(E)LEARNING CITIZENSHIP AND PARTICIPATION: INTERACTIVE PLATFORM TO SUPPORT ACTIVE LEARNING AND PRACTICE OF CIVIC COMPETENCIES

Abstract

In the past decade, there has been a continuous increase of educational activities using technology to support the active process of learning. Either in form of social media, communication groups or elearning platforms, the technology and internet helps learning processes by making virtual space a meeting point for interactive activities connected with learning: communication, project development, implementation and dissemination, reflection and post-project/follow up innitiatives. The de-monopolisation of virtual space with the 2.0 era and use the current 3.0 generation allows more and more users to become contributors to the content available online, with a double facet issue: increase of quantity of content and number of contributors vs problematic quality of content, sources of documentation and validity of information provided. Still, the learning triggered by the means of internet is a valuable way to keep learners interested and active in the process. The last Ericsson ConsumerLab report - Learning and Education in the Networked Society announces the end of education era and start of the true learning era in a networked society - more individualized learning process, more personal-oriented and self-managed. The present study presents how an interactive platform to support the project of learning active citizenship and participation though the pupils' council within schools at national level can be the tool for the process and the result of technology mediated learning. The interactivity part is also very much connected with the content of the NPC activity - e-magazine (for reporting and dissemination, for discussing representation issues), blogs - issues in the filed of education affecting pupils, reflections on own experience in NPC, sharing of learning to new NPC generation, groups - to allow representatives and pupils from a county or a region to interact more focalized and combine projects and innitiatives.