Responsabili

There can be little doubt that the 21st century will be characterised by a massive increase in the use of new information technologies in daily life. These new "Information & Communication Technologies" have overcome many boundaries (e.g. geographical, cultural and time-related) and extended, to previously unimaginable levels, the possibility to access large amounts of information and other resources in "real time". The technologies will be powerful tools at the disposal of everybody, and therefore those with the ability to effectively use and manage them, will be in a prime position to maximise "to the full" the potential benefits of the information made available.
It has to be considered as an achieved data the fact that competencies in using ICT will represent in the next years a key element in social and economic context and, logically, also in the frame of education and training. With this aim it has to be underlined that already now the linear concept of education and work that has traditionally predominated education, as an early learning phase (kids and adolescents) ultimately progressing to placement in a working environment (adults), has been completely modified and therefore it is logical to foresee that the citizens of tomorrow have to become independent and active "life-long learners" in order to adapt themselves to the new living and working conditions that will prevail in the "Information Society".
The concept of a "life-long learner" is based on the idea of a continuing learning process throughout ones entire lifetime, permitting adaptation to change and to update ones knowledge and expertise permanently.

The school has always played a fundamental and strategic role in providing and delivering education. It must be kept in mind that the fundamental assumption of preparing and educating new generations, not only means transferring to them a stock of knowledge ("knowledge basis") as large as possible, but must also help them to develop skills which will be useful during their entire lifetime. The workers of tomorrow will be required to have and use transferable skills such as: enquiry-based reasoning strategies, deduction, prediction, problem solving, and the ability to research, collect, organise and discern various forms of information and data and - most important - to have the ability to "learn to learn".

The implementation of ICT in school has to be carefully planed and organised, not only from a technological point of view ( e.g. buying the equipment or organise the access to laboratory) but especially from human resources' point of view. That is why the introduction of ICT should be integrated or embedded into a strategic direction of evolution/innovation already existing in each school environment.

The effort to provide training and information to teachers is a pre-condition for the development of pedagogic uses for ICT. It would allow them to be involved in the evolution of products and services and it would contribute towards the creation of a core group of teachers and trainers ready to advise and support colleagues, on the ground, in the use of new technologies. Teachers must be given the opportunity to develop new learning experiences and new valid models, from which they may learn the "new" role of teachers. They also need to be given the time necessary to learn to use new technologies, sufficient access to resources and the possibility to communicate easily with colleagues who are working on similar projects

The school is in the centre of the innovation process especially coming from the rapid evolution of the external environment. Many are the elements which show the undergoing changes:

increase of the culture/education demand by different target groups.
This element has to be considered in the broader framework of the life long learning. In such a world the old linear concept of education-profession has disappeared. The citizen must become an independent lifelong learner if he/she is to succeed in adapting to his/her new living and working conditions.
More and more adults are returning to educational paths during their life.
Education and training can neither produce a "finished product" nor supply an adequate "stock of knowledge" that he can use throughout his entire working life. Education should therefore no longer consist of the accumulation of knowledge in a teacher-directed environment, but should rather aim at encouraging the learner to develop the skills and strategies which will enable him/her to cope with the complex situations he/she will incessantly encounter. Learning in school must be promoted from level 1 - transfer of knowledge - to level 2 - "learning to learn" in a meaningful environment that the students can carry with him throughout their life.

In the above picture another elements has to be underlined: the labour market requires skilled people.
In fact, the last decades are characterised by fundamental and structural changes in industry and economics. These changes lead new management strategies and specific requirements in terms of competencies. The so called "core competencies" (in terms of social, communication and organisational skills) are more and more recognised as key skills. They are the base on which to build and develop other competencies on specific sectors. They are considered "core skills" to enter into the market and maintain the role achieved.
"The challenge facing education today is to implement methods that will succeed in transforming school knowledge into practical competence. It is now generally accepted that the most efficient and pertinent teaching is that which leads learners to solve the problems that they encounter in life and that are immediately attached to life, rather than learning by rote or repetitive exercises. There is a fundamental need to incorporate "doing" in learning, otherwise this learning cannot have its natural outcome in action
in action .

the quality and the ways of learning outside the school are increased.
The spread of information and communication technologies in our everyday life has broadened the traditional gap between the school and the outside world and undermined the role of our educational institutions as repository of the social and cultural values of society. In addition to formal education, children now have access to a whole range of information sources and channels. Furthermore the means of transmission of information and knowledge is dramatically transformed.
It has led to an extension of space and anonymity and an overwhelming complexity of the basic rules of life. The individual is finding increasingly difficult to navigate in the labyrinth of knowledge . If he/she is to succeed in his/her lifelong path of learning he/she needs to master the strategies necessary to sift through this mass of information for appropriateness, coherence, relevance, and even verity.
This can only be achieved if, from an early age, students are encouraged to develop a "network-structured" logic through the mastery of enquiry-based reasoning strategies in a Socratic-type approach whereby they constantly acquire their own knowledge through the skills of deduction, prediction, formulation and verification of hypotheses and the seeking of relationships.

scientific and technical contents are changing rapidly.
The basic function of education has always been the transmission of knowledge. However, change is currently taking place at such a rate that an estimated 15 - 20% of the existing knowledge base in many sectors becomes obsolete every year; some estimates claim that two thirds of the technology needed by the year 2000 has yet to be invented .

shift of the attention from the teaching to the learning process.
Student Student must be encouraged to discover and perfect their own knowledge-seeking skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. In this context, problem-solving strategies, exploration of resources and autonomy in learning take on far greater importance. They must also be capable of formulating hypotheses on possible solutions to the task in hand, and proficient in the art of collecting, sorting, organising and applying knowledge. In this way, not only do they learn to navigate in a mass of information to extract the knowledge needed, they also develop a greater facility for finding the most appropriate source of information (books, newspapers, etc. remain a major reference resource, even in IT-equipped classrooms) and learn to use their sense of judgement in assessing the value of information obtained. By giving children a greater degree of autonomy in applying basic skills and strategies in their learning, knowledge becomes far more than what teacher says or what they read in a book; the ready-made formulae learnt at school become part of a dynamic process that links school to the outside world, allowing the learner to understand the underlying concepts and know how and when to apply them.

	increase of the culture/education demand by different target groups. This element has to be considered in the broader framework of the life long learning. In such a world the old linear concept of education-profession has disappeared. The citizen must become an independent lifelong learner if he/she is to succeed in adapting to his/her new living and working conditions. More and more adults are returning to educational paths during their life. Education and training can neither produce a "finished product" nor supply an adequate "stock of knowledge" that he can use throughout his entire working life. Education should therefore no longer consist of the accumulation of knowledge in a teacher-directed environment, but should rather aim at encouraging the learner to develop the skills and strategies which will enable him/her to cope with the complex situations he/she will incessantly encounter. Learning in school must be promoted from level 1 - transfer of knowledge - to level 2 - "learning to learn" in a meaningful environment that the students can carry with him throughout their life.
	In the above picture another elements has to be underlined: the labour market requires skilled people. In fact, the last decades are characterised by fundamental and structural changes in industry and economics. These changes lead new management strategies and specific requirements in terms of competencies. The so called "core competencies" (in terms of social, communication and organisational skills) are more and more recognised as key skills. They are the base on which to build and develop other competencies on specific sectors. They are considered "core skills" to enter into the market and maintain the role achieved. "The challenge facing education today is to implement methods that will succeed in transforming school knowledge into practical competence. It is now generally accepted that the most efficient and pertinent teaching is that which leads learners to solve the problems that they encounter in life and that are immediately attached to life, rather than learning by rote or repetitive exercises. There is a fundamental need to incorporate "doing" in learning, otherwise this learning cannot have its natural outcome in action in action .
	the quality and the ways of learning outside the school are increased. The spread of information and communication technologies in our everyday life has broadened the traditional gap between the school and the outside world and undermined the role of our educational institutions as repository of the social and cultural values of society. In addition to formal education, children now have access to a whole range of information sources and channels. Furthermore the means of transmission of information and knowledge is dramatically transformed. It has led to an extension of space and anonymity and an overwhelming complexity of the basic rules of life. The individual is finding increasingly difficult to navigate in the labyrinth of knowledge . If he/she is to succeed in his/her lifelong path of learning he/she needs to master the strategies necessary to sift through this mass of information for appropriateness, coherence, relevance, and even verity. This can only be achieved if, from an early age, students are encouraged to develop a "network-structured" logic through the mastery of enquiry-based reasoning strategies in a Socratic-type approach whereby they constantly acquire their own knowledge through the skills of deduction, prediction, formulation and verification of hypotheses and the seeking of relationships.
	scientific and technical contents are changing rapidly. The basic function of education has always been the transmission of knowledge. However, change is currently taking place at such a rate that an estimated 15 - 20% of the existing knowledge base in many sectors becomes obsolete every year; some estimates claim that two thirds of the technology needed by the year 2000 has yet to be invented .
	shift of the attention from the teaching to the learning process. Student Student must be encouraged to discover and perfect their own knowledge-seeking skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. In this context, problem-solving strategies, exploration of resources and autonomy in learning take on far greater importance. They must also be capable of formulating hypotheses on possible solutions to the task in hand, and proficient in the art of collecting, sorting, organising and applying knowledge. In this way, not only do they learn to navigate in a mass of information to extract the knowledge needed, they also develop a greater facility for finding the most appropriate source of information (books, newspapers, etc. remain a major reference resource, even in IT-equipped classrooms) and learn to use their sense of judgement in assessing the value of information obtained. By giving children a greater degree of autonomy in applying basic skills and strategies in their learning, knowledge becomes far more than what teacher says or what they read in a book; the ready-made formulae learnt at school become part of a dynamic process that links school to the outside world, allowing the learner to understand the underlying concepts and know how and when to apply them.