“In Varietate Concordia”: Digital Literacy for Learning & Cross- Cultural Communication

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“In Varietate Concordia”:Digital Literacy for

Learning & Cross- Cultural Communication

Serenella Silenzi

University of Macerata, Macerata - Italy

Abstract:

This article is an attempt to define the best use of information

and communicat ion t echnologies (ICT) t o develop intercult ural

awareness by exploring some of t he educat ional experiences

promot ed by t he European Commission (EC) . The European

mot t o “ Unit y in diversit y” was officially proclaimed on t he 4t h May

2000 in the European Parliament. Since that date, this has been

t he principle which has inspired all t he inst it ut ions of t he Union. In

2007 t he Commission st arted t he Lifelong Learning Programme

(LLP) promot ing various educat ional and t raining init iat ives. All

t hese projects have support ed t he use of ICT as one of t heir four

pivot al t ransversal key act ivit ies. This art icle explores some of

t hese experiences which have developed innovat ive educat ion

pract ice and increased intercult ural sensit ivity. But t here can’t beany guarant ee t hat simply invest ing in ICT resources will enhance

cross-cultural awareness. In fact e-t ools can promot e and extend a

more democrat ic mut ual underst anding of people only if t heir use is

carefully planned and diff used.

Keywords: European Commission, ICT, Educat ion, Learning,

Int ercult ural Awareness.

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“ In Variet at e Concordia” : Toget her is bet t er

The mot t o of t he European Union (EU) is “Unit ed in diversit y” ( In

Varietate Concordia” in Lat in). This means that Europeans are

unit ed in working t oget her for peace and prosperit y, and t hat all the

mosaic of dif ferent cult ures, languages, geographic feat ures and

economies in Europe are a posit ive asset for t he whole cont inent .

This phrase is t he symbol represent ing one of t he great est peace

project s in t he world.

Picture 1.Some of t he European post ers t hat feat ure the mot t o

“ United in diversit y”

This slogan was officially proclaimed on t he 4t h May

2000 in t he European Parliament . Since t hat date, but

pract ically even before, t his has been the principle

which has inspired all the institutions of the Union.

The European Commission (EC) is the t hird fundament al part of

t he inst it ut ional t riangle (The European Council, the European

Parliament , t he European Commission) t hat manages t he EuropeanUnion (EU) . It is a sort of ‘Guardian of t he Treat ies’ as it s main job



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is t o ensure that t he regulat ions and decisions adopt ed by t he

Council and t he Parliament are being carried out and implement ed

in the member st at es. This means that it has t o uphold and

support t he common interest policies, especially in t he field of

research, t echnology, overseas aid and regional development .

The EC, in part icular, has been focusing on t he mission proclaimed

by the European motto for many years and has been developing

a vast range of init iat ives and measures which have st arted f rom

t he idea of different collaborat ive ident it ies working t ogether t o

improve the qualit y of social life and build up ‘t he most compet it iveand dynamic knowledge-based economy in t he world’ ( European

Parliament , Lisbon European Council, Presidency Conclusions,

2000), as advert ised in the following video clip (CTRL + click on t he

image t o see the video):

Pict ure 2. European video clip promot ing t he ideal of t he European



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These images promote a message saying that being different

but unit ed can be a great value conferring st rength, equalit y and

credibilit y t o t he Union against discriminat ion, ignorance and

instability.

As a mat t er of f act t he constant even if slow process of enlargement

of the EU (there are 27 member countries at the moment and

Croat ia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey are

candidat e count ries) has cert ainly opened t he concept of European

unity t owards a more posit ive sense of diversit y and openness in

general. While once t his could easily have been mistaken for an

excessively exclusive understanding of European ident it y, a sort of

self-prot ect ion of t he ‘Fort ress Europe’, now t he idea of a widened

and int egrated European cont inent is largely widespread and

shared.

In t he early 19 90s, t wo great changes started t ransforming daily

life all over t he world. One was the birt h of a globalized economy

making all nat ional economies increasingly int erdependent , whilet he other one was the technological revolut ion, including t he birt h

of t he Int ernet and the diff usion of informat ion and communicat ion

t echnologies. Europe decided t o respond t o globalizat ion by

making it s economy more compet it ive through new services, t he

liberalizat ion of t elecommunicat ions, speeding up t he energy

sect or, facilit at ing exchanges and mobilit y among it s member

countries (e.g. the Schengen agreements1), developing social

cohesion, as well as sust ainable progress and learning. All t hoseambit ious goals for t he EU were officially defined by t he European

Council in Lisbon, in 2000, and t hey had t o be achieved by 2 010.

Therefore it was soon decided t o invest more and more in research

and innovat ion, and t o assign the EC a great er role as coordinat or

in order to give support to member states, especially through

t he disseminat ion of ‘best pract ice’ in Europe. For t his reason the1 The term is used for some international treaties signed by most of European states (22 EU States and

3 non-EU States) to dene free movement of persons in Europe and create a territory without internal borders. The name was taken from that of the small town in Luxembourg where the rst agreements

were concluded (European Union, The Schengen area and cooperation, 2008)



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Commission increased all it s eff ort s t o promot e init iat ives and

act ions achieving t he selected goals and in January 2 007 it started

t he Lifelong Learning Programme.

LLP and Digital Literacy: a catalyst resource for common welfare

The act ivity of t he EC in t he field of educat ion and t raining had

already start ed in t he 197 0s, based on art icles 149 and 150 of t he

Treat y establishing t he European Community (European Union,

Treat y of Rome, non-official consolidated version, 19572

). Thisactivity was expanded during the 1980s and early 1990s into

six separat e pilot programmes: Erasmus, Comet t , Lingua, Pet ra,

Force and Eurot ecnet . The Leonardo Programme was launched

in 1995. That was the very historical beginning of the whole

process. Rat ionalisat ion took place in 1995 and defined t hree main

programmes: Socrat es, Leonardo da Vinci and Yout h for Europe.

The first phase of these programmes started in 1995 and

finished in1999. Then they were renewed to run from 2000

to 2006, underwent thorough evaluation by the Commission

and gave birth t o t he 3rd generat ion of European educat ional

project s. This was called Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) .

The European Commission has int egrat ed in LLP some of it s previous

varied act ions and init iat ives (Comenius for schools, Erasmus for

higher educat ion, Leonardo for vocat ional educat ion and t raining

and Grundtvig for adult educat ion) under t he same “ umbrella” .

2 The Consolidated Versions of the Treaty on European Union and of the Treaty establishing the

European Community, was published in The Ofcial Journal of the European Union on 29.12.2006 ,http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2006:321E:0001:0331:EN:PDF

(last visit 08.01.2009)



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Pict ure 3. LLP and its main programmes

Four t ransversal key act ivit ies help t he effect ive realizat ion of

all the dif ferent act ions of LLP, t hat is t o say policy cooperat ion,

languages, disseminat ion and exploit at ion of project result s,

informat ion and communicat ion t echnologies. Priorit ies for t hese

key act ivit ies are annually set and 2009 will be the year of innovat ion

and creat ivit y, favouring connect ivit y and inclusions at all levels.

As we can read in t he Compendium of Good Pract ice Cases of e-

learning (Danish Technological Inst it ut e, Compendium of Good

Pract ice Cases of e-learning 2008) , t he use of ICT has definit ely

changed educat ion and t raining perspect ives everywhere in

Europe, as it has of fered new and more democrat ic opport unit iesof lifelong learning, dif fused innovat ive synergies and provided

more at t ract ive and accessible learning resources to be shared and

implemented. ICT have promot ed creat ivity, ent erprising spirit and

t herefore learning mot ivat ion. They have enhanced t he st udy and

communicat ive pract ice of languages, support ed mult ilingualism

and safeguarded linguist ic diversit y. The integrat ion of cult ural

minorit ies, as well as of special needs and disadvant aged people has

always been facilit ated and helped.



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Picture 4.

ICT for social, pedagogical and organizat ional innovat ion in LLP

Moreover t hey have constant ly t ried t o improve social cohesion,

cooperation and respect for otherness, fostering at the

same t ime European cit izenship and intercult ural awareness.

The cat alyst act ion of ICT in European educat ion and t raining could

be synt hesized int o t hree main sectors: organizat ional, pedagogical

and social innovat ion, as we can map in t he pict ure below:

From t he organizat ional point of view, we can say t hat in schools new

t echnologies have certainly produced great er efficiency, bet t er

inner and ext ernal communicat ion (e.g. e.mail, elect ronic data

t ransfer, forum, etc.) , quicker and easier report ing in general.

Then t hey have reduced paperwork, t oget her with t asks such as

filing and phot ocopying, while t hey have increased quality and

accuracy of records. In part icular new t echnologies have decreased

t eachers’ workload, as they have facilitated re-use and sharing of

resources, expert ise and advice, diminished eff ort s when preparing

lesson plans, worksheets and report s. They have conferred greater

flexibility in when and where tasks are carried out , widened pot ent ial

for more non-contact time (e.g. computer-mediated discussion

groups, automated assessment, e-learning platforms), addedbet t er net working opport unit ies, including great er social contact



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and support . Moreover t hey have allowed t eachers t o f acilit ate

t he management of learners’ fi ling, coordinat ion, assessment and

evaluat ion, t hrough elect ronic dat a t ransfer. All t his has been of

remarkable import ance in developing European project s.

Also st udent s have had t heir own organizat ional benefit s t hanks to

t he large use of ICT in LLP. They have got more f ocused t eaching,

tailored to their own strengths and weaknesses, through better

analysis of their attainment data and better tracking of their

specific sit uat ions. Their learning pathway, especially in Europeanprogrammes, has been facilit ated as t hey have been granted easier

edit ing, organizat ion, st orage, sharing, re-use and publicat ion of

resources and mat erial (e.g. t emplat es, pro-f ormas, maps, images,

report s, curricula, dat abases, spreadsheets, st reaming, et c.) . Then

student s have been provided with more immediate cont acts wit h

schools, universit ies, European colleagues and t eachers. Finally

t hey have obt ained greater clarit y over assessment and evaluat ion

of their activities through improved collaboration between

depart ments, inst it ut ions and part ners.

The increased use of new t echnologies in European programmes

has also given more interesting opportunities to students’

families, such as easier cont acts with schools and t eachers,

great er access t o t heir children’s forms, learning needs,

act ivit ies, at t ainment s, home-school and European links.The “Agenzia Nazionale per lo Sviluppo dell’Aut onomia Scolast ica”

(ANSAS) has built up a virt ual environment which represent s an

excellent expertise example in the Italian cultural situation. This

is a shared plat form of services, research and innovat ion, which is

also open to effect ive cooperat ion with t he rest of Europe and t he

whole world. This Nat ional Agency of fers very updat ed informat ion,

learning opport unit ies and relevant links. In part icular we can

underline the ef fect iveness of t he following sect ions which are quit e

useful f rom an organizat ional point of view: t he European Shared



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Pict ure 5 . Logos of ANSAS, EST, LLP It aly,

EurydiceIt alia, Language European Label

Treasure (EST) , LLP It alian Agency, EurydiceIt alia, Label Europeo

delle Lingue.

The sect ion of t he LLP It alian Agency is probably t he most

relevant source of information and material on the European

programmes in It aly. You can find any kind of news, forms,

document s, announcements, publicat ions, analysis, data,

part ners and courses databases you need t o be informed about

and to join European actions. The platform works well, it is

f riendly t o use and perfect ly organized wit h it s journalist ic layout .

The European Shared Treasure (EST) is one of t he most import ant

out comes of internat ional enlarged collaborat ion (Italy, Aust ria,

Greece and Poland). This t ool relies on a net work of European nat ional

databases capit alising on t he incredible resources of experiences

carried out by schools and adult education organizations in the

f ramework of decent ralized EU act ions (Comenius 1 and Grundt vig2) . EST allows you t o gain new knowledge, t race product s and

ret rieve best pract ices. It is easily accessible, fr iendly usable,

compat ible wit h European and worldwide acknowledged standards

(Dublin Core, Isced, Nuts, European Treasury Browser) , efficient

and mult ilingual, as it includes nat ional language versions for data

input (common met adat a model) and search.



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The EurydiceIt alia sect ion provides a vast source of informat ive

mat erial, including detailed descript ions of how t he It alian educat ion

system is organised and how it funct ions, t oget her wit h comparat ive

st udies covering various aspect s of educat ion, such as t he funding

of higher education, language teaching, the teaching profession

and so on. There are also int erest ing elect ronic glossaries, t hesauri

and data banks. All t his informat ion is provided free of charge.

The environment dedicat ed t o t he European Language Label on

t he ANSAS websit e is about an award t hat promot es new init iat ivesin t he field of t eaching and learning languages, rewarding new

t echniques in language teaching, spreading t he knowledge of

t heir exist ence and t hereby promot ing good pract ice. This award

support s innovat ive project s, at a local and nat ional level and t ries

t o raise the standards of language t eaching across Europe. These

experiences (which are accessible and t ransferable) provide added

value in t heir nat ional cont ext , bot h in terms of quant it y or qualit y.

“Quantity” is referred to the project stimulating the learning of

several languages, part icularly t hose t hat are less widely used,

while “ qualit y” might refer t o t he int roduct ion of improved didact ic

met hodologies and approaches. Moreover t his award should

mot ivat e student s and t eachers t o improve t heir language skills.

The Label is co-ordinat ed by t he EC, but managed by t he individual

Member States, with national juries deciding on detailed criteria.

This means t hat priorit ies are stated by t he EC, even if each count rycan add it s own furt her requirement s. A dat abase on t he websit e

of t he European Commission contains all the project s that have

received t he Label since 19 99 and want s t o be a source of inspirat ion

for all pract it ioners, stakeholders and policy makers by spreading

best pract ices in t he field of language t eaching and learning(ht t p:/ /

ec.europa.eu/ educat ion/ language/ label/ index.cfm# Search).

As we can see, LLP and European project s have made a difference

and ICT have great ly helped in t his sense.



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Also learning and t eaching have been revolut ionized by t hem, or

rather new t echnologies have been t he across-cut t ing chances

schools have never had before. First of all, t hey have enormously

facilitated t he access to resources, as well as maximised school

pot ent ials. Then t hey have provided dif ferent individual and

collaborat ive environment s t o study, research and work, eliminat ing

t radit ional t ime and space barriers (e.g. forum, blog, chat ) .

ICT have also given the possibilit y of part icipat ing in online act ivit ies

and competitions which have been interesting opportunities tocomplement lessons focusing on Europe, creat ivit y and innovat ion.

This way st udent s and t eachers have become members of European

communit ies of peers that work on common curriculum-related

subject s and co-build updated knowledge.

New technologies have of fered dif ferent pedagogical t ridimensional

st rategies (e.g. hypert ext , mult imedia, learning object s,

interact ive maps and plat forms), which have facilit ated learning

and circulat ion of knowledge, but above all t hey have increased

students’ motivation, fighting against premature drop-outs.

We can illust rate some of t hese excellent examples: European

Schoolnet (Eun), t he European Spring Day and eTwinning. These

experiences have managed t o combine great social and pedagogical

innovat ion. In fact t hey have always focused on t he const ruct ion

of learning through the development of soft skills. These project shave aimed at broadening students’ horizons from a local and

nat ional t o a European percept ion of cont emporary developments.

They have enhanced educat ion by empowering and enabling

student s t o acquire communicat ion and debat ing skills. Then t hey

have encouraged young people to express their ideas, concerns,

suggest ions and solut ions t o current issues, while promot ing

cooperation and active citizenship. Moreover they have helped

schools get in cont act wit h key European, nat ional and local public

figures, t hus gaining European visibility and acknowledgement



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of t heir act ivit ies. All t his has reinforced European ident it y while

st rengthening the nat ional one.

Pict ure 6

ICT and Europe f or bet t er learning: some excellent example

Eun is the outcome of a not-for-profit consortium of thirty-one

ministries of education in Europe created in 1997 delivering and

developing learning for schools, learners and t eachers across

Europe. Schoolnet advert ises best pract ice and project s support ing

ICT-enabled educat ion. It s excellent plat form is a corporate port al

including: media services (news, newslet t ers, press releases,

press kit ) , direct links t o t he other port als it promotes (eun.org,

eTwinning, Xplora, myEurope, Spring Day for Europe, ComeniusSpace, Insafe, Insight , Virt ual School, EUN Communit ies), project s

support ing educat ion based on ICT, and links to corporate part ners

(SunMicrosyst ems, Int el® Educat ion Iniziat ive) .

At t he moment , in t he name of t he Head office for communicat ion

of t he European Commission, Eun is coordinat ing “ The

Spring of Europe” , which is an init iat ive organized every

year and which encourages schools to devote one or



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more days to the arrangement of events centred on the

debat e, int eract ion and reflect ion on European mat t ers.

Spring Day began in 2002 as a campaign t o draw European cit izens

closer t o it s inst it ut ions. This init iat ive has grown since its very first

edit ion and now a lot of schools devot e some days t o celebrat ing this

event . Every annual edit ion has been dedicated t o a special t heme.

For 2008, t he st art ing point was t he European Year of int ercult ural

dialogue, therefore the event aimed at promoting intercultural

awareness and sensit izing young people t o diversit y, as a relevantpart of European cult ural heritage. More t han 300 special European

guests from the most important European institutions visited

schools all across Europe and more than 5000 contributions

(event s, post ers, drawings, videos, presentat ions, syncronizat ions,

chat s, et c.) witnessed young people’s interest in cult ural

diversit y and int ercult ural sensit ivity. Everyt hing was registered,

published on t he websit e and shared. All the part icipant s got

at t endance cert ificat es, publicat ions, books and diaries f rom Eun.

Spring Day for Europe 20 09 boost s creat ivity and innovat ion.

The event promot es a rich programme of

ICT-based activities, competitions, chat, games, podcasts

through an interesting platform, where it invites students

and t eachers t o discover Europe and it s unity in diversit y

by expressing all their innovative views and strategies.

Picture 7. Posters of Spring Day f or Europe 20 08 and 2009



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The same cross-cult ural perspect ive applies to eTwinning

part nerships. They are project s among schools in Europe which are

pedagogically relevant according t o an int ercult ural perspect ive.

In t heir case ICT have also reduced t he negat ive impact of t he

economic side on shared educat ional experiences. In f act eTwinning

is an init iat ive of t he European Commission to encourage all schools

in Europe t o st art a collaborat ive part nership by using dif ferent

forms of communicat ion technology. It is an act ion t hat support s

on-line-based project s between at least t wo schools from at least

t wo dif ferent European count ries. Schools define a project anduse ICT t o carry out t heir work. As t he part ners communicat e and

collaborate via t he Int ernet , t here are no grant s or administ rat ive

condit ions connect ed to t he scheme and face-t o-face meet ings are

not required, even if t hey could be furt her developed. This incredibly

facilit at es the involvement of all schools.

eTwinning mainly focuses on teaching, experimenting with new

approaches, new t echnologies and more modern ways of performing

t radit ional t asks. One of t he biggest barriers to t eachers undert aking

t hese new project s is t he challenge of how t o incorporat e new

t echnologies int o t heir everyday t eaching. But you don’t need t o be

an advanced ICT user t o be involved, as this act ion caters t o all levels

of ICT knowledge. You can improve your digit al abilit ies and foster

your students’ mot ivat ion for learning.

eTwinning project s can be adapt ed t o what ever t opic or subject

you are t eaching, they require only a comput er and an Int ernet

connection. You can easily access a collaborative platform (the

TwinSpace) off ered for f ree by t he Port al (ht t p:/ / www.et winning.

net / en/ pub/ index.ht m ) , where you can find a part ner, develop

a project idea or use a ready-made project kit and st art working

immediately. At the moment there are 52090 active members

regist ered on this web environment and 50 65 v irt ual project s are

running in t he same area.



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ICT: new possibilit ies for intercult ural educat ion in Europe

As we have already said, 20 08 was the year which the EC ent irely

dedicat ed t o t he development of int ercult ural dialogue. This

was est ablished by t he Decision N° 19 83 / 20 06 / EC of t he

European Parliament and of t he Council on18t h December 2006.

Figura 7. 2 008: European Year of Int ercult ural Dialogue

In t he context of t his Decision we can read t hat int ercult ural dialogue

is int imat ely linked to t he fundamental ambit ion underlying t he

const ruct ion of Europe, namely t o bring toget her the peoples in

Europe (European Parliament and Council, Decision N1983/ 2006/

E, 2006)” . Therefore diversit y may be a unique advantage, which can

encourage all people living in Europe t o rediscover t heir kaleidoscopic

ident it ies and share t hem wit h ot hers. The enlargement of t he

European Union and globalisat ion have emphasized t he mult icultural

character of many count ries, mult iplying t he number of languages,

religions, ethnic and cult ural backgrounds. Therefore, cross-cultural competence has got an increasingly import ant role t o play

in building up and reinforcing European ident it y and cit izenship.

Today an Internet search of the adjective “intercultural” would

produce more than 7.520 .000 result s. In fact in our int erconnected

world every one has realized how relevant cross-cultural

sensit ivit y and skills have become for t he qualit y of people’s lives.

The EU has understood t hat st imulat ing tolerance and respect

for cultural identity is important to the development of modern

societ y and has chosen t o help t his process of communicat ion



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between cult ures wit h a budget of €1 0 million. Therefore

it has enhanced dialogue in educat ion, t raining, and t he

workplace, but also in leisure, cultural and sport s cent res and

civil society organisat ions, t hrough project s, art icles, calls,

congresses, concerts and a lot of other different activities.

It has even built up an accurate and updated website to

facilit at e public access t o informat ion about all it s init iat ives

and European Union policies on this issue (ht t p:/ / www.

int ercult uraldialogue20 08.eu/ home.0 .html?&redirect _url=my-

startpage-eyid.ht ml ) . While exploring t his plat form we can ent erevent s, compet it ions and even a rich project s showcase. We can

read int erest ing press releases and publicat ions. We can get useful

t oolkit s t o promot e cross-cult ural communicat ion, as well as easily

cont act partners and European Nat ional Agencies on t he mat t er.

The EC has select ed int ercult ural awareness as one of it s fundament al

priorit ies in all t he act ions of t he LLP, t hus facilit at ing more st ruct ured

forms of dialogue, involving all civil societ y, especially young people,

in an effective process to celebrate their own culture, connect

wit h ot hers in Europe and foster mut ual respect and t olerance.

The LLP has recommended measures t o safeguard linguist ic

diversit y and language learning t hrough concret e proposals, such

as increased mobilit y, mult ilingual courses and product s, advice,

informat ion, net working services, great diff usion of Cont ent and

Language Int egrated Learning and facilit ated access t o European

funding.

New technologies have constantly worked in this context to

increase cross-cult ural compet ence and skills, as t hey have

favoured gathering informat ion, promot ed correct and effect ive

communicat ion and facilitated access t o learning resources. If you

know, your intercult ural sensit ivity will develop, as you can’t ignore

t he presence of ot hers any longer, and step by st ep you will recognizet hem, accept , adapt t o t hem, even defend and finally integrat e them.



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Moreover ICT have built up wider and wider cult ural connect ions,

which have promot ed knowledge and respect for diversit y, even in

t he most remot e areas. They have t ried t o build up social and cult ural

at t itudes conferring new dignity t o one’s own cult ural ident it y and

t he cult ure of ot hers. They have advert ised t he refusal of any kind of

discriminat ion, by fostering negot iat ion, models of collaborat ion,

common research, interaction, reciprocity, exchange of good

pract ice and creat ive learning, even in very het erogeneous groups.

As we can read in a digit al dict ionary, cross-cult ural compet ence

needs “ awareness and sensit ivit y because it requires t he digest ion,integrat ion and t ransformat ion of all t he skills and informat ion

acquired t hrough them and applied t o creat e cult ural synergy”

(Rana Sinha, 2008) and t his is what European project s t oget her

wit h ICT have t ried t o realize.

Pict ure 8. European video clips on Diversit y, CTRL + click on t he

pictures t o see t he t hree short videos

What guarant ee for cross-cultural awareness?

As we have seen, an effect ive use of ICT in educat ion and t raining

can develop a more posit ive and innovat ive philosophy of learning

as well as sustainable social progress. School as well as societ y

have similarly t o int egrat e new t echnologies so that t hey become

in their own systems in t he most appropriat e manner. But a lotdifferent studies have shown that it is not simply the inclusion



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of ICT that confers intercultural quality to actions, as there

are some factors which must be well planned and considered.

First of all embedding ICT into educat ion and t raining systems

requires further efforts and changes across technological,

organisat ional, t eaching and learning environment s of schools and

universit ies. There must be coherent planning and deployment of ICT

resources, ideally on t he widest basis and no longer used in isolat ion.

Digital divide has to be democrat ically diff used t o develop a learning

“ cont inuum” , real lifelong learning at all ages and social levels.

Easy access to hardware, soft ware and schoolnetworks for all teachers and students must be

generally guarant eed, when and where it is needed.

High qualit y of soft ware, web-based t eaching

resources and t echnical support have to be available.

Staff and pupils have to be granted timely training.

Then all users should be willing to share resources, knowledge

and advice and adopt ICT-based systems to replace (rather t han

duplicate) paper-based systems. An appropriate, not just an

increased, use of ICT is crucial: for t his reason it is import ant t o judge

where the int roduct ion of ICT could lead t o real benefit s, and also t o

balance these potent ial benefit s against t he cost s.

More t han fashionable t ools and fut urist ic t echnology, we should

care about spreading a fair mult imedia cult ure, fostering creat ivit y

and const ruct ive sharing, but also support ing personalized learning

st yles and pathways. Therefore all t eachers and educators should

enhance ICT-based experiences including discovery, project -based

learning, simulat ion, debat es, collaborat ion and cooperat ion.

If educat ion and t raining syst ems have to provide people with

t he necessary knowledge, skills and compet ences t o build up an

innovative, motivated and tolerant society, new technologies

must constantly promote connectivity between learningcommunities and care particularly about all those groups at



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risk of exclusion, such as early school-leavers, learners in need,

cult ural minorit ies and elderly people, who have t o become ICT

users and producers of cult ural cont ents as easily as all t he ot hers.

Moreover staff should constantly pay attention to a

correct and posit ive use of t hem, set t ing a high value on

cultural diversit y, promot ing mut ual respect , conciliat ing

dif ferences and providing inclusive opport unit ies.

Finally if new t echnologies can play a basic role for educat ion

and t raining, inst itut ions should guarant ee and support t heir

mainst ream applicat ion at all levels, as defined by t he Lisbon Council.Then all nat ional policies and laws should be developed in t his sense,

also preserving and developing cult ural heritage, digit alizing it and

ensuring it s cont inued access t o everyone.

Conclusion:

Ehsan Masood has writ t en an interest ing report for t he Brit ish

Council which is ent it led: Our Shared Europe Swapping t reasures

Sharing losses Celebrat ing fut ures. In t his work he writ es that

“ knowledge, creat ivity and innovat ion emerge when people from

diverse cultures, speaking dif ferent languages, share spaces wit h

majorit y communit ies in an at mosphere of t rust , friendship and

securit y.” and invit es all like-minded readers t o join t his mission and

build up a societ y of improved relat ionships. He is incredibly right

when he uses t he expression “ swapping t reasures” in t he subt it le

of his paper, we should in fact share all our cult ural achievements, aswe all have t hem and in large numbers, in order t o grow t oget her in

a bet t er way and develop all our pot ent ial for t he common welfare.

In t he int roduct ion to t his report St ephan Roman, Regional Direct or

of West Europe and Nort h America for t he Brit ish Council, says

t hat we have t o learn t o live t ogether and not simply t o co-exist .

One of the best ways to react to the economic, environmental

and above all et hic crisis of our t imes is t o reshape our daily life by

understanding dif ferences and seeking for common “ shared values,

perspect ives and behaviours t hat are based on mut ual respect



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and t rust ” (Masood E., 2008) . In order t o understand diversit y and

develop mut ual confidence we have to know past and use it as an

inclusive tool and not as an excluding inst rument , only producing

hat red and alienat ion. This way we can improve our present and

above all prepare a bet t er fut ure. According to t his view cult ure wit h

t he increasing support of ICT and t he inspiring example of European

programmes must propel “ concordia” and reject all t hose t ensions

and cont rast s which poison life and deny a fut ure t o mankind.

References

-European Parliament (2000) , Lisbon European

Council (23-24 March 2000), Presidency Conclusions,

h t t p : / / w w w .e ur o p ar l . eu r op a. eu / s um m i t s / l is 1 _ e n. ht m

(last visit 08 .01.200 9)

-European Union (2008) The Schengen area and cooperat ion

h t t p : / / e u r o p a. eu / sc ad p l u s / l e g / e n / l v b / l 3 3 0 2 0 . h t m ,

(last visit 04 .01.200 9)

-European Union (1957) , Treat y establishing t he European

Economic Community (Non-official consolidat ed version)

h t t p : / / e u r - l e x . e u r o p a . e u / e n / t r e a t i e s / d a t /

1 1 9 5 7 E/ t i f / T RA IT ES_ 1 9 5 7 _ CEE_ 1 _ EN _ 0 0 0 1 . t i f

(last visit 08 .01.200 9)

-Danish Technological Institute, 2008,

Compendium of Good Pract ice Cases of e-learning,h t t p : / / e c . e u r o p a . e u / e d u c a t i o n / l i f e l o n g -

l e a r n i n g - p r o g r a m m e / d o c / e l e a r n i n g c o m p _ e n . p d f

(last visit 08 .01.200 9)

-European Parliament and Council, Official Journal of t he EU, 2006,

Decision N1983/ 2006/ EC of t he European Parliament and t he

Council of 1 8 December 2006,

- h t t p : / / e u r - l e x . e u r o p a . e u / L e x Ur i Se r v / s i t e / e n /

o j / 2 0 0 6 / l _ 4 1 2 / l _ 4 1 2 2 0 0 6 1 2 3 0 e n 0 0 4 4 0 0 5 0 . p d f

(last visit 08 .01.200 9)

“In Varietate Concordia”: Digital Literacy for Learning & Cross- Cultural Communication

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