Children of today are participators rather than spectators, nonlinear thinkers, active content users and bored to death at school. This is the opinion of the American author, Marc Prensky, who calls adults “digital immigrants” and children “natives” in the digital environment. He believes that because of their constant interaction with new media, today’s students think and process information differently from their predecessors. Thus educational approaches that incorporate new media forms is needed.

Internet offers possibilities for active participation and nonlinear learning, and combines image, text and sound. It is therefore an adequate educational tool for contemporary children.

In Denmark, where the internet has been affordable and available to the average Danish consumer since 1994, children and young people use mobiles and the internet extensively. Recent results from the Danish part of the Mediappro survey shows that 97.6% of the 12-18 year olds are internet users and 95.5% have a mobile. According to the same survey, internet is primarily used outside school, at home or at friends’ places. Internet skills are gained in informal environments through friends and siblings.

However, a number of initiatives using the internet and other digital media to bridge the divide between schools and pupils are emerging in Denmark. The project: “IT and Media in the Primary and Lower Secondary School” (ITMF) explored the very ground for using IT as an educational tool in Danish schools. It was initiated in 2001 by the Danish Ministry of Education and concluded in 2004, and was aimed at strengthening the use of IT and other media in education.

An example of a concrete initiative is the cooperation between the Danish awareness node (The Media Council for Children and Young People), the Danish IT and Telecom Agency and the largest educational online portal in Denmark, EMU.dk. Several online educational materials on web ethics developed by the three organisations are available for teachers all over Denmark.

The EMU is also the online framework of a recent initiative from the Danish Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education. The project “E-museum” is aimed at bringing the museum into the class room via the internet. A number of educational materials from Danish museums and Science centres will be made available this autumn on the EMU-portal.

Gry Hasselbalch, The Danish Media Council for Children and Young People