People don't just learn at school, but at work, on the internet and by working together with others. Strengthening the ties between school-based and non-school-based learning will help us to meet the new needs for knowledge and competencies in our current knowledge-based society.
18 February 2003
Investing in learning inside and outside of school could raise the competency levels of the entire population in a meaningful way. This will help the Netherlands to compete better with the leading knowledge-based economies in Europe.
Ensure a suitable ICT infrastructure
Web-based learning (i.e. learning supported by internet technology) could make an important contribution to linking school-based and non-school-based learning, especially because it is independent of time and place. The internet is expanding learning opportunities, which the Education Council considers an attractive prospect. However, we do regard a suitable ICT infrastructure as a basic requirement: all schools in the Netherlands should have a similar standard of affordable access to the internet.
Increase teachers' knowledge of web-based learning
It is also essential that teachers know how to use web-based learning to create a richer learning environment. Groups of teachers and school managers could share and build on their knowledge of web-based learning via ‘communities of practice'. These could be organised by individual schools or on a national basis. The government should provide a stimulus for such initiatives and good practice examples.
Develop partnerships
The Education Council also considers it important that partnerships and alliances are forged, for instance, between publishers, school governing bodies, businesses and higher education institutions. The aim should not just be to jointly develop products and services, but also to share and develop knowledge. And sharing and developing knowledge, especially in the field of training innovation, could be achieved through ICT. This could include, for example, new teaching methods, implementation strategies, change management, cost issues and technical choices.
Finally, schools could make a contribution to enriching the internet by making their learning materials available online. This would enable others outside the school to use the materials too.
The study Www.web-learning.nl forms a set together with Learning in a Knowledge-Based Society and Leren in samenspel [Learning Together].