eLearning Action Plan adopted by Commission
The European Commission committed itself to using new information communication technologies to maximum benefit, modernisation of education and training systems and lifelong learning when it adopted the eLearning Action Plan on 28 March 2001. The plan, put forward by the EU's Commissioner for Education and culture, Viviane Reding, and supported by Enterprise and innovation Commissioner, Erkki Liikanen, and Commissioner for Employment and social affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, aims to promote cooperation between the EU Member States' education and training institutes and industry in order to give new communication technologies a greater role in education. 'eLearning is a crucial part of the eEurope Action in fighting the digital divide. Only by ensuring a sufficient level of skills and digital literacy will Europe succeed in this regard,' said Commissioner Liikanen. 'Europeans must be put into a position very soon of being able to take advantage of opportunities offered by information and communication technologies if we are to combat failure at school and exclusion, enable everybody to continue learning irrespective of age, and reduce the current skills shortage in the European economy,' added Commissioner Reding. The eLearning initiative, adopted by the Commission last year identified priority lines of action. The Action Plan contains concrete proposals for meeting these objectives. - Creation of a decision-making tool in the form of an information base. This will contain qualitative and quantitative indicators on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for teaching purposes in Member States. - Creation of a European exchange and research platform Based on the existing structures in the Member States, this will exploit the potential of innovative new e-technology applications for education and training, particularly in the fields of possible applications of emerging technologies in learning environments, virtual campuses and virtual mobility. The platform will provide an alternative where conventional education has failed. - Encouragement of infrastructure development This will be achieved, for example, by installing digital networks in universities in less-favoured regions. Support will come from the European regional development fund (ERDF) and the European investment bank (EIB). - Inclusion of 'digital literacy' in basic skills acquired during lifelong learning These skills should also be recognised throughout the Community. The Commission has pledged to investigate the feasibility of a European diploma for IT skills. - Maximising teachers' potential Best practice should be identified and disseminated in the Community, and investment committed to research on the skills needed by tomorrow's teachers and trainers. - Support for the development of quality educational content An inventory of quality certification systems will be drawn up in cooperation with the Member States, ensuring the security of educational and cultural sites and looking into the question of protection for authors. - Creation of new educational and training services These will be in three areas and will be in the context of the research, educational, cultural and audiovisual programmes: language learning; the arts, culture and citizenship and science, technology and society. The information society technologies (IST) programme from the Fifth framework programme will be used to achieve these objectives along with other instruments, such as the programmes and actions on technology deployment and competitiveness (Ten-telecom, eContent, and Go-Digital), the education and training programmes (Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth) and the structural funds. The EIB and EIF will commit 15 billion euro over three years to investment in human resources and innovation in connection with new technologies. The first eLearning summit on private/public partnerships will be held in Brussels on 10 and 11 May. The meeting will bring together Member States, the European Commission, MEPs and representatives from education and industry. A promotional campaign on the use of the Internet in schools, eSchola, will also be run from 5 to 11 May, and an eLearning Internet site will be set up by the European Commission before the end of 2001 in order to provide a reference centre for cooperation between the parties active in the field.