elearning_label_learning_and_society

Behind these projects, some pertinent questions about the role of e-learning as a communication facilitator remain open to debate: can cross-cultural communication be enhanced by the ICT? Can ICT provide efficient tools to facilitate the mutual understanding between opposing groups? Is the internet actually useful for bridging the gaps between different cultures and overcoming barriers? Or will the same ‘real world’ barriers be present in cyberspace?

Dealing with Violence in Schools

The VISIONARY project is one of the Minerva supported initiatives (from the Socrates programme) dealing with conflictive situations. VISIONARY aims to provide a transnational platform for teachers, parents, pupils as well as experts dealing with violence in school. This multi-level website provides a collection of links to other webs referring to violence in school, a discussion forum, a mailing list for teachers, pupils, parents and experts as well as an on-line-questionnaire. The link collection is at the core of the project's website. It compiles, structures and comments on links of national and transnational webs referring to "violence in school" (e.g. websites with descriptions of projects, advice for parents, teachers, victims, etc., compilations of materials for school, addresses of experts and social welfare institutions, etc.).

Exploring the roots of conflicts

Living with conflict is another MINERVA supported project devoted to exploring and dealing with conflictive situations. Using examples from Northern Ireland, the Basque region, the former East Germany and urban centres across Europe, a virtual learning environment will illustrate, at the end of its development process, the roots of conflict and the difficulties and negotiating strategies involved in its resolution. The goal of this initiative is to promote the development of personal, social and professional competence and encourage tolerance. The Living with Conflict website describes the causes and problems of conflictive situations and also shows how committed citizens can begin resolving similar conflicts. This initiative will provide a picture of European societies and illustrate the methods of conflict resolution, which can be used in coming to terms with our own identity and that of others.

Another resource for resolving conflict are help lines, such as Internet Notruf, a Internet emergency call in Germany, in which pupils, parents and teachers can post their problems anonymously and get answers by experts.

All of these projects look interesting, but are they actually useful in practice? Could ICT really help establish dialogue between the different sides of the conflict? Thomas Jaeger, coordinator of the VISIONARY Project, and researcher from the Zentrum fuer empirische paedagogische Forschung of Landau (Germany) advances his thoughts on the matter: “yes, ICT can help but the success seems dependent on many different factors like the type of conflict, the target groups, the motivation of this groups, the familiarity with ICT, the software that is worked or the way that the discussion is moderated”. In Jaeger’s opinion, “what seems to be essential to me is the concept. Only providing an Internet platform in most cases won`t be enough, though sometimes it also might work”.

Enhancing tolerance in secondary schools

From another perspective, several projects work to enhance communication by different cultural groups through the Internet, allowing mutual understanding to arise and helping conflict become less probable.

Honoured by an eSchola 2002 Award from Schoolnet, the Israeli initiative ReshetShalom (Peace-Network Project) is devoted to enabling students from different cultures to get acquainted with the other’s culture by using the internet, allowing prejudices, stereotypes and fears to dissolve gradually. The Peace-Network program proceeds in various steps and tries to develop a process within the learner. First, the students who participate in the project send each other letters of introduction. In these letters they write about themselves, their families, hobbies and studies. They learn about the other students culture by making up surveys and questionnaires on holidays, politeness, non-verbal communication, boys and girls etc. Following this initial introduction, they meet face to face, as nothing can replace the human touch. Taking the experience back to the classroom, they learn the same materials together and discuss them in a forum. The learning can take place in an English class, i.e. literary texts with a message of tolerance, or in other subjects and topics. The teachers who work together decide what to teach according to their students’ interests. In the next phase, students discuss topical matters. They learn mediation and negotiation skills and, finally, explore a real conflict and discuss it in a relay chat, find a solution in a creative manner.

Several initiatives are working to twin schools from various geographic areas, so that the knowledge and understanding of other cultures can increase among secondary school pupils. Supported by the City of Rome Council, the Global Junior Challenge facilitates the twinning of schools from Italy and developing countries. The Global Teenager Project also develops a virtual classroom in which secondary students from different cultures work together trough the net. Yet another example is Digital Partners’ Global Classmates, a platform by which classrooms all over the world work with each other to foster greater global understanding. The picture that ilustrate this article was taken from the Global Junior Challenge website

The project is mainly designed to facilitate more general access to mobility initiatives among users (beneficiaries of vocational training and firms) and vocational guidance counsellors.

The main project actions will be the creation of an experimental network of vocational guidance counsellors, the design of a high-quality mobility career; the creation of an IT tool to identify personal mobility pathways; a manual for the management of mobility processes; a mobility guidance centre; and a guidance module for vocational guidance counsellors.

All these tools will be tested during the lifetime of the project.

Beneficiaries will include vocational guidance counsellors, instructors, heads of vocational training agencies, local development agents, disadvantaged groups such as the long term unemployed, young people with inadequate skills, and women.

The project dissemination strategy provides for the creation of an Internet site, publication of the project results, a pilot phase which will include the partners and their catchment areas, and demonstration seminars which will be organised in all participating countries.

Following an initial analysis of the needs of the three sectors as regards common approaches to learning through ICT, the project will then develop a series of materials, initially paper-based but then later adapted for multimedia access, to be later developed into sector-specific training modules.

The training modules will be tested within the industry through a select group of 50 sector employees across the partner countries and further negotiations undergone within the selected companies as regards the adoption of common learning policies for workplace personnel.

The final training modules will be output in paper-based and electronic (CD-ROM, Internet) formats and a further user guide developed for users of the CD-ROM. All materials will be produced in all partner languages (ES, RO, EL & EN). A dedicated website will be created to act as a common communication platform for project partners and to further host the actual training materials.

The project website will also initiate a series of web-links thus making the materials accessible by a wider audience from the motor vehicle repair industry.

Dissemination will take place through electronic web linking and through direct partner networking in each of the partner countries. The plan is not only to distribute the eventual training modules but to further disseminate the methodology and processes undergone by the project in achieving its goals.

The project will focus upon the development of innovative training for particular target sectors to include; women & unemployed youth from rural backgrounds and the physically and mentally disabled, with the aim of effectively improving their labour insertion capability.

Initial activities will include the development of training modules on issues such as identification, classification, management and sustainability of wild and cultivated fungus and the development of suitable support materials (field notebook, good practice handbook, etc.) all to be output in CD-Rom format (in ES & EN). National networks will be created across the partner countries to be headed by a transnational information and communication forum.

A dedicated website will be created to feature a specific information and training database for use by the networks and by other relevant European bodies and sectoral organisations, to also feature both a 'suggestions' box and individual, permanent discussion forums. A further support element will be in the piloting of a tele-work centre (15-20 students) whereby support will be provided to user groups working with the MYKOS project.

All materials developed will be validated through work with each of the primary target groups with findings influencing final products and materials. The outcomes and products of the project will be disseminated through a series of workshops and transnational seminars and through existing partner networks of professional bodies and organisations related to the sector.