1997 European Union documentationn gives the population of Denmark as 5,180,614.

The gross domestic product per capita is 26,136 Ecu. The workforce is broken down thus: agriculture 6%, industry 26% and services 68%.

Population	5,180,614
GDP per head	26,136Ecu

In Denmark publicly provided continuing vocational training for the company employees and the unemployed is very comprehensive, and according to research from 1994 amounts to more than half of the entire effort in private and public continuing vocational training.

There are three divisions in the Danish system covering the following training options countrywide:

• adult education in general, evening classes, etc.
• labour market training
• open education.

Government distance training provision

Proprietary distance training provision

Distance teaching university

University level distance education

The history of adult vocational training from Grundtvig's time to the present is focused on group-based institutions and travel to a centre where the teaching-learning interaction takes place. The three most recent studies of distance training in Denmark Technology-supported learning (distance learning) from the Ministry of Education, Voss's Distance education/flexible learning in Denmark and Voss Adult learning and technology, an OECD report, envisage a technology-rich society but have little focus on the home-based student studying on his or her own.

Furthermore, the country is small, has good educational facilities, is rich in technology, and has educational institutions at less than one hour's distance from most citizens.

The Military Academy is an important user of distance education for civil as well as military courses.

Of particular importance is the Merkonom Programme with 112.000 enrolments. This is a part-time business programme in accounting, management and other business subjects for local business people who have no other educational qualifications. The normal form of provision is evening or weekend classes but the military academy has developed a distance version with up to 1,800 enrolments.

The proprietary sector is small and may be in decline.

The establishment of the CTU:

In 1995, CTU was established under the Ministry of Education as a knowledge centre for the collection and dissemination of information about Technology-Supported Learning.

CTU's job is to develop the education of the future with the aid of information and communication technology. Technology is the means. The aim is adequate education and more competent students and teachers.

CTU's status as a national knowledge centre places it under an obligation to collate and disseminate all the information needed to create the basis for the introduction of information and communication technology in teaching.

CTU does this through a number of activities:

Strategic advice and information exchange

CTU provides local and national authorities, administrative bodies, institutions, professional groups and associations with strategic advice. It also keeps them up-to-date with other peoples experiences with technology-based learning.

Local and national initiatives

CTU sets up, supports and co-ordinates both local and national initiatives. Our aim is to develop decentralised expertise in parallel with the activities of the knowledge centre.

Many forms of inspiration

CTU promotes the use of new media, materials and technologies in teaching, by communicating its expertise and experience, by instigating debate and by publishing documentation. CTU always keeps up-to-date with developments on the Internet, Sektor Net, LiveBoards with interactive bulletin boards, multimedia, Group Systems, Video Conferences, etc.

Conferences and seminars

CTU organises conferences, seminars, inspiration days and displays of new information and communication technology. These events are organised in conjunction with active participants in the education sector.

100 million DKK to better education

CTU has an Adaptation Fund of some DKK 100 million at its disposal. Over the next five years, the Adaptation Fund will be used to subsidise projects designed to improve the quality of education; either by adapting to new technologies and materials (institutionally, organisationally, professionally, didactically or pedagogically), or by developing new forms of co-operation between institutions or between different areas within the education sector.

Who can apply?

CTU can accept applications to the Adaptation Fund from institutions under the auspices of the Ministry of Education which are involved in youth training, further education, adult education and in-service training. Companies and sub-contractors may apply on the basis of their status as members of consortia if they have entered into cooperation agreements with educational institutions.

Annual application materials

Every year, CTU publishes application materials defining the Adaptation Fund's priorities for the year. The material highlights the CTU's priorities and provides advice about the requirements placed on applications.

Close co-operation

CTU cooperates closely with the large number of projects subsidised by the Adaptation Fund. Seminars are held when new projects are started and when completed projects have been evaluated. During the course of the projects, CTU holds workshops at which it shares its expertise and provides advice.

Network of experts

CTU cooperates with a network of external experts who help assess applications and function as process consultants on projects subsidised by the Adaptation Fund. CTU has developed a special method of assessing applications with the help of electronic documents.

Thus there is a continuum of provision from full face-to-face to night classes with distance education being considered a method of delivery and not a field of educational endeavour. In this context a distance teaching university is unlikely as are courses totally at a distance.

A lot of university level institutions, like the University of Copenhagen, the Copenhagen Business School, offer courses with a distance education structure, with the Åarhus University using the name 'Jutland Open University' for its programme.

There are extensive plans for what is being called 'distributed learning' and 'technology supported learning' in which information technologies like the Internet, email, computer conferencing, will be used to link all educational institutions in a technology-rich learning society.

The Jutland Open University programme and other distance learning courses from conventional Danish universities and institutions of higher education total nearly 5,000 enrolments per year. The distance education Merkonom programme is listed as government training provision. Some proprietary providers have been merged and the sector has now less than 4,000 enrolments per year.