The main aim of this workshop was to show the participants that modern technology makes it possible for people to write and exchange messages, opinions, documents, and other material, send them to foreign countries and gain a lot of information within a very short period of time. The means to do all that is the internet, a world-wide computer network containing very many subnetworks.
The psychological effect of this "world-wide open-mindedness" was also intended because it seems to be very necessary to open education in general and in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia as well. All modern trends show this development.



Modern language training and education aim at open education involving other schools of foreign countries by exchanging educational material and thus enriching ordinary teaching methods. It is always most important that students learn to communicate with authentic partners, people who read and answer their messages. Ordinary teaching or homework is not able to fullfil this, because of the lack of reality. Even in Croatia and Bosnia - Herzegovina there were already networks to be found (e.g. CARNet = Croatian Academic and Research Network, ZAMIR and peacenet). So even at war times it was possible to communicate and gain information on a variety of subjects such as international newspaper articles, to name just one example if you had access to the internet, but only very few people had.

To make this workshop come true a lot of organization on the spot was necessary. We could only cope with this task by using the internet itself. Through the internet we found Damir Mrkonjic from CARNet of the University of Split and he gave us all tips and addresses needed to get the room in the hotel in Neum hooked up to the internet. Electronic messages and faxes were exchanged during the intensive planning period between Christmas and the end of the year. Finally we had 10 personal computers from ENEL (a computer company in Split) in a completely installed network, which allowed to send and to receive messages and to gain other information (through the world-wide web) during the whole time of the workshop.

Damir Mrkonjic and his colleague Lada Males from Split helped us in any way. They supported us technically and even translated everything from English into the Croatian language.

Without them this workshop would never have taken place!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED!!

The world-wide web, as we think, is and will be extremely interesting for the schools having participated, because very many material can be gained from databases worldwide. So these schools are not forced to buy books but have access to educational material that they can use as substitutes for books. Mostly this modern material will even be more useful than books.

This seminar was only meant to be a first step. The second step is being in preparation. Ali Beiser collected some personal computers which will be sent to Bosnia-Herzegovina so that schools will be able to make the next step.
Damir Mrkonjic is going to provide access to the internet via the University of Split and Zagreb.

The next step will be a more practical training during the summer. Then each of the teachers will have to be trained to make all the steps necessary alone and a more pedagogical teaching will have to follow: How to set up a project, how to conduct a project, where are international partners to be found and elements like that.

Then an integration of those schools interested into international organizations which deal with setting up projects and conducting them is to follow.

The leaders of the workshop and the participants experienced the seminar in Neum as having been a most important step into the right direction. The atmoshere was wonderful and contacts very intensive.

We would like to go back to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia as soon as possible.

Peter Obermeier
Ali Beiser