The key assets of the use of ICT in schooling, as described by the portrayed schools, include the ability to create mutual relationships between students as well as the possibility to tackle education in a new innovative way. ICT also helps to create mutual relationships among students, fosters cooperation and guides students towards the new sources of acquiring information such as, for example,  virtual libraries. The schools also see other benefits such as promoting e-literacy as well as developing interactive materials for students. These include virtual chemistry and physics experiments as well as collaborative exercises between students from two different countries.

Applications used in schools
The profiles of schools taking part in the Calibrate project serve as an invaluable source of information with regards to the use of ICT in a number of European schools. It also allows schools to reflect on the various applications of ICT and, additionally, on the role ICT plays in a number of European schools. Among the most frequently used applications, the Polish schools (Zespol Szkol Ogolnoksztalcacych in Chorzow) mention Microsoft PowerPoint, however the possibility to communicate with students from abroad as well as to gather information related to the subject studied are also mentioned. Hungarian schools, on the other hand, present life-long learning and classes of modern foreign languages as key areas in which the use of ICT is particularly supported (Mora Ferenc).

The possibility to learn about various initiatives in which other partner schools had taken part seems to be of the utmost importance for schools participating in the project. As a result, schools are equipped with the information to allow them to plan future actions and co-operate with other schools. This will result in enhanced  possibilities of receiving grants for the schools. Also, schools can share information which relates to various possibilities of financing the introduction of ICT in their schools. This is particularly important with regards to schools from less developed countries in which information on funding possibilities is sometimes hindered. Information concerning the sources of financing can be found in the ‘ICT and school budget’ section of the report.

Special needs
A Hungarian school, Alatalanos Muvelodsi, presented a comprehensive analysis of various initiatives in which the school has participated. The school is particularly involved in Roma integration projects as part of an OECD project as well as in raising ICT competence among the students who come from families with low financial means. Another school from Hungary “Deak Diak”, on the other hand, is particularly focused on developing ICT competences among students with special educational needs. Within the framework of international co-operation, the school has taken part in a number of projects which were aimed at developing ICT competence among teachers and students.  The Hungarian – Dutch integration programme has been mentioned by the school in this framework.

The schools participating in the Calibrate project represent not only different schools in terms of size, location but also with respect to e-maturity. Their work on the project started more than a year ago.  One of the tasks for the schools is to submit self-portraits which provide them with a framework to describe the way in which new technologies are integrated into the schools’ curricula. Among the reasons which are mentioned in favour of the use of ICT, a number of schools mention the increase in students’ motivation and creation of equal opportunities among others. Autonomous learning and enhanced creativity are likewise mentioned. This has been indicated by the Hungarian school Altalanos Muvelodesi and by Zespol Szkol Ogolnoksztalcacych in Chorzow, Poland.

Calibrate project
The CALIBRATE Project (http://calibrate.eun.org) focuses on fostering the exchange and collaborative use of learning resources among European schools. The project is supported by the European Commission’s 6th  Framework Programme which aims at  strengthening the integration of the ICT research effort in an enlarged Europe and is built on the past IST projects, i.e. CELEBRATE, ITCOLE and VALNET. 

The aim of the project is to equip teachers with all the necessary tools that will make their teaching more interesting. This will be done by creating a network of learning content repositories that will allow teachers and pupils to access not only learning resources but also smaller learning assets such as images, simple text files, audio clips, etc. Additionally, the project will give teachers the opportunity to access teaching resources from various European countries. Therefore, participating schools will have a unique opportunity to share their learning resources as well as use the ones that have been prepared by teachers from other participating schools. Simultaneously maths, science, environmental science and English as a foreign language will be the main focus of the project.

There are 8 countries involved in the development of the project, namely Austria, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia, and approximately 75 schools that play an active role in designing their own learning resources as well as devising collaborative learning activities. The project is scheduled for 30 months (October 2005 – March 2008), however it is predicted that it will have a long-lasting effects on the school community.

The main objective of the project is to tackle a small number of research areas that are either poorly addressed at a European level or where the better integration of ICT research could speed the effective use of ICT for collaborative learning in schools. Once the research strands are brought together, the repository owners will find it easier to become part of a larger federation of linked repositories. This will, in turn, simplify access to teaching resources which had been prepared by the schools.

Links:

Insight schools: The Calibrate Project: http://insight.eun.org/ww/en/pub/insight/school_innovation/best_practice/insight_schools_calibrate.htm

The Calibrate Project:
http://calibrate.eun.org/ww/en/pub/calibrate_project/home_page.htm