Brussels, 28/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - Buoyed by the "unconditional support of the Heads of Government and Education Ministers of the Fifteen, industrial circles and the European Investment Bank (EIB), on Wednesday the European Commission adopted the eLearning Action Plan. Proposed by Commissioner Viviane Reding (Education) in agreement with her colleagues Erkki Liikanen (Information Society) and Anna Diamantopoulou (Social Affairs), this plan has as goal to ease cooperation between the European Union, Member States, educational and training communities so as to improve the link between education and the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). These different players will meet in Brussels on 10 and 11 May for a first eLearning summit on private/public partnerships. An awareness-raising campaign on the use of the Internet in schools, eSchola, will be organised from 5 to 11 May. The Commission has also announced the creation, by the end of the year, of an eLearning site on the Internet, the goal being to encourage dialogue on eLearning between the different parties interested. In addition, it is worth recalling that the eLearning market is currently estimated at 12 bn euro a year.
The plan adopted on Wednesday has as objectives: 1. the creation of: - a decision-making tool in the form of an information base containing qualitative and quantitative indicators on the use of ICT for teaching purposes in Member States: - a European exchange and research platform based on the existing structures in Member States to exploit to the maximum the potential of innovative new technology applications for education and training; 2. Encouragement: - of infrastructure development in less-favoured regions via the Erdf, and provision of financial instruments by the EIB; - the creation of a European diploma for information technology skills; - the setting up of new educational and training services into language learning, art, culture, citizenship, technology and society; 3. Inclusion of "digital literacy" in the new basic skills (languages, entrepreneurship…) to be acquired in a process of lifelong learning, and recognition of these skills throughout the EU; 4. Maximising teachers' potential through a personal effort on training by all teachers, identification and dissemination of best practice in the EC and investment in research into the skills needed by tomorrow's teachers and trainers; 5. Support for the development of quality educational content by means of an inventory of quality certification systems drawn up in cooperation with Member States, ensuring the security of educational and cultural sites and looking into the question of protection for authors.
To attain these objectives, the Commission will make use of all the instruments and policies under its responsibility, which are: the education and training programmes (Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Youth); - the framework programme for research and development (IST, socio-economic research); - the programmes and actions on technology deployment and competitiveness (Tel telecom, eContent, Go Digital); - the Structural Funds (Erdf and Esf). The Commission will also take standardisation initiatives to ensure the interoperability and circulation of eLearning content and services. In addition, the EIB and the EIF are considering devoting between 12 and 15 bn euro over three years to investments into human resources and innovation linked to the new technologies.
The eLearning Action Plan complements eEUROPE 2002 and is a key-element in the European strategy for employment and the strategy on the new labour markets. You may recall that, last year, the Commission adopted its eLearning initiative, which aims to adapt European education and training systems to the knowledge-based economy and digital culture (see EUROPE of 26 March 2000, p.10).