Introduction

Conclusions

The result of the series of East-West cooperative projects so far has been a continuous reflection on the nature of learning and a revitalization of the ancient question, how schooling efforts can help restructure society in general and an economic system in particular. The concise review of ongoing Tempus and Copernicus projects shows that the major appreciation of ICT is in its flexibility, its just-in-time nature, and its orientation toward students as customers. These opportunities and the articulations of unorthodox schooling paradigms make it quite complex for traditional institutes to integrate the benefits of ICT-supported learning into practice. Adjacent ongoing Tempus projects show that traditional state-driven universities need to be structured as entrepreneurial rather than academic organizations. At the same time there is general lack of commitment by the highly versatile commercial training enterprises. a third alternative is the so-called “learning communities” that attempt to establish mutual learning as an ongoing process, without any institutional basis. It is unclear at this moment how the balance between the three will gradually evolve in Eastern European countries in the coming years. Having particutated in ongoing Tempus and copernicus projects and at the same time having seen the synamics of new, yoing, up-and-coming entrepreneurs that play a role in the free market, it is my expectation that they finally will become dominant on the propagation and dissemination of expertise. Looking from the aspect of societal reform, however, it is my estimation that further investments in EU projects should continue in the direction of traditional state schooling institutes as they are able to maintain the momentum of evolution of a learning culture in the long run.