eEurope, e-learning and e-education
The French Minister for Research together with the National Ministry of Education are organising a symposia on e-Education, to be held on 22 November in Paris. Contributing to the discussions will be European Commissioner for Education, Viviane Reding; French Minister for Research, Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg; French Education Minister, Jack Lang as well as representatives from the European Parliament, national governments, academia and industry. Topics for discussion include the benefits of technological upheaval for education and the place of state education in cyberspace. Educational institutions are currently being forced to adapt their techniques due to the arrival of information and communication technologies. The challenge for universities and schools is to adapt their traditional roles without abandoning them. Different technologies are enabling education to liberate itself from the constraints of time and space, and to invent more effective teaching methods and tools which are better suited to today's young people. Making these new forms of media widely available is a major priority in European public policy. The EU Member States have therefore elected to work together in order to harmonise their policies in the field of educational technology, to share their experience and use the new communication tools to foster intercultural exchange between pupils, teachers and researchers. The e-Learning initiative demonstrates the European Commission's will to support and encourage this common ambition. e-Learning is a part of the EU's eEurope programme, initiated at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000. The eEurope plan brings together a number of different spheres of strategic lines of action, two of which - 'helping young people in Europe move into the digital age' and 'rapid Internet access for students and researchers' - are specifically concerned with education. Three others are closely linked to vocational training and lifelong training. Achieving the eEurope objective, which includes combining competitiveness and social cohesion bestows an important role upon the educational and cultural communities, particularly in the context of the European Social Agenda, which should be adopted at the Nice European Council in December 2000.