The focus of the annual update of the Insight country reports, compiled with the help of policy makers in the 28 member countries of EUN, is to present trends with regard to new technologies in school education.

EUN´s Insight country reports are currently being updated by Ministries of Education, members of European Schoolnet and other key organisations. The new questionnaire was launched in May 2007 and new reports will appear on the Insight website in September 2007.

‘ICT drives 50 per cent of EU growth’, was one of the conclusion of the recently published annual progress report i2010, the Commission’s five-year strategy to boost the digital economy. The reports reviews the Commission’s and EU Member States progress towards...

A study commissioned by DG Information Society and Media reports that while 2/3 of EU schools benefit from broadband access to the internet –giving them access to higher quality content – there are still important discrepancies between member states.

Social software tools, such as blogs and networking sites, are gaining popularity among internet users. A recent review, ‘Social Software and Learning’ by Futurelab looks at how the education world is responding to the new forms of online collaboration and informal learning....

A new study ‘The potential of open source approaches for education’ examines the possibilities the Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) has opened up for education while pursuing an ‘open source philosophy’.

The third eLearning Conference took place on 4-5 July 2005 in Helsinki. Innovation and how innovative practices can change learning was the keyword of the conference which was opened by Jan Figel', EU Commissioner for Education and Culture and by Mauri Pekkarinen, Finnish Minister...

A recent study by Rambøll Management has evaluated the largest national ICT project for primary and secondary schools in Denmark: ITMF (ICT Media and Primary and Lower secondary education schools). The project ran from 2001 to 2004.

Have the investments made (overall...

Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, has issued the results of a survey assessing the EU’s population e-skills. It reveals that more than a third of people aged 16-74 had no basic computer skills. Published on 20 June 2006, ‘the e-society in 2005’ surveyed...

Ella Kiesi and Marianna Nieminen from the Finnish National Board of Education and partners in the P2P project highlight two large scale national initiatives that have contributed substantially to raise the quality of education in Finland. The virtual school project has offered more...

The European Commission’s annual report on the progress of the Union towards the Lisbon goals warns of insufficient improvements in at least four of the five benchmarks used to measure the progress of the EU’s education systems. The Commission staff working paper published...

Does ICT have an impact on the pupils’ learning? Is ICT used as a tool for pedagogical development? And what is the impact of ICT on knowledge-sharing, communication and home-school co-operation? The inter-Nordic study E-learning Nordic 2006 is the first in the Nordic countries...

The presentation of the project ‘Passeport TIC’ took place on 11 May 2006 in the premises of the French Community of Belgium in Brussels. The aim was to inform headmasters, and ICT policy coordinators about this initiative which was launched in 2003 to help pupils develop...

Insight’s Country reports have been uploaded to the Insight database. The series of reports is a major section of the Insight website. For policy makers and other education professionals they are a unique tool to identify latest e-learning and education trends in their neighbouring...

The Office for Standard in Education (OFSTED), the English inspectorate for children and learners, has issued the 2004/2005 report for primary and secondary education in England. The report was presented by David Bell, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools on 19 October 2005.

As the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) opens on 16-18 November 2005 in Tunis, UNESCO has issued in the beginning of November its first World Report titled ‘Towards Knowledge Societies’. The report is timely as issues such as digital divide between north and...

When British Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed the European Parliament on 23 June 2005, it was clear that the UK presidency would have a strong focus on economic reforms and security. In the policy area of education, the key aim is to demonstrate how education and skills can lever...

The European Commission has adopted the “i2010: European Society 2010” initiative. It is part of the Commission’s renewed Lisbon Agenda to boost research and development in ICT and foster growth and jobs in the digital economy.

The Catalan community report sets out the Community strategy for ICT in education in different areas: responsibilities and organisation of ICT in schools, curriculum development and content, results of teacher training, ICT infrastructure and support and educational services.

The European Commission unveiled on 4 April the second annual report examining the performance and progress of education and training systems in the EU. It points out that more efforts are needed to fulfil the ambitious goals set out in 2000 in Lisbon.

The Knowledge Foundation is investing SEK 100 million to enhance ICT in teacher education. This is the first major investment in the use of ICT in school development since the Swedish state’s billion-krona project “ICT in the School” in the late 1990s. The programme...

Digital technologies in education are here and for long, but how to organise the giant free-for-all? The UK government presented on 15 March 2005 an ambitious plan to harmonise ICT resources and knowledge across the UK.