Learning in the New Millennium Phase One: Advice Sheet for policy makers

Assessment issues
Because every contribution can be logged (including the development drafts) the opportunity exists for new ways of offering formative and summative assessment focussed on how something was done as well as what was done. At the same time it is easy to describe collaborative endeavour and research as cheating and plagiarism. It's time to revisit some of the ways in which we examine and test learning.

Individual identity is essential
Absolute and clear conclusion: One email per pupil is essential and an urgent priority. It's no surprise that anonymous learning doesn't work.

On-line communities work across age, gender and culture
The UK largely abandoned horizontal structuring in schools for administrative convenience but a clear conclusion is that vertical structuring aids learning in schools significantly . On-line communities naturally adopt this model as the best and most comfortable and the 'vertical' extends into other educational phases and the community. Come back the house system, all is forgiven?

Small schools, backed by strong community support, are viable institutions
This is very important. Access to on-line experts from all disciplines, including craft skills and minority subjects, make small institutions viable alternative to large scale organisations.

Teachers need support and training
On-line communities require highly trained, skilled teachers if they are to succeed. We might need teachers for less time, but they need to be very, very good. There is an urgent need for better training and continuous professional development as technology develops. Given adequate communications teachers' self help is a significant gain from ICT.

A sense of audience is vital
Pupils hunger to demonstrate their progress and their new skills; an opportunity to do this to the wider world is significantly motivating and a sense of audience (for example from external feedback) is very highly motivating.

Community spirit
A true feeling of community develops in on-line learning communities as young can learn from old and old from young. Even with relatively simple communication tools (text and graphics only) the sense of community is sustainable and important.

Raises awareness of important issues
The combination of on-line intimacy with the safety of distance means that important information can be disseminated whilst issues can be discussed in on-line communities; for example they provide an excellent channel for health education.