ESPRIT explores new ways of learning for children
ESPRIT, the Community's specific RTD programme in the field of Information Technologies, has just launched a new initiative aimed at investigating new ways of learning in schools. The initiative, which will benefit from a budget of some ECU 13 million, seeks to encourage major advances in both education and technology. Launched on 16 September 1997, under the latest ESPRIT call for proposals, the initiative is referred to as the "Experimental School Environments" initiative - to emphasize the exploratory nature of the work to be undertaken. It is the result of broad consultation with members of the education community, industry and technologists, as well as a number of pioneer organizations ranging from "digital cities" to visionary toy makers. In order to encourage maximum creativity, the specifications for the call were kept deliberately open-ended. Suitable proposals might aim to develop new tools, artefacts or environments that support interaction through sight, sound, touch, or even smell. These new tools might have game-like or toy-like characteristics, be portable or even wearable. They could enable both one-on-one and group interactions between pupils in one or more schools and the outside world. The important criterion is that these tools should embody a new relationship between technology and learning. To maximise synergy among projects, the call on "Experimental School Environments" will focus on the 4-8 year age group, one of the most challenging but also rewarding age groups for designers and developers. Children of this age are at their most open and expressive, not yet having been pre-conditioned into particular modes of thinking or expression. In technological terms, this group also requires the development of interfaces that go beyond the traditional text-based systems. To help prospective proposers determine whether they should submit a full proposal, ESPRIT is inviting interested parties to submit short pre-proposals, for which early feedback will be provided.