Education, Training, and Research in the Information Society: a National Strategy
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 389 258 IR 017 343 TITLE Education, Training, and Research in the Information Society: A National Strategy. INSTITUTION Ministry of Education, Helsinki (Finland). REPORT NO ISBN-951-53-0388-5 PUB DATE 95 NOTE 67p.; Prepared by an Expert Committee appointed by the Finnish Ministry of Education on September 13, 1994. AVAILABLE FROM Internet: http://www.mined.fi/tietostrategia.html (finnish); http://www.mined.fi/infostrategy.html (English); gopher://gopher.funet.fi/11/funet/infostrategy (English). PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Access to Information; Change Strategies; Community Education; *Computer Networks; Continuing Education; *Educational Planning; Foreign Countries; *Information Literacy; Information Networks; *Information Policy; Information Technology; International Communication; Needs; Policy Formation; *Public Policy; Strategic Planning; Teacher Education; Technological Literacy IDENTIFIERS *Finland; Internet ABSTRACT This report is a written synthesis of opinions and observations on the role of emerging information technology in Finnish society. It surmises that such technology will benefit the educational system and increase research activity, thereby creating new channels of information access for the public, as long as national policymakers commit themselves to strategies for building education programs that are flexible enough to adapt to changing definitions of information literacy and technological expertise. These programs must not only train students and teachers but extend to citizens at large, providing opportunities for their continuing education. Finland needs to participate in the global electronic library by making more information available in digital format, guaranteeing education and research facilities high-performance computing capacity and reliable network connections, and continuing development of Internet links between schools, businesses, and their communities. Policy issues for the proposed open national information infrastructure are discussed, including the practicality of establishing regional networks and the need to examine questions of copyright, Internet security, and tariffs for online information. A glossary is included. (BEW) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** EDUCATION, TRAINING and RESEARCH in the INFORMATION SOCIETY A National Strategy U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educabonsi Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ES'. This oocumont has been reproduced as rece.veo born the person or orgardzation onganating .1 o Mmor changes have been made to improve reproducbon Qua lay Pomts of pre* or of:onions stated in th)sdocu ment do not necessardy represent offic.al OE RI posItion or POIrCv 'PERMISSION TO REPRODUCETHIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Helepa_Savolainen TO IHE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INF OHMAT ION CENTE R (ERIC). Q.F-1..Dt!.(1/111()N- 1:1,1 995. TO THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION On 13 September 1994, the Milzisny of Education set up an Expert Committee to prepare a strategy for education, training and research in the infOrmation society. The deadline set for this work was January 31 1995. The assignment given to the committee was to consider how the level of education and research can be raised by applying infOrmation technology and how thus to promote national competitiveness and employment; 2. to assess the needs and identify the means of giving citizens basic skills in using information and information technology and of promoung the availability of information; to estimate the need for high-performance computing capacity in scientific research; to appraise the prerequisites for the production and utilization of network-based multimedia in Finland; to assess how the information networks fOr education and research should be structured and no define what their role is in the national information infrastructure; 3. to draw up the outlines of information and communication policy for education, training and research into the 21st century. The Expert Committee met six times. Chairman of the Expert Committee was Markku Linna, Director Gener- al, Ministry of Education, and Vice-Chairman was Jukka Liedes, Special (;overnment Advisor, Ministry of Education. Members of the Experts' Committee were Maija Berndtson, Director, I lelsinki City LibraryCentral library for Public Libraries Dr Vilho Hirvi, Director (;eneral, National Board of Education: from 1 January 1995 ScLretary ( eneral, Nlinistry of Education Professor Fred Karlsson, University of I lelsinki I )1- Juhani Kuusi, Director (ieneral,.1.echnology l)cvelopment (..cntre'lLKES 4 I Dr( I IONI RAININI, and RI 51510 II h INI 01251A !ION SO( II 11 Ritva Launo, Head of Information Service, Ov Alko Ab Dr 011i Martikainen, Vice-President (R&D), 'telecom Finland Ltd. Dr Martti Mienpaa, Industrial Counsellor, Ministry of Trade and I ndustrv Dr Yrjö Neuvo, Senior Vice President, R&D, Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd. Risto Nevalainen, Managing Director, Information Technology Development Center (TI EKE) Professor Risto Nieminen, Scientific Director, Center for Scientific Computing (CSC) The Experts' Committee invited Anu Lamberg, Special Government Advisor, Ministry ofTransport and Communications, to participate in its work. When Vilho Hirvi was prevented from attending he was substituted by Senior Engineer Ella Kiesi; Juhani Kuusi by Dr Pauli Heikkili, Director, Information Technology; and Yrjo Neuvo by Dr Pekka Heinonen, Scien- tist, Audio & Speech Technology (R&D). Senior Advisor Helena Savolainen, Ministry of Education, and Project Manager Anders Hagstrom, Helsinki University of Technology, as well as Senior Advisor Annu Jylha-Pyykonen, and Special Researcher Markku Suvanen, both from the Ministry of Education, acted as sc-..retaries to the Committee. The Committee was further assisted by Special Planning Officer Keijo Makeld from the Ministry of Education. The Expert Committee was assisted by the project group set upby the N I i nistry of Education to prepare a strategy for the application ofinforma- tion technology to education and by the Delegation for Information l'rovision. Having completed its task on time, the Expert Committee respectfully submits this document proposing a strategy for education, training and research in the information society to the Ministry of Education. Helsinki, 31 January 199 Markku Linna dee Maija Berndtson 0111Martikainen ./44: Paijli(Fia(kkilb Martti M6enpäa v VaA,#:14, Vilho Hirvi Yrjö Neuvo #11/t/e4tit<_i Fred Karlsson Risto Nevalainen 4. a_ fJ Ritva Launo Risto Nieminen Jukka Liedes Helena Savolainen cege, Anders Hagstr. 5 8 MINP.110 oil Ill ( MON. SI ANI) EDUCATION. -1 RAINING and RESEARCH in the INFORMATION SOCIETY. A NATIONAL STRATEGY. MINISTRY OF EDUCNI'ION P. 0. BOX293 FIN-00171 EIRSINKI FINLAND 'FEL. +358 0134 171 FAX +358 0 656 765 lbdocumeut is available at the Internet URI. address imp://www.mined.11/inhmtrategy.hunl gopher://gopherfunet.11/11/FUNE17infostrategy ( 'over and layoutY.M1 & hititt.d trimItainotalo 1 lelsinki 1995 ISBN 951-53-0388-5 10 `s 1%1111 I 111( 5110 \ I \\II Contents SUMMARY 13 1. INTRODUCTION 17 2. BACKGROUND 23 2.1 A networked information society 25 2.2 Foreign programmes 26 2.3 The starting point in Finland 27 3. THE CHANGING CONTENT AND FORM OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 29 3.1 Curricula are changing at all levels of education 32 3.2 Evaluation of education and training 35 3.3 New ways of learning and teaching 36 4. INFORMATION SOCIETY SKILLS FOR ALL 38 4.1 Basic skills while at school 38 4.2 Adult skills in the information society 39 4.3 Focus on the teachers 40 4.4 New vocational skills for the information society 41 5. RESEARCH, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND NETWORKS 45 5.1 Information technology in the service of science and research 46 5.2 High-performance computing 47 6. RESEARCH AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY 49 6.1 Research, product development and the information industry 50 6.2 Research on education and training 51 6.3 The information society as a focus for research 51 7. DEVELOPING INFORMATION PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 53 7.1 National information resources and information maintenance face new challenges 54 7.2 Promoting information production in Finland 57 8. NETWORKING 59 8.1 Towards an open information network infrastructure 59 8.2 Information networks for science and research 60 8.3 All schools and libraries to be a part of the open information network 61 8.4 Digital broadcasting and cable television networks 63 9. GENERAL FRAM EWO RK 65 9.1 Standardization 65 9.2 Legislation 65 9.3 Taxation of digital publications and network services 67 9.4 Tariff criteria 67 10.I M P LEM ENTAT IN 69 TERMINOLOGY 73 Dv( I \ II In the INI ORMI ION SO( IIIliII SUMMARY Education and research are crucialfactors for the development of Finland as an information society. '. For the citizens of such a society to prosper, they must possess a good general education, a wide variety of capabilities to act and solve problems, and the professional compe- tences and skills required by the continuous changes inherent in a working life based on networks. High-quality education and the balanced development of both basic and applied research are pre- requisites for successful innovation. In the information society, knowledge is the key resource. Advanc- es in technology which facilitate production