Education, communication and culture in the information society: A Latin American perspective

The swift changes being wrought by the information society in the spheres of production and communication have inevitably meant rapid, large-scale alterations in the way knowledge is transmitted, communication carried out at a distance and information used in the new media. Progress in education has to be driven forward in combination with another pillar of the information society, namely access to communication via interactive media, where what is at stake is not only competitiveness but also cultural identity and, increasingly, civic participation. This is why the interaction among education, culture and new information and communication technologies is so vitally important. Educating people with new information and knowledge technologies means teaching them to impart meanings to these that reconcile the new ways of producing and working with the new ways of exercising rights, affirming cultures, acquiring knowledge, communicating at a distance and participating in networks.