Portal: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education

The Summit on Education Reform, held in Beijing in 2004, considered this tool to be fundamental to future success in the APEC region.  In a paper delivered at that meeting, "A Striking Balance of Shared Perspectives," Ricki Goldman of the New Jersey Institute of Technology addressed the need for cooperation in education and the role that technologies may play in such collaboration.  A report by Korea and Singapore was also given recommending the use of ICT to found communities of shared practice and to better collaborate on research and development of improved education techniques. After the summit, the APEC Learning Community Builders (ALCoB) project was launched to help bridge knowledge divide, enhance knowledge capacity, and to promote human exchange and a learning community.

The issue of ICT was again picked up in Xi'an, China at the 2008 Education Reform Symposium and was a focal point during the 5th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) held in Gyeongju, Korea.  The overall theme for the 5th AEMM, as discussed in the Ministerial Papers, is Future Challenges and Educational Responses: Fostering Global, Innovative, and Cooperative Education.  Specifically in the priority area of ICT, the ministers addressed improving teacher quality and instruction as well as policies and research including open education resources. 

Most recently, APEC nations discussed issues concerning ICT at the APEC ICT4E Exposition 2010 Conference held in Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines. Members at the Conference discussed issues concerning APEC-led initiatives on ICT4E; ICT4E initiatives by government and non-government organizations in all 21 APEC Member Economies; support from mulilateral, bilateral, and private aid agencies for ICT4E; basic education, higher education and technical and vocational education training (TVET) and non-formal education.

• APEC Symposium on Open Source and Open Course for E-Learning - This APEC Syposium focused on expanding E-learning. E-learning most often means an apporach to facilitate and enhance learning by means of personal computers, CD-ROMs, and the Internet.
• APEC Cyber Academy - The Cyber Academy is a collection of school communities within APEC member economies.The main goal of the Cyber Academy is to establish basic ICT skills and conduct collaborative learning activities across APEC countries
• APEC ICT4E Exposition 2010 Conference - APEC member countries gave presentations in support of mulilateral, bilateral, and private aid agencies for ICT4E; basic education, higher education and technical and vocational education training (TVET) and non-formal education.
• APEC 2003 eLearning Summit - The APEC 2003 eLearning Summit was a three-day congregation of about two hundred of innovators in Asia and the Pacific regions - including scholars, entrepreneurs, education administrators, and teachers in the field of elearning. Participants of the Summit explored strategies and possible solutions of integrating technology into education by cooperating among APEC member economies.
• APEC Learning Community Builders (ALCoB) - The subjects of ALCoB Group Project are classified into various fields like school subjects, cultural experience, and career and technical training. The project activities are accomplished for a term of a year, and then all of project teams present the achievement of the projects through annual International ALCoB conference with the presentation of new ALCoB project proposals.

• E-Language Learning - A collection of open education materials to help students learn the langauges of APEC member economies.
  
• Remarks by U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology Director -  The Office of Educational Technology Director Karen Cator's remarks regarding the use of technology innovation and new business models to transform education systems to the 2011 APEC SOM.
• International Experiences With Technology in Education: Final Report - The U.S. Department of Education issued the National Education Technology Plan 2010 in an effort to learn from the experiences of other countries with high-performing education systems, including 8 APEC members.
  
• Evaluation of the Enhancing Education Through Technology Program: Final Report (2009) - This study collected information about educational technology practices related to the United States Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program.
  
• Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies (2009) - A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis.