For the first time, teachers and students in schools throughout Europe are being systematically surveyed on their use and views on technology for learning.
Technology is increasingly used in schools, is a ‘must-have’ for young people, and its contribution to educational, social and economic goals is recognised in national and European policies, It is therefore important to have a clear understanding of the extent of its provision and use in schools across Europe. That is why the views of head teachers, teachers and students are being collected, through online questionnaires (also a first), for the European Survey of Schools: ICT and Education. ESSIE aims to provide answers to questions such as:
• How do young people’s experiences of ICT compare in and out of school? Do they vary between countries?
• How many classrooms are really online, equipped with interactive whiteboards, and laptops? How many teachers are at ease in them? What do they do, and what are the outcomes for learners?
• What are the school and teacher factors associated with different patterns of ICT use? Can explanatory models be identified to inspire policy recommendations to support the development of 21st century teaching and learning methods and curricula?

28 partners in 16 countries associating Ministries of Education, Businesses and Universities are already part of that initiative whose objective is to reinforce young European’s interest in science education and careers and thus address the future skills gaps. To do so they will build on existing school/business partnerships in the field of STEM education across Europe. A repository of practice will be developed and disseminated to stimulate good practices and encourage new practices.

Over a three-year period Ingenious will involve up to 1,000 primary and secondary schools throughout Europe, which will validate the best practices, design a programme of activities and organise seminars for teachers on industry-education cooperation in STEM education.

More information will be available as from September. Be ready for an explosive start!

It's a highly readable, concise and practical overview of key developments in educational technology that are expected to be impact on teaching and learning in schools in the future. In the next year cloud computing and mobiles in all their forms are the ones to watch; in two to three years it's game-based learning and open content, while in four to five years learning analytics and personal learning environments are said to be taking off.

The report is a consensus view of 40 experts (including European Schoolnet) identified by three international organizations - the New Media Consortium, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

The report has been released under a Creative Commons licence to encourage broad distribution, and we encourage you to send electronic copies to colleagues.

The Survey of Schools: ICT and Education is funded by the European Commission Directorate General Information Society and Media and supported by ministries of education. It is being undertaken by European Schoolnet and the University of Liège. It aims to benchmark progress in ICT availability and use in the 27 countries of the European Union, Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Turkey, and so contribute to the development of up-to-date and accurate indicators and of a continuous monitoring system on educational technology in schools. The online survey of students, head teachers and teachers is live from September to November 2011 and takes about 20 minutes to complete.

In each country 1 200 schools are randomly selected (all schools in countries if the total is lower) in order to obtain a representative selection. An email will be sent to the head teacher of these schools in the coming weeks, asking them if they agree to participate and, if so, to nominate a school coordinator to organise data collection in September-November 2011. All information obtained will be used solely and exclusively for the survey and no individual or school will be identifiable. The survey will produce findings of value for school planning and decision-making on the deployment, management and use of technology to be published in country and international reports in 2012. More information is here.

Schools are busy places and every effort is being made to ensure that there is as little disruption as possible.

The publication is available free as a pdf from the OECD and EU bookshops.