachers use computers to support traditional methods of teaching, such as drill-and-practice, text orientation, whole group lectures and seatwork.  2) the teachers gain confidence and use technology as part of more innovative instruction, including, team teaching, interdisciplinary project based instruction, and individually pace instruction.  3) the teachers enter an inventive stage in which they experiment and change using, technology to support active, creative and collaborative learning.

 
 

For every person who logs onto the Internet in developing countries, there are 149 people logging on in the industrialised world and although in Australia about one person in five owns a personal computer, in India and Surinam, only one in 1,000 does .

The main obstacle is cost. Apart from the initial investment and maintenance costs, rapid developments require equipment to be constantly updated. In Western countries, a large proportion of the computers installed in the mid-eighties are now unable to use technology such as CD-ROMs or computer networks. Recent figures show that in the United States, one of the most advanced countries in this field, 80% of school computers are obsolete.

The problem of obsolescence can of course be sidestepped by developing computer equipment rental plans for schools, thereby avoiding costly investment. In Canada (Novia Scotia), a joint effort between the public, private and voluntary sectors has led to the development of a technology-recycling project which has enabled schools to be provided with 1,700 computers and the standards of these computers to be updated using the “Geoworks” software offered by an American company.

But despite the fact that equipment prices are falling all the time, even the most elementary computer remains out of reach to millions of people living on less than a dollar a day.  In developing countries, the debate on information technology may seem unrealistic when pupils in their schools lack books, pencils and desks.

“We are supposed to have computer training but the faculty only has one computer”, complains a student from the Faculty for Integrated Development of UDS university at Navrongo, Northern Ghana. “We shall soon be graduating but shall have no knowledge of computing, which will be a handicap in our professional careers”. Ghanaian students from the Agriculture Faculty at the Nyankpala campus are a little more fortunate because they have access to the computers of the Polytechnic institute, although the campuses are 16 km apart and transport is unreliable.

Public aid
The role of the public sector is often vital to guarantee everyone full access to IT.

The government of Botswana decided in 1994 to equip all post-secondary colleges with an introduction-to-computers programme. South Africa recommended the introduction of technology among disadvantaged groups by establishing “multi-purpose community centres”, equipped with the necessary technology “offering a range of public and administrative support facilities”. It is proposed to use public buildings such as schools and churches, and to offer alternative energy sources to centres in areas where there is no electricity. It is precisely because information technology makes it possible to reach pupils living in poor countries or remote regions that these should be given priority when distributing education funding.

In order to achieve this there must of course be the political will to increase such funding and to give priority to assisting disadvantaged groups. Secondly it is necessary to encourage and help the less advanced countries to acquire and effectively use the new technology in their education systems. The 45th session of the International Conference on Education concluded that it was necessary to “step up the joint efforts of governments, teachers and industry in order to ensure that technology is available to all education systems”.

Leaping the technological gap
IT could enable the less developed countries to leap the development gap and to move directly from an agrarian society to the information society, missing out the industrial stage entirely. This may well be true judging from the current efforts by major telecommunications enterprises to develop satellite dishes in African communities that cannot be connected by cable.

Baygen, the company that makes the UK-designed clockwork radio now being marketed throughout Africa, is working with Apple Computers to develop a clockwork-powered version of the Apple eMate laptop. The charity organization Interaid is working on a scheme in South Africa and Botswana using microwave technology to connect school computers over the air waves to a point where there is land-based telephone line.

We are also seeing that, despite the enormous financial and technological difficulties, developing countries are aware of the possibilities offered by IT to end their isolation, especially in the scientific field. The statistics published by the Internet Society  show that the Internet is expanding much faster in the South than in the North. Furthermore, in places where access to information highways is scarce, it is precious. In Tunisia or Lima, all the machines linked to the network are in use, which is far from the case in Germany and the United States. What is more, the most basic computer can house dozens of letter-boxes which users consult one after another.

Universities in Andean countries have adopted the Internet on a massive scale.  In 1991 there were no links with the Internet, but by 1996 almost all the universities were connected and/or had interactive services.

Neither is Africa excluded from cyberspace. Admittedly, fifteen or so countries remain totally absent from the Internet, but despite the poorly developed telecommunication infrastructure (the number of telephones is generally under one per hundred inhabitants), various projects have enabled some of the least advanced countries to take their first steps on the network.

The dissemination of information highway technology in higher education and research circles in the countries of the South is important for several reasons. Once researchers from the South have full access to university libraries, documentation centres and current scientific output, working and research conditions will change radically in the countries of the South, to the greater benefit of the countries concerned.

The Internet network also offers researchers from the South the opportunity to publicise their own scientific output, whereas at present most of the scientific output from Africa, in both scientific journal and field data form, is published in Europe or in the United States.

Clearly opinions are divided as to the benefits of the cybernetic revolution for all the countries of the world. For its part, the EI continues to promote access for its member organizations from low-income countries to the Internet through its regional offices.
 

In Peru in 1991, the association Red Científica Peruana (http://www.rcp.net.pe) bringing together universities, NGOs and public and private research centres, was created to set up infrastructure for Internet access.  Each institution contributed funding to set up a training and connection centre.  Strenuous efforts were made to raise the awareness of decision-makers and persuade them to support the project.  By 1993, enough funding had been made available to install a first permanent satellite link (64 kbs).  By 1995 the output had increased by a factor of eight and the network is in constant expansion. 263 institutions are now part of the network.  This project, which has received practically no international aid or national subsidies, has been a complete success in a country that is one of the most backward in terms of telecommunication infrastructure (three telephones for every hundred inhabitants).

 
 

Zambia (nine telephones for every thousand inhabitants) was the scene of another success story.   In 1990, at the initiative of a teacher, Mark Benett, a few personal computers exchanged daily electronic messages by modem with the University of Rhodes (Pretoria) and, through this rudimentary link, with the world network.  At the end of 1994, a permanent link was established with South Africa, giving access to all Internet services.

 

Since 1949 UNESCO has been promoting the application of existing information media to education and encouraging the production of educational programmes in its Member States.  UNESCO has always sought to associate technical innovation with changes in formal and informal teaching, and with improvements in teaching curricula, methods, organization and management.  Francesco Zanuttini, who heads up UNESCO’s documentation and information service for the education sector, makes his contribution to this feature article in his capacity as a multimedia information systems specialist in charge of promoting the use of information technology (IT) in the interests of education.

In what way does the development of information technology affect teaching?

In several ways, like any powerful tool which needs to be used properly for and by education, without allowing it to be virtually monopolised for other purposes.  The educational process as a whole should:

Unfortunately, not all of this is of course within reach of everyone, especially in developing countries where the necessary tools are only rarely available.  A major effort should therefore be made to extend their use by systematically seeking inexpensive solutions, raising the awareness of national authorities, motivating and training teachers and adapting the educational message to suit different backgrounds, cultures and languages.

What is UNESCO’s experience in developing multimedia educational resources?

UNESCO’s experience extends from educational mobile cinemas in 1949 to information superhighways.  It touches upon a wide variety of aspects, including information media (cinema, television, educational software, CD-ROM, Internet), regional perspectives and the various channels of execution (international conferences, regional exchanges of experience, technical cooperation pilot projects, production and distribution of normative and methodological material, etc.).  The “Learning without Frontiers” initiative and the recent creation in Russia of a UNESCO Institute for Information Technology in Education both testify to the organization’s interest in the use of the new educational media.

In general the role of UNESCO is to gather together and disseminate experiences which could serve as a reference to all decision-makers and educationalists in its Member States.
UNESCO addresses the methodological aspects and their implications in terms of reforming teaching and learning methods.  UNESCO has also organized two international conferences on education and computing1, carrying out a prior international survey on the use of IT in national education systems.

Do teachers have a say in the formulation of educational material using new technology?

They have more than a say!  They also have a lot to do.  As far back as 1966 the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation on the Status of Teachers took this into consideration.  It appeared necessary, in the interests of education, for teachers to be gradually primed to master the new information media.  These are powerful tools, but their use, the way in which they are developed and the content of the messages transmitted will not be truly effective for educational ends unless teachers, the driving force behind the entire education system, play their full role of designer and enlightened user, telling the private sector and industry what type of aids, software and services they need.

Close cooperation between the “users” (teachers, pupils and parents) and producers of aids and services therefore appears essential if we wish to ensure that IT is gradually integrated into national education systems as part of a lifelong learning process.  The role of UNESCO is therefore to stimulate such cooperation and supplementary exchanges of experience, whilst reinforcing the effectiveness of the educational message.

For this reason, and from an operational standpoint, UNESCO wishes to implement an innovative project with the assistance of Education International, national educational institutions, IBM and other private sector enterprises.  This project, making full use of all the available media, will aim specifically at providing educationalists with essentially methodological information in interdisciplinary fields, of particular relevance as the century draws to an end.  It will highlight positive experiences from pioneering teachers who can serve as models and do its utmost to promote linguistic and cultural diversification.
 

Read any Internet magazine, or listen to any software company extolling the virtues of the Internet, and you’ll know who put the hype in hypertext. The Internet, despite all its benefits, has at times seemed the most oversold phenomenon of the past two decades. Trade unions, not well known for being rapid innovators, were for the most part, at first cautious about hooking up, as were many commercial organisations.
 
Now we’re all convinced. There is no doubt that the Internet is becoming more much of a mainstream medium, and that the reality is beginning to match the hype. Most trade unions are using email, and either have or planning to have their own site on the World Wide Web, at least in the industrialised world. Whatever the limitations of the Internet, the trade unions have to be there, for their own internal needs, and as a campaign tool.
 
Trade unions are in the information business, especially at international level. And now, there is much more information to deliver. Affiliates expect their ITSs to provide a greater level of service but without raising costs (in, fact while cutting them if possible). EI’s General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen admits that EI is only just starting to get to grips with the Internet, but says that it has already made a difference to the way the organisation does business. He is confident the Internet can help EI meet its member organisation's demands. “We’re planning to liaise with all our regional offices over the Internet,” he says, "The aim is to speed up communication between EI, its regional organisations and its affiliates, and to cut costs."
 
EI  also wants to be more accessible; the organisation’s second World Congress, to be held in Washington next July, will probably be broadcasted on a special EI congress Web site.
But the Internet is more than just a business aid. Sheena Hanley, EI Deputy General Secretary in charge of Trade union rights and Information, says EI plans to use the Internet to raise its profile among teachers and decision-makers, and already uses it as a campaigning tool. It posts its Urgent Appeal Action on its Web site, enabling trade union activist to take part in solidarity actions with teacher trade unionists who are being victimised.
 
Trade union cyber-picketing
More and more unions are beginning to see the advantages of using the Internet in this way. The chemical and energy workers’ international, the ICEM, launched the world’s first “cyber-picket” last year during a strike with the US tyre manufacture, Bridgestone, and earlier this year, the International Transport Federation (www.itf.org.uk) used its Web site as part of the international solidarity campaign to back workers involved in a dispute with the US postal company, UPS.
 
Some trade unionists are sounding a note of caution, however. There are aspects of the Internet, they say, which the trade unions will have to come to terms with. The first is that although a lot of people are connected, a lot more aren’t. (Especially in the developing countries.) On the other hand, everyone has a letter box. The mail might be slow, and it might be expensive; but it’s democratic. Post your message on the Internet, and you’ll get an instant response, but it will be from a self-selecting group.
 
The group is also likely to be a peer group. A 1994 survey by the UK-based Labour Telematics Centre  found that on the Internet, just like in the real world, union internationals mostly communicate with other union internationals, with national affiliates and with international NGOs. Bureaucrat shall speak unto bureaucrat whatever the medium.
 
The Internet is also very much a northern phenomenon. This is one problem that technology and the market will almost certainly solve, and is already trying to solve in a variety of ways. But until it does, a lot of people are being left out in the cold.
 
Some are finding their own way in. The Kenyan Women Workers’ Organisation (KWWO) , a self-help group set up to provide Kenyan women with information about civil and trade union rights, is an enthusiastic user of the Internet. They use a connection provided by the foodworkers’ international, the IUF. The organisation’s general secretary, Kathini Maloba-Caines, says that using email has cut telephone costs, and the World Wide Web is proving a vital source of research information, and a lifeline to the international trade union movement. Only three people can use computers, however. The KWWO needs more people trained up, and more machines for them to operate. They also need basic office equipment such as photocopiers. Their present computer was provided by the UK-based Westminster foundation for Democracy.
 
Most trade union organisations in developing countries are in the same position as the KWWO. They have the knowledge and they have the skills; what they don’t have is the money. The international trade union movement will have to come up with some imaginative and effective ways of finding that cash if they want to wire up the whole movement and not just the members in the North.
 
 “Yes, we do have to keep up with the technology, and yes, we have been slow to catch up”, admits EI General Secretary Fred Van Leeuwen. "It’s a valuable weapon in the campaign to defend trade union rights, but it is no substitute for my members’ skills; nor is it a substitute for international solidarity. The Internet delivers;  members create.”
But EI is aware that some teachers are still struggling to get basic equipment for their schools. “All schools need to be on the information superhighway”, says Fred van Leeuwen. “At the moment, too many are struggling along on dirt-tracks.”

Bernie Russell
 

Europe
With a budget of ECU 70 million, the sector of the Telematics Applications Programme of the European Union is supporting research in using telematics applications for education and training. Its aim is to ensure that Europe stays competitive in the development and application of new tools and services in this area.
Thirteen million ECU will also be released by the European Union to pay for new ways of learning in the school. This new investment which, just as Netd@ys Europe 1997, is part of the ESPRIT programme will take the form of a "Call for Proposals for New Learning Tools." The European Commission is inviting interested parties to submit short pre-proposals for which early feedback will be provided.
 

Denmark
The Danish Ministry of Education has initiated the National Education Network project to ensure the establishment of an electronic infrastructure to be used for teaching purposes. At the primary and lower secondary level, the government has set a target of 5 - 10 pupils per computer in the years 2000 - 2003.
A survey organised in 1996 showed that there was an average of 28 pupils per recent model computer (no more than 5 years old). The investigation also showed that 56% of school computers are placed in special computer rooms. At present, far too few teaching materials in electronic form, written in Danish, are available, since publishers are reluctant to produce costly programs and other digital material for so small a linguistic area as the Danish. Therefore, the Ministry of Education's program support system is seeking, by defining special areas of effort, to encourage publishers and others to produce Danish teaching materials, using several media including IT media.

Quebec
One year after launching a programme on IT in schools, more than 92% of school committees in Quebec have submitted their « school plans » to the Government of Quebec. Their aim is to obtain subsidies in order to reach the scheduled ratio of one computer per 5 pupils (compared to one per 21 now) by the year 2001-2002. With a budget of  318 million C$, this wide programme should enable the purchase of 100,000 computers within 5 years.
CEQ (Centrale de l’enseignement du Québec) recalls that there are « big differences between schools, with the ratio of children per computer ranging from 6 to 1 to 85 for 1» and highlights the issue of training. The schools’ directors assess that between one third and a half of the school team members have a low level of skills in using equipment and more than 75% of the teaching personnel want training courses in this area.
The Quebec school telematic network (RTSQ) connects 85 school committees (out of 158) and enables almost 30,000 people (teachers, educational advisers, and pupils) to communicate.

Ireland
Telecom Eireann - the Irish semi-state telecommunications company - recently announced that it is to invest IR£10 million over the next 3 years in providing free Internet connections and free Internet usage to every school. In addition, assistance will be offered to schools in disadvantaged areas to obtain computers.
Telecom also plans to select 40 primary and postprimary schools to pilot emerging advanced technologies in education. The Irish Minister for Education, Mr Micheal Martin, announced that he would soon publish a "comprehensive policy framework for IT in schools, which would include effective support services and in-career training for teachers". He said that the Government's policy was to encourage the private sector to invest in IT in education.

France
In the mountainous region of Vercors in France, many classrooms are equipped with multimedia computers linked through a local network and connected to the Internet. Remedial classes, television teaching, wide-ranging exchanges : pupils do well out of it, and so do teachers. Since 1 September, 120 primary classes have been equipped with multimedia microcomputers with CD-Rom, modem, printer and Lotus Notes software for working in teams. This experience has allowed the region to keep and develop local jobs and to combat isolation. « We exchange texts, models of school reports. We organise forums between school teachers ; we open our classrooms; we work in teams, even in winter when the roads are covered in a meter of snow » explained one teacher.

Belgium
French speaking Belgium will provide all pupils age 12 to 18 with access to e-mail and the Internet, according to an announcement by Minister of Education Laurette Onkelinx. Installation and Internet service will be provided free of charge, and the schools will only pay for the local telephone fees of being online. The government initiative is based on a co-operation with Belgacom, the Belgian telephone-provider.

German forum on Internet and education
For over two years, the German SchulWeb (www.schulweb.de) has a supported web and a mailing-list about the use of the Internet in schools. By now over 270 German speaking teachers, scientists, students, and educational administrators use the forum to post articles and discuss new developments in the field of ICT and education. WWW-Schulen is based on a state-of-the-art Majordomo server with an additional public Web archive sorted by month, date, author and subject. It also includes a search engine for all articles. WWW-Schulen: mail.educat.hu-berlin.de

Edupage opens doors to Europe
The Edupage (educom.edu/web/pubs/edupage.html), an education Web site that supplies news items on information technology, is now available in French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Hungarian. An Estonian version (www.ciesin.ee/undp) has recently been made available through the United Nations Development Programme in Estonia and a Spanish version is underway.  The service is updated three times a week and is provided by Educom, a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities seeking to transform education through the use of information technology.

Télé pour tous
In Côte d’Ivoire, the public Télé pour tous (TV for All) broadcasts evening programmes for adults that are received on battery-powered TV sets. The subjects range from building hygienic latrines and laying cement floors to obtaining government loans. During the daytime, the same sets televise school lessons for children.

Infobourg
www.infobourg.qc.ca is a Quebec directory of Internet sites on education. Infobourg, which is very generalist, is aimed at parents and pupils as well as education personnel. It offers an in-depth evaluation grid with 15 criteria : quality of language, facility of surfing, reliability of information, pedagogical wording, etc.

Swiss success stories
The Pegagogical Computer Center (CIP www.ge-dip.etat-ge.ch/cip/success) in Geneva offers an exchange space (Success Stories) allowing good IT practices in education to be collected and circulated.

Gypsies and computers
A school experiment based on computers has been carried out in Pau (France) in order to educate gypsy children. A van equipped with microcomputers travels around to cater for gypsy children. This teaching method is a solution to the irregular school attendance and the essentially oral culture of Gypsies who are often put off by writing. This method favours attention and memory. In three years, educators have observed a certain self-regulatory attendance of the van.

Education superhighway
Since 1993, the Ontario Teachers’ Federation and other teacher organisations have been setting up the Education Network of Ontario (www.enoreo.on.ca) and software which make a collection of tools, resources, and learning experiments available to the teaching profession. The Ontario Education Ministry has given a contribution of 5 million dollars. The network organises regular teleconferences and newsgroups on how to improve computer-assisted education. 25% of the 131,000 Ontarian teachers use the NEO.

NEA Online
The National Education Association (NEA) has developed its own information superhighway with NEA Online, set up in collaboration with America Online. NEA suscribers have access to a range of services specifically reserved for them. NEA Online gives access to a newsletter about coverage in major newspapers and magazines on education, and to ERIC, the most important documentary source on research in education. It also enables suscribers to get familiar with IT and brings teachers together on themes which are very important for the NEA, such as the quality of public education.

Computers donated to dyslexic students
In the Asker region of Norway several hundred computers have been collected by the local Lions organisation for distribution to students with reading and writing disabilities. The school office in Asker has in turn hired an engineer to fix and restore the used machines. During the past two years Heggedal Lions have collected over 350 computers and given them primarily to students with dyslexia. The computers are donated by private companies who would otherwise throw them away.

English grammar lessons on the Net
Now pupils can practice their English grammar on the Internet. A British site called The Grammar Cat features brief lessons in nine languages, including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Greek and Italian. Happy and colourful illustrations make "irregular verbs" and "determiners" interesting to young learners. Some of the lessons even take the shape of little stories. As of yet the site is quite small, but a response form asks the viewer to suggest improvements and added features.
www.intervid.co.uk/grammar-cat/index.htm

Ecoforum
The recently developed «UN Cyberschoolbus» is promoting World Environment Day and other issues of concern to the UN through electronic material that teachers can adapt to their classrooms (http://www.un.org/pubs/cyberschoolbus or e-mail globalschoolbus@un.org)