Citation
(2002), "E-learning holds key to innovation of tomorrow", Education + Training, Vol. 44 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2002.00444aab.008
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited
E-learning holds key to innovation of tomorrow
E-learning holds key to innovation of tomorrow
More needs to be done to encourage electronic learning and computer literacy among students to drive innovation in the information society of the future, a conference of European education experts has concluded. The Swedish education ministry and the Swedish delegation for information and communication technologies in schools hosted the event, held in Vasteras, Sweden. Participants agreed that education institutions need to make greater use of new technologies in order to equip students with the skills they will need as the workforce of tomorrow.
A report on the conference suggests the use of networking and "augmented reality technologies" to enrich and broaden learning. The Internet and mobile telephones are also highlighted as potential learning tools. Ulf Lundin, director of European Schoolnet, one of the projects represented at the conference, said: "New methods for education are emerging, such as online learning communities and new forms of schooling like the mobile upper-secondary school in Sweden. In all of them, information and communication technology is moving from the margins to the centre of the activity."
Professor Wim Veen, of Delft University, in The Netherlands, said: "Technology is creating a generation of media-savvy 'homo zappiens', able to chat in three rooms at the same time with different electronic personalities." He warned, however, that education institutions and decision makers were slow to take this new generation into account. "Most implementation is within old structures," he said, "replacing textbooks but retaining the old curriculum structure, assessing old skills, rewarding the traditional teacher. In how many countries is the official policy to build communities of learning and empower schools?"
Further information is available from Roger Blamire, at European Schoolnet, on +32 2 790 7581.