A continue education course for teachers in Estonia started in June 1995. One of the first courses at the new centre was the further education course to let teachers integrate IT and environmental education. The continue education course for 15 teachers from West-Estonia in basic computer work and basic environmental studies started in June 1995. The course takes place in Haapsalu at Wiedemanni gymnasium with help from two Swedish teachers. The teachers are Nils Brandt, biologist, teacher at the Royal Institute of Technology, and Benny Regner, Internet expert and teacher in social sciences at Fredrika Bremergymnasium in Haninge. The costs for the Swedish teachers are paid from Sweden, through Svenska Kommunförbundet in order to back up the friendship work between Haninge and Haapsalu.
The aim of this course is to develop environmental education in some Estonian schools, and knowledge about how to use computers integrated in the ordinary school education, and in the end develop friendship and co-operation between pupils and teachers in our both countries with help from modern IT-technology. Hopefully the project will start a co-operation to Ungdomens miljöriksdag in Sweden in aim to develop friendship relations with help from environmental studies and modern IT -technology. Environmental education means in this case studies, in basic ecology, in environmental problems and how to reach a "sustainable development" in the society. These words "sustainable development" are important when you talk about environmental problems an economic development.
"Sustainable development" originally came 1987 from UN and the Brundtland commission and are today after, the Rio -conference 1992, a world-wide spread discussion how to find a strategy where you can integrate the care about the environment in the work to develop a country. One important part of this course is how to implement environmental studies in the school in different subjects. The participation's of this course are two teachers from 8 schools in Estonia. It is not a course for the computer teachers, instead we hope it will be teacher that are interested to evaluate the environmental education and friendship work. It could be for example teachers in social science, geography, biology and chemistry. In the first run it is teachers from upper secondary schools. The course language will mostly be in English. The course will be a distance course for 1 - 1,5 year, with extensive studies under some periods in Haapsalu and homework for the rest of the time. In the time in Haapsalu we will have computer work, lectures, project work and field studies. Then the teachers will do homework together with the pupils in there own classes.