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Iceland
Contact:
BERGMANN EINARSSON Eirikur
Tel: 354 525 4900
University of Iceland
Taeknigardur, Dunhaga 5
IS - 107 Reykjavik
eirikurb@hi.is
ÓLAFSSON Rögnvaldur
Tel: 354 525 4929
Fax : 354 552 8801
University of Iceland, Science Institute
Taeknigardi, Dunhaga 5
IS - 107 Reykjavik
rol@hi.is
National Strategy:
In sequel to the former policy on ICT In the Power of Information, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture launched the Project Plan for eLearning (2001-2003) Advantage for the Future. It introduced the concept of distributed education, where the student is in the centre, pursuing studies in various ways and from different directions.
National Initiatives:
The Project Plan has achieved several initiatives in different areas:
- Learning and teaching:
· Funds have been allocated to the Centre for Continuing Education of the Iceland University of Education to organise courses on ICT for schoolteachers.
· Increasing research and development in the field of teleprocessing.
· Augmented supply of fully developed distance studies leading to university degrees.
· Increasing the ties between studies in ICT and the business community.
· Promotion of a more purposeful co-operation with other countries in the field of distributed education. - Educational content:
· Production and adaptation of teaching software for the Internet.
· Adaptation of digital material in libraries and other cultural organisations to the needs of educational systems.
· Preparation of instructions in the use of digital educational material for teaching.
· Evaluation of the quality of educational material in co-operation with teachers. - Equipment:
· Connection of secondary schools, universities and continuing education organisations in a high-speed network.
· Access to the Internet for classrooms in primary schools.
· Support provided for the use of diverse equipment in schooling (portable computers, electronic books and mobile phone)
· Experiments with alterations to school buildings, in order to support distributed education and reduce the need for new constructions. - Educational gateways:
· A database with information on educational material - Menntagatt.is.
· An interactive platform providing access to curriculum guides for all school levels - Namskra.is.
· All libraries in Iceland connected in a single library system.
· Publishing of suitable recording forms with accessible instructions from producers of educational material - metadata recording.
· Detailed information on schooling, studies and teaching at all school levels accessible on the Internet.
More Information and Sources:
· The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture awards grants for the purchase of equipment for upper secondary schools and negotiates agreement with suppliers, e.g. with Microsoft or Icelandic Telecom.
· Presentation of the Information Society in Iceland.
· Public strategies for the Information Society in the Member States of the European Union, ESIS Report supported by the Information Society Project Office (ISPO), September 2000.
· ICT@Europe.edu: Information and Communication Technology in European Education Systems, p. 121, July 2001. Report published by the information network EURYDICE.