The efforts in the field of ODL in secondary education up to now are fragmented. There is no specific guide which will enable the teacher to use ODL in a clear and practically useful way. The e-Hermes project is aiming to promote ODL through the development of a pedagogical framework. An outcome of the e-Hermes project will be a handbook that:

1. summarises the contemporary experience of ODL programs


2. analytically describe a specific methodology for its implementation in secondary education.

The handbook will combine scientific prestige guaranteed by the universities involved and its applicability will be safeguarded by the facy that the users (teachers) will be involved at all phases of the e-Hermes project. This combination secures education policy makers and curriculum developers with arguments in favour of promoting ODL and also user friendliness and practical implimentation for any teacher intending to get active in distance learning. The strongest point in e-Hermes partnership is the close collaboration of 3 University departments of pedagogical research with 3 secondary schools which have experience in distance learning practices.

The partnership carries out a distance learning project in the field of environmental education. An electronic tool (e-tool) in the form of an interactive Web page with potential for real time data analyses will be designed, in which students from the contributing schools will enter environmental data (their own measurements from temperature to noise and energy consumption at home /school). The results will be presented in comparative graphical representations which will give the starting point for the students discussion on differences and similarities of their countries. A means to present these ideas of the students is the Electronic Students Environmental Magazine (E.S.E.M.) through which the e-Hermes project intends to sensitize students about the global character of environmental issues. The students' and teachers' work will be monitored and evaluated systematically. The results will be disseminated in hard and electronic form directly to end users (teachers, education policy makers, curriculum developers).