School+: A European project to rethink Secondary Education

© 2008, Ministry Education and Science. All rights reserved. The Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission through the Information Society Technologies Program (IST), aimed to the development of a more accessible Information Society for all,launched in the year 2000,a call for RTD proposals under the action line of “The School of the Future”. The purpose of this initiative was developing and testing new learning environments integrating accessible ICT devices to improve teaching and learning. School+: More than a platform to build the school of tomorrow was one of the eleven selected projects. This paper builds on data collected through twenty case studies carried out to analyse and discuss the impact of the use of a digital learning management system and an inquiry based teaching and learning perspective in twenty secondary schools of five European countries. Participant observation, document analysis, focus groups and field notes were the most important research method used.This paper offers some of the research results in relation to change and improvement in the secondary school.The processes involved allude not only to the use of ICT but also to new ways of approaching teaching and learning and to the collaboration in and between schools and other educational agents.The paper focuses in the establishment of collaborative networks between schools and universities, the strengths and weaknesses derived of implementing alternative teaching and learning modes, and the role of technology to foster these process.