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NETLogo
objectives
Recent developments in the field of information and communication technologies
have had a significant effect on European education. The EU Member States
have agreed that ICT advances can contribute considerably, mainly as cross-cultural
tools in the learning process, enhancing teaching capabilities, such as
creativity, problem-solving and student collaboration.
The NETLogo project is expected to contribute to this development by addressing
directly the needs for communication and collaborative work, providing
a website and a platform with the necessary added-value tools in which
users and developers of primary and secondary educational material (teachers
and students) can communicate remotely. Through project-oriented work
they can exchange ideas, knowledge, courses and interact creatively in
a competitive and exploratory learning scheme.
The key objectives of the NETLogo project are:
1. to provide online educational software of an exploratory nature that
allows end-users (mainly teachers and students of European schools) to
conduct their own experiments, communicate over the network and exchange
information about open-ended educational environments, and
2. to encourage the use of open-ended environments in European education
and facilitate the promotion of existing, innovative Logo and Logo-like
educational software and services of European added value. This will feed
existing school communities that have already built a technological infrastracture
and developed the use of technology with valuable and powerful materials.
The project is seeking to develop and validate methodologies as well as
viable operational models that encourage teachers' participation in collaborative
working schemes in "Cyberspace". This involves developing good
practice in the contribution of educators to the production of educational
resources developed in a distributed environment and in incorporating
the use of the WWW in the everyday learning/teaching in European schools.
NETLogo is also evaluating the new teaching and learning processes that
emerge from the online use of open-ended exploratory educational software
and related materials by testing it in school life, developing methods
of intervention at different levels within the educational systems, infusing
innovation while creating "success stories".
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Exploring
NETLogo markets
The project will also conduct an investigation into the potential market
for NETLogo products and services inside and outside the European Union,
including Eastern Europe and USA. The project will elaborate a complete
technology implementation plan, taking into consideration existing Logo
tools and the current and future development of information and communication
technologies. Finally, the project aims to produce a business plan for
the further investments needed and the potential incomes from the full
development of the NETLogo network activities.
At the end of the project the results expected include the set-up and
operation of the NETLogo server which will provide a unified Web-based
interface for access to the supporting tools and applications implementing
the basic and the added-value services of NETLogo, with user documentation
and a full report on the technical and functional specifications of the
server and its online services.
The project will provide a report on market analysis covering areas such
as the identification of the potential user groups, the description of
suitable distribution channels and the market segmentation, and a technology
implementation and business plan for the full development, deployment
and operation of the NETLogo network.
Another key product is a complete course for teachers on the use of Logo
covering general aspects of computing and connectivity, the basic Logo
programming language and its extensions, and the methodological and pedagogical
issues on using Logo during classroom activities. The final release of
the course and its documentation will also be produced as a CD-ROM.
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sampson@multiland.gr