1948 The first educational radio programmes produced with UNESCO’s participation: Colombia (1948), Iran and Pakistan (1953) Agreement for facilitating the international circulation of visual and auditory materials of an educational, scientific and cultural character, UNESCO, Beirut 1949 Norman McLaren produces filmstrips drawn directly on film for health education in China 1953 Messina training course on the production of educational films and filmstrips 1954 International Conference of Educational Television Programme Producers in conjunction with the BBC, London 1960 Resolution of the Eleventh Session of UNESCO’s General Conference, encouraging the development and use of new educational methods and techniques 1965 Meeting on the use of space communication for educational purposes, UNESCO, Paris 1969 Founding of the Open University in the United Kingdom, the first university solely for distance education 1970 Launching of major educational radio and television projects (Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Thailand, India, Haiti) World Congress on Computers in Education, organized by UNESCO and IFIP, Amsterdam 1972 Declaration on the use of satellite broadcasting for the free flow of information, the spread of education and greater cultural exchange, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO 1982 Grünwald Declaration on Media Education 1984 In India, inauguration of a project financed by UNDP for adult education using a satellite 1989 First International Congress ‘Education and Informatics’, UNESCO, Paris 1992 XVIth World Conference on Distance Education organized by the European Community, Bangkok 1993 UNESCO launches the ‘Learning without Frontiers’ initiative 1995 Production and dissemination by UNESCO of the first multimedia CD-ROMs on education Establishment of a Co-operation Agreement between UNESCO and IBM to promote the use of new information and communication technologies in education 1996 Second International Congress ‘Education and Informatics’, organized by UNESCO, Moscow 1997 Distance Education Seminar on ‘The Role and Possibilities of Distance Education in Meeting the Needs of Lifelong Education for All’, Moscow

FROM THE KEROSENE FILMSTRIP PROJECTOR TO THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAYS As of 1949, UNESCO began to promote the application of existing technologies to education and to encourage the production of educational programmes in Member States. As communication technologies ever more complex with the progress of communication moved forward from the rudimentary early techniques (1) to the most advanced technologies of the information superhighway, their applications spread from adult education and education by correspondence to learning without frontiers and lifelong education for all. In the process, the Organization has always endeavoured to associate these innovations with developments in teaching, the renewal of educational contents and improvements in the organization of education systems. In the past fifty years, ever more sophisticated technologies have emerged and made a clean sweep of exist-ing communication and information techniques, each new development giving rise to fresh hopes – all too often unfulfilled – for rapid advances in education. Audiovisual communication techniques (filmstrips, films, audio and video cassettes, radio and television) began to be used in the post-war years to convey educational messages to illiterate populations in the developing countries, and later for general adult education. From the 1960s, initially in the countries of the North and then in those of the South, educational radio and television broadcasting was used to expand and improve first primary and secondary education and then higher education. (2) Techniques such as programmed instruction, or computer assisted instruction, etc., were used as of the 1950s, chiefly as an aid to better and faster learning, from pre-school to postgraduate education and for special education. (3) Originally two quite distinct areas, communication and information have now merged into a single complex with the advent of multimedia systems and worldwide data telecommunication networks like Internet. These ‘new technologies’ (4) are set to become the main channel for lifelong education. Henceforth, it will not just be a matter of spreading new knowledge to everyone, but of ensuring immediate access to information and knowledge for everyone, and especially for students, researchers and scholars of all countries. UNESCO has played a major pioneering role in harnessing new technologies and the media to the purposes of formal and non-formal education. It has been active in four main areas: It has focused international intellectual co-operation on the pedagogical and methodological problems arising from the application of the new technologies. Published and translated into many languages, the findings of surveys and conclusions of meetings organized by UNESCO have already had a considerable impact. (5) It has been the prime mover in many studies and research projects concerning the economic, administrative and legal implications of the use of new technologies for education systems; (6) to this end, UNESCO has co-operated with major specialized NGOs (some of them established under its auspices)(7) and with organizations and bodies within the United Nations system. (8) UNESCO has also carried out feasibility studies for major projects for the use of radio, television or satellite broadcasting on a country-wide or even continent-wide scale. Some of these stand as examples even today, (9) and several have resulted in the launching of innovative projects in which the Organization has taken part. (10) UNESCO is constantly at pains to ensure the development and transfer of skills. It provides support to training institutes like the Latin American Institute for Educational Films (later for Educational Communication) (ILCE), grants fellowships, organizes regional seminars and publishes a large number of practical guides. It has also dispatched hundreds of experts to Member States in connection with operational projects and has provided them and their national counterparts with continuing training. (11) Information and communication technologies quite obviously fall within the purview of the industrial sector. This is why UNESCO has since its creation co-operated with associations of manufacturers of instructional materials and with the makers of audiovisual equipment and materials and computer hardware and software, to persuade them, on the one hand, to take into account as early as the design stage the specific ways in which their products could be used by the education sector and, on the other, to facilitate testing applications and new educational approaches. (12) The ‘Learning without Frontiers’ initiative has been launched to enable people throughout the world to gain access to all forms of education. Looking ahead to the twenty-first century, it will inspire UNESCO’s action in promoting lifelong education for all at all levels by creating a worldwide network of open learning that will make use of all available instruments and channels of information, education and social action. (13)

THE CÔTE D'IVOIRE EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION PROGRAMME

The PETV (Côte d’Ivoire Educational Television Programme) started broadcasting in October 1971 after three years of studies and preparatory work un-paralleled in previous projects. Primary-school pupils were the target viewers. It was not an experiment, but the first stage in a nation-wide programme decided upon by the highest State authorities and designed to provide both quantitative and qualitative support for education in Côte d’Ivoire. From the outset, the plan was to extend the system to cover all primary education by 1983. At the same time, the development of the PETV was to provide an op-portunity for reforming educational methods and contents and providing refresher training for working teachers and training for young teachers, with a new teacher profile in view. From the design stage, the PETV was supported by UNESCO, which regarded it as the pilot project that might serve worldwide as a source of inspiration and a reference for all developing countries wishing to use distance teaching. It also received substantial French technical assistance and not inconsiderable support from a dozen multilateral or bilateral bodies which were to co-ordinate their action at the annual meetings of the ‘Abidjan Club’. Programme management was entrusted to a Secretariat of State of the Ministry of Education which became a ministry in 1973, thereby making Côte d’Ivoire the first country in the world to accord ministerial status to educational television broadcasting. Only the actual broadcasting was entrusted to the RTI national channel run by the Ministry of Information. Now that the system has got well into its stride, after nine years of operation, a preliminary assessment shows the following: The Programme has performed well in terms of teaching/learning outcomes: the first cohort of pupils beginning in 1971 completed the six-year course without difficulty (regular progress, marked reduction in drop-out); in fact, the large number of pupils taking the secondary education entrance examination caused the authorities all kinds of problems. In 1980, there were 15,635 daily television classes catering for 651,743 pupils, i.e. 80 per cent of the country’s school-going population. This is only two years behind initial forecasts. A programme for pupils and continuing training for teachers are being provided at the same time. The project’s ‘systemic’ approach has been maintained from the preparatory phase right through to the implementation phase. A wealth of information has been steadily built up since 1968 in all areas (on technical, teaching and management matters) both through the studies carried out as part of the project and through private research. Educational television, Max Egly, Edilig, 1984.

1982 EXTRACTS FROM THE GRÜNWALD DECLARATION ON MEDIA EDUCATION [...] The school and the family share the responsibility of preparing the young person for living in a world of powerful images, words and sounds. Children and adults need to be literate in all three of these symbolic systems, and this will require some reassessment of educational priorities.[...] Media education will be most effective when parents, teachers, media personnel and decision-makers all acknowledge they have a role to play in developing greater critical awareness among listeners, viewers and readers. The greater integration of educational and communications systems would undoubtedly be an important step towards more effective education. [The participants] therefore call upon the competent authorities to initiate and support comprehensive media education programmes – from pre-school to university level, and in adult education – the purpose of which is to develop [...] critical awareness and [...] greater competence among the users of electronic and print media. International Symposium on Media Education, Grünwald, Germany.

Howard E. Wilson (United Kingdom) Deputy Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission of UNESCO In recent decades new instruments for reaching people with information and ideas – reaching them effectively, quickly, powerfully – have been developed. [...] In a sense we are today in the midst of a revolution in communication which is a fundamental conditioner of all educational work. [...] Even within schools and universities visual and auditory aids to instruction operate with increasing power. UNESCO Conferences at the Sorbonne, Paris, November 1946 René Maheu (France) Director-General of UNESCO from 1962 to 1974 For information medias are and – I would go so far as to say – should be, above all, medias of education in the broad sense of the term. I am not thinking only of the massive campaign against illiteracy, that disgrace of our civilization: this campaign cannot be conducted with the necessary vigour and scope unless we mobilize the resources of radio, television and the press, whose various possibilities are far from fully explored. More generally, I am thinking of the boundless possibilities offered by modern information techniques for providing general education and technical training, and for disseminating all forms of culture on a scale never before achieved. UNESCO Meeting on the Development of Information Media in Africa, Paris, 1962 Henri Dieuzeide (France) Director of the Division of Educational Sciences, Contents and Methods of Education, UNESCO, from 1967 to 1985 The future of education lies in devising educational institutions which combine industrial or technological efficiency, centred on the acquisition of knowledge, with the vitality of creative groups whose action will enable human relations to evolve. Quoted in Learning to Be, UNESCO, 1972 Bill Gates (USA) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation There is an often-expressed fear that technology will replace teachers. No […] the information highway won’t replace or devalue any of the human educational talent needed for the challenges ahead: committed teachers, creative administrators, involved parents, and, of course, diligent students. However, technology will be pivotal in the future role of teachers. The highway will bring together the best work of countless teachers and authors for everyone to share. Teachers will be able to draw on this material, and students will have the opportunity to explore it interactively. In time, this access will help spread educational and personal opportunities even to students who aren’t fortunate enough to enjoy the best schools or the greatest family support. It will encourage a child to make the most of his or her native talents. The Road Ahead, Bill Gates, Viking, 1995 Michael Spindler (United States) President and Chief Executive Officer of Apple Computer Information, or more accurately, being informed, can be both a blessing and a curse. We crave more information; at the same time we feel inundated, intruded upon and lacking control. The key concern as we move forward is to ensure that the real end-user remains in control of the outcome. The consumer, not some techno-buffs, must remain the sole judge of demand and consumption in this media-rich world coming into being. Quoted in Our Creative Diversity, Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, UNESCO, 1996 Jacques Delors (France) Chairman of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century New technologies have brought humankind into the age of universal communication: by abolishing distance, they are instrumental in shaping the societies of tomorrow which, because of those technologies, will have nothing in common with any model from the past. [...] Let us not forget, however, that a very large underprivileged population remains excluded from these developments, in areas without electricity, for instance[...]. Education undoubtedly has an important role to play in any attempt to deal with the booming, intertwining communication networks which, by allowing the world to listen in on itself, truly make all people neighbours. Learning: the Treasure Within, Report to UNESCO of the International Commission, UNESCO, 1996

The merging of communication and information technologies does of course open up a whole world of new prospects for the dissemination of knowledge and for expanded co-operation between scholars and re- searchers. But it also entails new dangers of its own, not least of which are the risks of new divisions, new disparities or even cultural hegemony. (14) On the eve of the twenty-first century, education faces a formidable challenge – that of preparing citizens in each country for an information-based civilization. This is why the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century recommended the creation of ‘a UNESCO observatory for the new information technologies’ to monitor developments in the new technologies and their foreseeable impact not only on education systems but also on modern societies, and to propose appropriate strategies. (15) 200 UNESCO documents in full text. 18 UNESCO databases on Education. http://www.education.unesco.org Information Service on the Internet created in co-operation with IBM and the University of Nebraska.

1996 NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND DISTANCE EDUCATION IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Education systems around the world are faced with the well-documented challenge of increasing, and increasingly diversified, demand coupled with stable or decreasing resources. One response to this difficult situation is the use of alternative delivery systems which have the potential to permit an expansion of educational opportunities in a flexible and cost-effective manner. Distance education, using new information and communication technologies, has just this potential. In the IIEP seminar on this subject organized in October 1996, Professor Meskov spoke about an important initiative in Russia, the development of a comprehensive distance education system. Identifying this development as a strategic priority for Russia, he described the urgent need for action resulting from the ongoing economic reforms, the growing potential for international linkages, the development of technological means for the exchange of information, and the growing competition in the world market for educational services. This urgency is clearly evident in the higher education sector, with an estimated annual demand of 3.5 million people for basic or continuing professional and higher education. Although Russia has one of the largest education systems in the world, like many other systems it cannot respond fully to the demand for places in higher education, and a physical expansion of the system is not deemed feasible. The size of the demand is one aspect of the challenge; the diversity of social groups to be served is another. Flexible educational opportunities are essential to meet the needs of individuals such as those in remote areas, those already in the workforce who wish to upgrade their skills or knowledge, people with limited mobility or who are handicapped. Distance education is seen as the only solution to these problems, and the current goal is to transform the whole system with the double objective of expanding access and ensuring a high level of quality. Describing the salient features of distance education, Professor Meskov stressed its flexibility and adaptability, its modular design, cost-effectiveness, orientation to the customer and reliance on communication and information technologies. The challenges in developing the distance education system en-visioned for Russia relate to the provision of appropriate support at the local, regional and global levels, the development of conceptual models that address the didactic aspects of this particular method of teaching and learning, the student-tutor interaction and student evaluation, the selection of the most appropriate technologies and methods of communication, and the provision of standard equipment to the regional centres. The Russian distance education system is currently in a start-up phase and is expected to be operational as a self-financing, multi-level system by the year 2000. From IIEP Newsletter, October-December 1996, Summary by Susan D’Antoni of a seminar on “The Role of Information Technology in Education: Recent Developments in the Russian Federation”, by Prof. V. Meskov, Vice Minister of Education, Russian Federation, IIEP, Paris, 22 October 1996.
A new partner for IIEP The Institute for Engineering and Management (IEM), St. Petersburg, which serves as the Secretariat for the St. Petersburg Association for Co-operation with the Universities of the World, has co-operated closely with IIEP in recent years. These activities have included the regular translation, production and distribution of the Russian edition of the IIEP Newsletter, the hosting of the workshop in 1994 to launch the IIEP distance education course on Institutional Management in Higher Education, and the participation of IIEP represent-atives in the IEM annual seminar on educational policy and planning. In view of these close links with IIEP, a partnership agreement was signed with IEM in June 1996 for a period of five years. IIEP Newsletter, October-December 1996.
1996 NEW INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION FOR ALL The new information and communication technologies represent one of the key elements in a changing world. The report of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century has clearly demonstrated the implications resulting from the new technologies: ‘by abolishing distance, they are instrumental in shaping the societies of tomorrow which, because of those technologies, will have nothing in common with any model from the past. The most accurate, up-to-date information can be made available to anyone, anywhere in the world. Let us not forget, however, that a very large underprivileged population remains excluded from these developments’. Panacea and threat are the two most polarized terms characterizing the debate on new information technologies and education. These two attitudes are based on a failure to appreciate the real educational potential of the new technologies and the most appropriate ways of using them. As a consequence, the educational system should learn to master them in order to avoid any technological, cultural and economic subjugation, as well as any marginalization of the school compared to other sectors. In this situation, decisions about the application of new information technologies and their use in education should be taken with the objective of improving the quality of education for all and of enabling teachers to carry out their role of guide and advocate of learning among pupils. On this basis, the measures to be adopted could deal with the following aspects: not limiting the application of new information tech- nologies exclusively to the learning process. The use of these technologies in the administration and management of the school and the local community could save time for and improve the performance of teachers and other educational staff and allow them to devote themselves more to overcoming pupils’ learning problems; giving teachers, in the context of their pre-service edu-cation and training and careerlong professional development, the opportunity not only of mastering the new in-formation technologies for teaching purposes, in conjunction with other educational technologies, but also of contributing to the development of educational software and methodology. Special attention should be paid to distance education in the professionalization of teachers; using new technologies to encourage communication, networks and exchange programmes among teachers, pupils and schools, at both national and international levels; introducing ways of using new technologies based on the idea of technological resource centres available to all and allocating sufficient public funds to them. Harnessing the potential of these technologies in order to create easily accessible services which are designed to help and advise teachers in their daily work; encouraging and assisting the least developed countries to acquire and efficiently use the new information tech-nologies in their education systems; strengthening joint efforts among governments, educational authorities, teachers and teachers’ organizations, businesses and industry to ensure the availability of adequate new information technologies at all levels of education; developing research and information exchange on the impact, role and limitations of the new information and communication technologies in education. ED/BIE/CONFINTED 45/5.
TO KNOW MORE (see also CD-ROM, vol. I)

                               

FOOTNOTES:

(1) Such as posters or filmstrips. Kerosene Filmstrip and Slide Projectors, UNESCO, 1952.

(2) The following publications illustrate very well these developments:
Les camions de cinéma et de radio pour l’éducation de base, Film Centre, UNESCO, 1949.
The Healthy Village: An Experiment in Visual Education in West China, UNESCO, 1952.
Television Teaching Today, H.R. Cassirer, UNESCO, 1961.
The New Media: Memo to Educational Planners. Schramm, Wilbur et al., UNESCO-IIEP, 1967.
Broadcasting for Adult Education, I. Waniewicz, UNESCO, 1972.
Open Learning Systems and Problems in Post-secondary Education, N. MacKenzie, R. Postgate, J. Soupham, UNESCO, 1972.

(3) Psychopédagogie des moyens audiovisuels dans l’ensei- gnement du premier degré, G. Mialaret, UNESCO, 1964.
L’enseignement programmé en Afrique occidentale et dans les Etats arabes, P. Komoski et al. UNESCO, 1965.
Théories et pratiques de l’enseignement programmé, J. Pocztar, UNESCO, 1971.
Education and Computers: Vision and Reality, M. Carnoy et al. OREALC, 1987.
Education and Informatics Worldwide, J. Kingsley, UNESCO, 1992.

(4) Les nouvelles technologies, outils d’enseignement, H. Dieuzeide, Nathan, 1994.

(5) Main topics addressed: new educational methods and techniques, educational radio and television, programmed instruction, computers, satellites; educational psychology of audiovisual media, impact of television on children, education in sound media use; education by correspondence, open learning, post-secondary distance education, training teachers to use the media, etc.

(6) Such as: multilingual terminology bulletins and glossaries, economics of new educational methods, administration and management, exchange mechanisms, legal issues, etc.

(7) International Association of Universities; International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication; International Council for Distance Education, International Council for Educational Media; International Federation for Information Processing.

(8) The World Bank, UNDP, the Turin Centre of the International Labour Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Health Organization.

(9) Such as: Regional Satellite for Latin America (SERLA), Palestinian Open University (POU), etc.

(10) Such as: rural ‘teleclubs’ in France (see film ‘La télévision au village’), educational television programme in Côte d’Ivoire, educational satellite in India (SITE), educational radio in Thailand, National Centre for Educational Technology in Hungary (OOK) and in Kuwait, rural radio in Senegal, Open Junior Secondary School in Indonesia, etc.

(11) For example, the meeting of Chief Technical Advisers, their counterparts and experts in teaching methods used in teacher-training colleges receiving UNESCO assistance, organized in 1969 on the use of new methods and techniques in teacher-training.

(12) Chiefly during conferences, international exhibitions of educational materials organized by WORLDDIDAC, or through co-operation agreements with manufacturers such as IBM, Sony, etc.

(13) Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001, UNESCO, 1996.

(14) As far back as fifty years ago, at the first session of the General Conference, when the United States was pressing for the establishment of a worldwide network of broadcasting stations, the small nations voiced their fears about ‘cultural imperialism’ destroying their national cultures.

(15) Learning: the Treasure Within . Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. UNESCO, 1996.

TO KNOW MORE (see also CD-ROM, Vol. I)

1. The Educational Administrator and Instructional Materials. Paris, UNESCO, 1984. (English, French)
2. Informatics in Education, I: Some Key Points. Prospects No. 63. Informatics in Education, II: Experiences and Plans. Prospects No. 64. Paris, UNESCO, 1987. (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish)
3. Education and Informatics Worldwide. The State of the Art and Beyond. London/Paris, Jessica Kingsley/UNESCO, 1992. (English)
4. The Management of Distance Education Systems. Paris, UNESCO/IIEP, 1992 (Fundamentals of Educational Planning, 43). (English, French)
5. Glossary of Educational Technology Terms. Paris, UNESCO/IBE, 1992 (IBEdata). (Bilingual: English, German)