Learning in the New Millennium Phase One: Impact of LiNM

National Policy

Evidence from LiNM was clear that individuals needed their own identities and that communication needed to be two way and with plenty of bandwidth.

These clear research conclusions were fed into the National Debate on IT becoming adopted as policy - for example as key recommendations from the Stevenson Report in 1997 on which the current government's ploicy is based (the report adopted LiNM's vocabulary by introducing the C (communications) in IT to make ICT, now adopted across Europe.

In 1998 a paper commissioned from Ultralab for all Ministers of Education across Europe used the certainties from LiNM to stress the need for broadband to be two way.

In both cases substantial, and appropriate, policy changes resulted.

Infrastructure

It is clear from phase 1 that bandwidth between schools needs to be two-way as well as broad. Any thought that we might disseminate high bandidth to children and expect hem only to r espond with mouseclicks and simple choices ("Yes", "No", "Unsure") is seated in some reality other than the one we discovered in Phase 1. Children want to contrbute and this means symmetrical broad bandwidth and tools for contribution. Without this parity of contribution the National Grid for Learning would become the National Reservoir for Learning and, like Prestel and NERIS before it, will die for want of engagement.

Media Debate

the findings were key in helping to shift the media debate into an examination of school structure and the way in which ICT could alter structure.

School Policy

the project enabled schools to examine and formulate their own policy and, at times, ensured the debate followed and established realistic guidelines for staff and pupils to make the best use of their internet access.