Public Internet Usage Points in Schools for the Local Community – Concept, Implementation and Evaluation of a Project in Bremen, Germany

Experts agree that citizens of the information society will need new and additional skills in the future that are connected with the effective and efficient use of digital media technologies. Today, there is unequal access and use of those technologies, which is described as the 'digital divide'. In a unique project, the State of Bremen (Germany) has created Public Internet Usage Points in 25 schools. These 'Web.Punkte' offer access to computers and Internet for the community and support for external users by students. The project is embedded into a larger context of building a regional infrastructure for lifelong learning. Starting with interpretations of lifelong learning, this paper tries to combine those views with concepts to bridge the digital divide, explaining organizational barriers and success factors. Using formative evaluation, the results of the project will be highlighted and arguments for a regional learning network will be drawn.