A consultation process which will lead to a national strategy on e-learning was launched on Friday by the IT Minister Austin Gatt and Education Minister Louis Galea during the meeting of the National Information Society Advisory Council at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta.
Dr Galea said the current educational reform in Malta is essentially one that will ensure quality education for all our children. He added that e-Learning is all about making the best use of available ICT to facilitate learning by accessing good quality resources that help develop understanding and develop lifelong skills and competencies.
The new Directorates will be guiding, supporting and overseeing this next leap. Thus e-Learning is on the continuum of the transformation that Education in Malta has experienced in the last years.
The e-learning strategy being presented aims to give children the most sophisticated tools available. It also aims to equip education professionals with the necessary resources to reach all learners.
The first phase in the implementation of this strategy will help in the experience of e-learning strategy first-hand in a small number of schools.
On his part, Dr Gatt said the e-learning strategy had to be seen in the context of the new national IT strategy which will be revealed in the coming weeks. E-learning strategy had to be based on three pillars: the infrastructure, skills and content.
New computers being installed in classrooms and dedicated broadband for all schools helped improve the current infrastructure. Skills development was of vital importance while, in the case of content, the government would be making an international call for the development of an e-learning platform according to realities in Malta.
He said that the e-learning strategy should incorporate a roadmap leading the country for the following three years.
