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LEVERAGE News No 3, September 1997

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Technophile

Alex Kyrkos, Unit Manager from AND Educational Technology in 
RotterdamAlex Kyrkos, Unit Manager from AND Educational Technology in Rotterdam, gives a European perspective on the developing market for Information and Communications Technology in education and asks ‘What are the implications for LEVERAGE?’

Towards ‘digital literacy’
A huge, if gradual, reform is underway in educational institutions throughout Europe and further afield. On a day-to-day basis children and adults alike are having to deal with the pressures and advances of the Global Information Society. In order to cope with the potential information overload it is increasingly necessary for them to master the tools of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

This was highlighted in the theme paper for the recent European Ministerial Conference on Global Information Networks (Bonn, 6-8 July 1997) which stated: Fostering the dissemination of knowledge on a world-wide scale and offering access to resources beyond geographical boundaries (. . .) play a central role in the creation of a new ‘digital literacy’. Minors as well as adults are called upon to learn how to master modern communication tools by developing new media skills.

Educational challenges in the Information Society
There are many factors contributing to the take-up of networked educational technology in all sectors of education:

  • the ‘MTV generation’ who are used to sophisticated audiovisual stimuli and access to huge amounts of international information outside the learning environment will be difficult to motivate unless they are provided with similarly stimulating courseware;
  • learning resources are becoming increasingly international both in their production and use - as the sophistication of resources increases there is a greater incentive to share production costs, expertise and outcomes across distributed networks and national borders;
  • technologies and methodologies being developed to support collaborative learning at a distance (i.e. textual, verbal and/or visual communication) allow interaction despite the lack of a traditional physical classroom environment;
  • the individualisation of modes of study which often allows students to plot their own ‘learning pathways’ means it is no longer possible to cover learners’ needs through traditional methods therefore more flexible solutions have to be developed.
However, the use of technological solutions and information systems is frequently hampered by:
  • the comparatively small budgets available to education;
  • the abilities and affinities of busy staff;
  • the lack of time for retraining;
  • the lack of knowledge about what is possible and available.
European programmes (such as ACTS, ESPRIT and MLIS) and national initiatives such as the recent provision of 272M guilders by the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science to stimulate the development of educational software in the public and private sector, are attempting to address these challenges.

Commercial opportunities
As a result of educational reforms, technological developments, consumer demand and political support, it is predicted that the market for on-line products and services in Europe is set to expand rapidly over the coming years. In 1994, consumers made up 91% of the multimedia market (world-wide, total revenues), education 5% and business 4%. It is predicted that by 2005 education will have more than 20% of the total market, business 30%, leaving less than 50% for the consumer market.

Estimated revenues of the electronic publishing market by method of distribution for Europe (US$ x 1,000,000) 1

Estimated revenues of the electronic publishing market

What are the implications for projects such as LEVERAGE?
Many recent developments in ICT and their capabilities when combined with innovative pedagogy are still unknown in schools. As well as their experimental and developmental role, ACTS projects such as LEVERAGE have an important evangelising role to play in order to inform the educational community and particularly decision makers, of what is possible and what is forthcoming.

The user-driven development strategy in LEVERAGE means it is well-placed to provide valuable feedback for those developing ICT solutions to the challenge of delivering a meaningful educational experience to a wide range of learners, in a variety of formats, at different times, and frequently over a considerable distance.

1 Source: Jesscoate J (ed), Multimedia publishing: market opportunitiites (London: Ovum, 1995). See also: http://www.ovum.com/

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