The Task Force Research - Industry on Multimedia Educational Software, which was set up on the initiative of Commissioners Mrs Edith Cresson and Mr Martin Bangemann, began its work in March 1995 and will present its conclusions at the end of the year. It has a dual mandate: firstly, to present a survey of the current situation as regards multimedia educational software; secondly, to put before the Commission an action plan to vitalise this market, and to make European research more effective so that the position of European industry in this field can be strengthened and users (households, enterprises and educational institutions) be enabled to derive maximum benefit from new technologies as applied to education and training.
The Task Force's field of interest is concerned with educational and cultural products and services which can be accessed via television sets or microcomputers, whether or not connected to telematic networks, and which are used either in the home, in institutions or at work. This first working document of September 9th, 1995 has been produced on the basis of information collected from three hearings of fifty representatives of users and organisations providing multimedia educational software and complementary review work conducted by the Task Force.
"Multimedia Educational Software: First elements for reflexion" is the first working document produced by the Task Force. It describes the current situation of educational multimedia through seven statements and has twenty suggestions for a possible Community action plan.
According to the report the mass market for multimedia educational products, whether on optical disks (CD-ROM and CD-I) or in the form of services accessible via telematic networks, is destined to develop swiftly but primary and secondary schools are insufficiently equipped. Potentially, however, they are the biggest segment of the market both for multimedia educational products and for services with 61 million pupils, 4.5 million teachers and 350, 000 schools. But their needs are highly fragmented and quality requirements high. Commercial and non-commercial suppliers exist side by side for this sector.
As a general rule, universities produce internally and for non-commercial reasons multimedia educational products for high-level training but the report claims that it is rare for the needs of undergraduates to be taken into account. However, this latter statement does not appear to have been qualified. The distance teaching universities have been cited as being pioneers in the use of educational software and telecommunications networks.
The report considers that many large firms have recourse to multimedia educational tools, mostly "custom-made", to train their managers. For the training of other categories of staff, however, and for training in SMEs in general, the use of technologies is not widespread at all. European suppliers of educational multimedia software are made up of a few large industrial groups and a myriad of small enterprises. The main weakness of the Europeans is the absence of major software producers. However, producers are devising alliance strategies in an attempt to extend their market which is often a local one.
It is also considered that the two modes for accessing and distributing educational software, off-line and on-line, will both be stepped up within the next few years. European producers must therefore aim for both markets. But re-engineering of education and vocational training methods is required by a new environment, the one of the information society. Multimedia should integrate into the general framework of these adapted methods.
The twenty suggestions have often been made in the form of questions. The Report asks "given what is at stake, should not Europeans set themselves goals to be achieved by the Union by the year 2000?" As a minimum it suggests that every primary and secondary school should have at least a room of multimedia microcomputers allowing access to remote educational services; every university to have access to the high-speed networks needed for exchanging multimedia educational materials in training activities; every firm to be served locally by a centre for multimedia educational resources - an "open university for industry"; every town hall, library or Chamber of Commerce to offer free of charge the means of access to telematics tools and services so that all citizens can benefit from information, education and training facilities.
In order to strengthen the chances of European industry in the field of educational multimedia software, the report suggests that producers should work more closely together and take into account the users' requirements. It also suggests that the European Union should encourage the networks it supports in the context of its various programmes and to list the software available on the market or outside the market in order to inform potential users of its technical and educational quality or value and to certify the best products among the software available?
The context of the European Year of Life-long Learning in 1996 provides an opportunity to draw on the possibilities available in the various European programmes in order to encourage the production of quality multimedia educational software.
The report also suggests that the European Commission should design instruments adapted to the domain of "educational multimedia" like cross programme projects; possibility for consortia of SMEs to submit spontaneous proposals. It also suggests that an estimate should be made of the financial resources that industry and universities are ready to devote to applied research in the domain of educational multimedia in order to determine what is the most appropriate effort which could be contributed by the European Union.
The report considers that from now on, emphasis should be placed on supporting the development of authoring tools which are easy to use for teachers who wish to adapt, to their teaching methods, multimedia resources originating from various sources available locally (off-line), or from various servers accessible via networks such as the Internet (on- line). Since they constitute an operating area for professional publishers of multimedia learning materials, the Task Force suggests that an emphasis be put henceforward on the development and validation of European telematics systems which make it possible to pool pedagogical resources and to facilitate co-operation at a distance.
It also asks whether the Telematics Applications Programme should encourage the development and validation of local and trans-European experimental services for schools, universities, vocational training bodies and home learners, so that the manufacturers and operators of European services as well as all potential users can get ready to derive maximum benefit from these new opportunities?
The report suggests that research, development and demonstration activities should be supported by widespread publication and dissemination of the results obtained. It suggests that the "Awareness and dissemination of results" Programme could put a special emphasis on the multimedia educational materials sector.
It also asks whether the following priorities, whose impact on multimedia educational materials is direct, should be incorporated in the "Information Technologies" programme:
Technological development of: low-cost platforms for education and the public at large; top-end platforms for simulation; software platforms for the production and distribution of educational software; training and simulation software which can be used in the context of computer-assisted education; advanced development tools.
Quality control: methods and procedures for evaluating the technical quality of educational software; institutions and an infrastructure for checking and certifying quality procedures.
Infrastructure: Recourse to"Multimedia Support Centres" and WWW as an advice and support for the production of educational software and their diffusion in Europe.
The Task Force asks whether a specific activity concentrating on innovatory aspects of teaching methods facilitated by multimedia should be undertaken as part of the "Targeted socio-economic research" Programme?
And should a specific action of the Programme "Training and mobility of researchers" be undertaken for the benefit of fundamental and applied research teams involved in the field of multimedia educational software ? In order to support the Commission orientating its R&D activities and to define a strategy for the 5th Framework Programme, the Task Force also suggests that a pluridisciplinary group of leading educationalists, producers of educational multimedia and research laboratories should be set up.
It is also suggested that the SOCRATES (education) and LEONARDO (training) Programmes, should as a priority, form the basis for the following actions:
Promote better information on products and services available and on ways of assessing their content for users of multimedia software in education and training (libraries of software, cataloguing systems, promotion of evaluation activities).
Foster associations between users, producers and service providers to facilitate the production, use and a better incorporation, into existing educational materials, of multimedia educational software.
Encourage training courses, in multimedia educational software, for teachers and trainers and for those who train teachers and trainers.
Stimulate training activities aimed at the creators of educational software (educational engineering, training in pedagogy, taking into consideration the different types of users and their needs); Support the development of an environment which favours creation of multimedia educational software (efficient and user-friendly methodologies);
Encourage the recognition of qualifications which are acquired through the use of services incorporating multimedia educational software;
Pursue medium and long-term actions, such as: the financing of showcase exercises in the field of modern languages, the development of "multimedia classes", pilot schemes for devising educational products on European themes (such as "Europe and Science", "Europe and the Environment").
In the frame of the MEDIA Programme, the Task Force asks whether training modules on multimedia educational materials and the cultural adaptation of existing titles, should not be developed for creators interested in entering the multimedia educational software market? It also asks whether the MEDIA programme should not support co-productions and encourage firms presenting common development projects of international importance in the multimedia educational sector to set up networks?
The Task Force also asks whether a more significant proportion of the resources available in the framework of the European Social Fund (ESF) should be directed towards training programmes using multimedia materials? Should a more significant part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and of the Trans-European Telecommunication Networks (TEN) be allocated for necessary investments in infrastructure (telecommunication networks, equipment for education and training centres) required for the use of advanced pedagogical tools, particularly multimedia software?
It also asks whether a significant proportion of resources available on budgetary lines for international co-operation (Lomé Convention countries, Central and Eastern Europe countries, etc.) should be directed towards actions enabling these third countries to benefit immediately from the potential offered by multimedia educational materials?
Finally the report considers that it is necessary that the management of the rights involving intellectual property evolves and adapts to the new environment in such a way that, in particular, the creation of multimedia materials which use various media at the same time are not blocked by long and expensive procedures of acquisition of rights. The beneficiaries and the managers of rights are invited to envisage the setting up of "one-stop shopping" in order to facilitate access to the works and to the benefits.
The full report is available on the WWW at: http://www.echo.lu/programmes/en/edumul.html.