4. May. 2005

The ECML Conference on Media Skills and Competence in Tampere held May 26-27, 2005 was concentrating on the launching of the European Centre for Media Literacy by introducing the findings and orientation of the project and by discussing broadly with international experts the current issues of state of art in media literacy, digital competence, educational philosophies, on-line communities, and other issues related to the topic.

It was held almost like a response to two major conferences at the same time: UNESCO and the Club of Rome organized the World Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Capacity-Building in Paris which emphasized the new learning culture and communication competence, e-literacy skills for all, and empowerment of local communities. The European Commission organized a pan-European conference on eLearning in Bruxelles which brought together over 500 representatives from the education, training, employment, industry and ICT sectors to share experiences. One of the major conclusions of this conference was that "digital literacy is a fundamental element of the knowledge society. Ensuring that everyone has the necessary skills, competences, experiences and attitudes to make effective use of ICT is probably the biggest challenge of all."

The role of media literacy was broadly analysed as a strategic goal for European learning initiatives.

The keynote speakers included Dr. Liss Jeffrey, Director of McLuhan Global Research Network, and Dr. Paul Lefrere, Executive Director E-learning in Microsoft.

A national follow-up workshop titled "Media Literacy and e-skills for future professionals" will be held in Vienna in October 2005. http://www.zsi.at/de/veranstaltungen/762.html (For further information please contact Elke Dall at dall@zsi.at)

The project website can be found at: http://www.ecml-eu.org.

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