Karl Donert

Spring Day in Europe Spring Day in Europe is a project in which schools learn about European Union developments and incorporate them into the curriculum. Register so you can learn, share, debate and speak out! In 2004 more than 6000 schools participated. There are lots of exciting activities, competitions, ideas and teaching materials available for all types of schools. The home page is at http://futurum2005.eun.org There were already more than 1000 schools registered by December 20th. Spring Day is on March 17th 2005, but activities can be undertaken at any time between now and then. Registered schools will receive a certificate of participation. contact me if you want to know more Karl Donert

This would make a really interesting research project - in terms of time wasted versus productivity!! as we sit in our consumer-driven educational society... Shame - education ain't wot it used 2 B

Have you seen Kartoo? www.kartoo.com A very different kind of search engine Karl

One wonders what the real reasons behind initiatives such as this are. Perhaps just a political front-end? Or is it just that we cannot deliver 'virtua courses'? For me the reality is 'who will use a virtual university when there is a real one round the corner?' The biggest developments have been happening in Spain - where the spanish universities are serving many, many thousands of students in Latin America in the Spanish language - so two factors here are: 1. low(er) development/inadequate provision of higher education in an area and 2. courses in a non-English language...... (so location/Geography/Economics and language would seem to be important) Maybe we can learn from this. Perhaps virtual university will remain a niche operation elsewhere. So I agree with all contributors, though I think it just gives all of the good online practice that is out there a really bad name. I suggest also that perhaps something may have been fundamentally wrong with what was being attempted.

Interesting to consider that elearning frees time - based on research we have been doing - many teachers suggest that they would be interested in developing elearning and it was something they would be keen to be involved in - but so few are prepared to move beyond their comfort zone to experience it, let alone do it. Surely the point has to be that elearning hprovides something different and we have to make this clear to those who make decisions. The biggest problem is that we end up on an elearning/blended learning bandwagon - where those concerned don't realise the real opportunity that there is to bring learning to the learner.... and to make it really high in quality. To provide real learning support to the learners. So we need to focus on the support and pedagogies involved - too much is spent on technological 'solutions' - just wait and see the bigger and netter BETT show The teachers perspective of "well I teach and they listen - sorry learn " is a major barrier... so we need a changed mindset if we are going to make any progress with this. Who is important here - the teacher or the learner? So, I ask how can we change the teacher's mindset? Well what about insisting teachers experience elearning themselves to reflect on the value. We need to make is relevant and certificated and part of developing a profession which remains in need of re-professioalisation! What else? Any ideas?

Hi John My students have been researching the notion of change in schools and in education generally. I teach a course called Innovation, ICT and Education to final year undergrads and ITT students. They find that trainees are pushed to use ICT with everything but when they get into schools the existing teachers are negative and use it when they have to. Is there a generation gap? Those who use ICT still appear different to others and there is an us-them paradigm - this is the case many secondary schools particularly. This is further compounded by the fact that meaningful time for ICt in schools is limited - one period/class won't do .... Teachers are reluctant to let the learners take control of their learning - i.. take it from the classroom and beyond ... surely this is an avanue where major research and development should be happening. Then schools don't need equipment and so ICT can be put to really meaningful uses. On another point - why are so many ICT lessons focussing on core skills using Office products? Most youngsters know very well how to use these ..... we really need to develop meaningful in-depth uses of ICT in schools, then teachers might sit up and take notice. One final rambling - I am concerned that teachers see ICT as a toy not a tool... do we realistically think teachers will get deeply involved in the complex and time-consuming issues of supporting learners online? Anything beyond the comfort zone might be beyond the question at the moment in many cases. What will give way to make space for this? We have musing over radical restructuring - for exampe a 4-day school week - wil one day a week online ... teachers with less teaching therefore can get to grips with supporting learners. Any suggestion about how we might make the space?

Thanks for this interesting posting, I will use it - as I explain below .... I think this has great potential in all subect areas - I am developing a new online course @ Masters level for teachers - where teachers will ultimately develop their own learning community and materials within it in the best constructivist way. The course is in preparation but details will be found at the VLC Home Page as the course develops. Of course it can be studied remotely .... anyone interested can contact me.... Making forums and discussions meaningful and deeply reflective in the learning taking place is the key to this. How to engage young learners in deeper learning is arguably something that has been lacking in our use of the Internet. We use it maily for the here and the now - instant gratificaton ..... Concerning the approach for teaching materials - I think many teachers are now ready to really engage with the creativity of content generation, the problem is how to provide them with time and space (and the skills and tools) to enable them to experience the joys of developing their own activities and products and rely on the learners to be just as effective in generating their own learning .

We did something similar this year and we included a F2F session at a conference to get even more deeply into the discussion before submission for publication. Think this is an excellent idea

Why all the sudden interest in blending learning - surely most of us have been doing this for more years than we can to consider Providing opportunities for learning through flexible means is what we are really talking about - whatever the means. Let's demystify the whole thing about elearning and take it away from technology-push merchants who believe they have the answer. So what is special about blending? Isn't it the blender?

Spring Day in Europe Spring Day in Europe is a project in which schools learn about European Union developments and incorporate them into the curriculum. Register so you can learn, share, debate and speak out! In 2004 more than 6000 schools participated. There are lots of exciting activities, competitions, ideas and teaching materials available for all types of schools. There were already more than 1000 schools registered by December 20th. Spring Day is on March 17th 2005, but activities can be undertaken at any time between now and then. Registered schools will receive a certificate of participation. contact me if you want to know more Click for the Spring Day home page Karl Donert

Hi I am Karl Donert, I am Geographer working at Liverpool Hope University College. I work in Teacher Education, in IT and also in Geography and citizenship. My main responsibility is EU funding and European projects - so I will be interested in any interesting projects you are thinking of. The projects I work on at the moment are: eNews - environmental news EUROGEO Safer Internet POESIA - Open Source Internet Filtering I manage the European Resources Centre at Liverpool Hope and work also on the Spring Day in Europe: enlargement activities.

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!

SPRING DAY 2004: Celebrating the Enlargement of Europe The European Union will expand from 15 to 25 countries in 2004. This year's Spring Day in Europe will celebrate the fifth enlargement of the European Union. Spring Day is about involving young people celebrating the Future of Europe - many (though not all) of the activities involve using ICT in meaningful and interactive ways. Registration for schools and colleges is FREE Resources will be made available to participating institutions and activities will help pupils, students, teachers and lecturers know each other better, link up and build Europe together. The debate dimension will be there, such a historical event doesn't go without questions, fears, hopes and doubts. All information is available from the Spring Day 2004 website. (Spring Day) Highlights so far this year include: Young reporters Values Twinning schools Culture Box You can register at: http://futurum2004.eun.org/ You can see what happened last year at: http://futurum-21.eun.org/index_spring.cfm where more than 5500 schools registered. Also visit the Projects page and the Zap Web site Each country in Europe has a Spring Day pedagogical coordinator, the full list is provided on the site: do not hesitate to contact them; they will be able to make links for you!