The world must stand together to stop the spread of these weapons». He admitted that some of his proposal may be naive, but he continued to admit that the scale of the changes meant that his vision for a world free of nuclear weapons in his lifetime could not be reached. At their summit calling Obama and the EU leaders to take joint action to address global challenges and entgegentrat a line under the new tensions between Washington and its allies in Europe moved.

Obama flew to Turkey late Sunday in a trip that the White House hoped would help, since a new era in U.S. relations with the Muslim world after years of tensions to pave the way. He also said that the future of the United States planned controversial missile defense system in Central Europe from Iran depended on the difference between his Government and that of his predecessor, George W. Bush determined. During the one-day EU-US summit in Prague also presented Obama’s foreign policy vision of his government that the 27 EU leaders narrative, which insist that Washington played an active role in battling climate change, and would deal with the current economic crisis deal.

«Europe and the United States is strongest when we stand together», said Obama. President Mirek Topolanek, meanwhile described the visit of the U.S. officer in Prague as «a symbol of the new level of US-European relations». But in remarks to the summit Obama also stressed that he expected this from Europe, saying that the EU had to take steps to make its differences in accepting Guantanamo Bay prisoners to be overcome. «A strong partnership requires shared responsibility», he said.

Other tracks the US publication listened to are ‘Before The Lobotomy’, the “straight ahead rock” ‘Know Your Enemy’, the punky ‘March Of The Dogs’, the mid-tempo ‘Restless Heart Syndrome’ and the melodic ‘21 Guns’. Following on from 2004’s epic ‘American Idiot’, the 16-track album is a concept record of sorts and split into three segments – ‘Heroes and Cons’, ‘Charlatans and Saints’ and ‘Horseshoes and Handgrenades’.

Speaking to the Associated Press, bassist Mike Dirnt said the tracks “speak to each other the way the songs on (Bruce Springsteen’s) ‘Born to Run’ speak to each other. “I don’t know if you’d call it a ‘concept album,’ but there’s a thread that connects everything.” ’21st Century Breakdown’ is due to be released in mid-May.

Presenting the keynote speech at BETT 2009 – an educational technology conference – Knight told the audience that statistics have shown a much bleaker future for those children who have a less affluent up-bringing. “A child from a poor home is half as likely to get five higher level GCSEs as their peers. A child brought up in care is statistically more likely to end up in prison than end up at university,” he said.

With a show of passion, Knight insisted that this was “unacceptable”; adding that where you are born should not determine where you end up. Education was “one of the most powerful forces for social mobility”, he added. Technology is a great enabler, Knight said, potentially giving every child the opportunity to “expand their horizons, broaden their imaginations and enhance their skills”.

“Schools that use technology well across the curriculum and across wider school life have reduced absence rates and achieved a higher percentage of higher level grades at GCSE. And I believe we have made huge progress in making the most of those benefits,” he said. Over the last decade there has been a £5bn investment in schools’ ICT, Knight said, and another £857m marked out over the next three years. “Britain is now leading the way with the highest levels of embedded technology in the classroom within the European Union,” Knight claimed.

“Now over 99 per cent of our schools have got a broadband connection and an interactive whiteboard in over half of their classrooms. The ratio of computers to pupils is almost one to three compared to one to 19 a decade ago. The computers for pupils initiative has benefited over 100,000 pupils, bringing young people that would not ordinarily have access to technology more in line with their peers”. Knight also went on to hail the home access programme, which he said would “open the door to more opportunities for young people in the home”. At the Labour Party annual conference last year, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled the plan for low income families to get support towards internet and computers in the home to improve their social mobility.

“We will be reaching nearly 28,000 learners through pilot projects specifically targeted at those areas and groups that need them most,” Knight said. “We are making great progress with that programme. The companies that will be supplying the equipment for those pilots have been agreed and announced. These will be rolled out in Oldham, Suffolk, across the country and in national challenge schools. It’s growing and we are now on track to start the national roll out in the coming months and years.”

Knight also welcomed Microsoft’s decision to create a reinvestment fund for the home access programme. The fund will be used to fund a foundation and support the programme. “The foundation will be charged with developing and implementing a programme of training and support for teachers, for parents and help create awareness for the home access programme and offer consultancy around infrastructure to schools and will be overseen by Becta and its partners,” he explained.

Getting parents involved with their child’s learning, however, was the biggest hurdle that the government faced, Knight said. “Technology can be a trojan horse for those parents, bringing knowledge, learning and useful services direct into their homes,” he said. “But it should not be thought of as a foreign object. It’s a common language, not just for the top corporations or for governments, but for parents and children who send text messages and check on internet forums like Facebook as part of their daily lives.

“So when we talk about education, we cannot just be thinking about school. We have got to remember that children only spend 15 per cent of their time in school. So our best ally for the majority of their time is, of course, their parents at home. They are a hugely untapped resource! If we are really serious about narrowing attainment gaps, we have got to put more focus on parental engagement with their own child’s learning. And where that is happening, parents are seeing real benefits.”

Rounding up his speech, Knight admitted that it was not an easy task to prepare pupils for life and success in a future climate that “we cannot predict”. “In jobs that are not in existence, using resources that have not yet been invented, but technology is the key to it. “Getting people confident using it, making them more independent learners, increasing their technical aptitude and most importantly for any educational initiative, fostering a lifelong love of learning. I want to be in a position where technology is right at the forefront of our thinking as we plan, build and improve our schools. So every classroom is fully equipped for 21st century learning.

“But it needs to go beyond that. We need to get to a position where technology is built into our learning culture. Both in our schools and in our homes, with our parents fully onboard and teachers making the most of resources available to them and that needs to happen right across the educational spectrum, starting early on”. As government spending is expected to become continually squeezed over the next few years, getting value for money is very important according to Becta’s chief executive Stephen Crowne. Speaking at BETT, he said one of Becta’s key roles for now and in the future is “to drive a hard bargain to ensure that we get value for money”.

“We need to do it because simply investing in technology risks waste,” he said. “You have to make discriminating use of the right technology in the right context. We need to be able to say to headteachers and institution leaders of that system, ‘if you invest in this way, in these conditions, with this leadership, we can show you that you are likely to achieve these results’. Blanket investment will not deliver the benefits we want. Budgets are inevitably going to be more constrained in the forthcoming period, so we need to make a very precise business case.”

Crowne also said he believed that education providers need to work “increasingly closely at a strategic level” with their commercial partners. They can bring “huge insight and intelligence” to the issues faced, he said, “and it can only be a benefit to our learners to make sure we are pulling ahead”. Despite there being a huge number of contributors to the BETT 2009 conference, a resounding message came from nearly all of them. It was summed up best by the schools minister Jim Knight when he said: “21st century learning should have no bounds”.

PublicService.co.uk

LIFT is more than a conference! Beyond the opportunity to listen to some of today’s most influential minds, you can also talk during the open stage sessions or share and learn with others during a pre-conference workshop. And for the first time in 2007, LIFT+ was added to the concept. It is a living and creative platform intended to develop new ideas through active interaction between the participants.

LIFT has a simple goal: connect people who are passionate about new applications of technology and propel their conversations into the broader world to improve life and work. The event will is held in Geneva, Switzerland, at the International Conference Center. It is organized by a group of international practitioners.

Ce forum leurs donnera l’occasion de mieux comprendre les défis générés par la révolution numérique et les solutions qui se dessinent. L’objectif de LIFT? Faire se rencontrer ceux dont les idées, en Suisse et en Europe, vont déterminer l’avenir de notre économie en réseau.