By Irčne Butor, 22 July 1998

The first speaker Johan Groith < johan.groth@gogab.se >  ( http://www.pi.se/gogab/index-eng.html ) from the National Agency for Education and ISOC-SE (Sweden) presented the Swedish School system and the Swedish Schoolnet. Between the " material approach " and the " content driven approach " the second has been chosen. Johan Groth gave some advise on how to introduce Internet in schools. On the question as to whether teachers really use the Swedish Schoolnet he answered that it is not a physical network but a service on Internet, they have 6000 hits per day on there Web site representing lot of activities and interest.

The second speaker Philip J. Bossert < bossert@hawaii.edu > from the University of Hawaii (USA) talked about the HERN (Hawaii Education & Research Network) project. It is a 4 years , $ 4,2 million project aimed at providing equal access to all systems at any time and any place. It is simple and easy to use. At the outset of the project, the teachers did not know how to collaborate but now there are 3000 users and most of education takes place out of the school.

For the third lecture, three speakers explained some aspects of the Network Montana Project. David A. Thomas <dave@math.montana.edu > from the Montana State University (USA), Lynn D. Churchill < church@selway.umt.edu > and Cynthia S. Thomas < cynthia@math.montana.edu > from the University of Montana (USA). It is a collaborative effort, Montana is a very large state. The major issues are: access, support, training, curriculum programs, instructional units. On the question as to whether the Network Montana Project is a network, Cynthia S. Thomas answered that it is a network where the curriculum has been developed for schools. As to who is using this network, she answered that the network provides material for schools, and is also used by different communities.