A/HRC/32/37
enhance the governance of the Internet to ensure the safe, equal and healthy application of
information and communications technologies.51
95.
The Special Rapporteur refers to the declaration adopted at the sixth BRICS summit,
held in Fortaleza, Brazil, from 14 to 16 July 2014, in which the signatories agreed that the
use and development of information and communications technologies through
international cooperation and universally accepted norms and principles of international
law is of paramount importance in order to ensure a peaceful, secure and open digital and
Internet space.52
Enabling environment
96.
Public policies should give consideration to the creation of an enabling policy
environment for drawing upon digital technologies that can serve as valuable tool in the
delivery of education. For instance, in order for open educational resources to be available
and effective, laws and policies that facilitate and encourage their use are necessary.
97.
Polices should foster interactive education software, open access digital libraries and
new forms of interaction between students, teachers, others employed in education and the
community that can enrich education by integrating such technologies into traditional
classroom activities. Such policies should, however, be designed in such a way as to ensure
that these new technologies are used as supplements to and not as replacements for in-class
instruction.53
98.
Enabling policies and a sound regulatory environment are necessary to promote the
development of local and relevant content and services and to increase understanding of the
impact of Internet access in terms of sociocultural developments.
99.
Gaining the resources for digital technologies will inevitably involve private
providers such as network operators, content providers and other stakeholders. Massive
open online courses can involve creating partnerships between educational institutions in
developed and developing countries, Governments, development agencies and the private
sector. It is when Governments establish fundamental principles and a clear policy
framework that the private sector can be involved in the provision of relevant products and
services.54
100. The use of digital technologies in education must be in full accordance with the right
to education. Such use must increase access, not limit it. It must promote equity, not
exacerbate existing disparities in society. It must eliminate discrimination, not create new
barriers. It must improve the quality of education, not undermine it.
XIV. Regulatory framework
101. In order to take advantage of the many opportunities associated with open
educational resources and online learning in general, standards and quality assurance
mechanisms need to be agreed and adopted, especially for monitoring, measuring and
51
52
53
54
18
John Morgan, “Universities challenged”, p. 8.
See http://brics.itamaraty.gov.br/media2/press-releases/214-sixth-brics-summit-fortaleza-declaration.
See the resolution on the use of information and communications technology adopted at the seventh
World Congress of Education International, held in Ottawa from 22 to 26 July 2015.
UNESCO, Leveraging Information and Communication Technologies to Achieve the Post-2015
Education Goal, p. 12.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents