%0 Journal Article %J Journal of Technology and Teacher Education -JTATE, AACE, Vol. 6, Issue 1 %D 1998 %T Results and experience from the application of a common methodology for Users Requirements Specification in Distance Education using Telematics %A Christos Bouras %A Paul Spirakis %A P Lampsas %A G Tsakarissianos %A J Garofalakis %A K Antonis %A N Kastis %A S Kontogiannis %X The cooperation of the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and the Educational communities, is recognised as a necessity that must result in the adaptation and tuning of the education processes in terms of pedagogical methodologies, school infrastructure, human resources development and organisational restructuring, in order to efficiently absorb and utilize technological developments. The ICT community has to realize the significance of the users’ needs, the difficulties of the intervention to an old and traditional process. And the need to view their technology applications not only as a technical exercise. The initial phases of the TRENDS project, which are described in this paper, resulted in an agreed common methodology for carrying out the necessary investigation of the user needs in secondary education. This methodology, which was followed more or less in all participating countries, produced answers to questions concerning the role of the educators and their basic training, their familiarity with technology, education policies from a trans-European perspective, the content, forms and aims of further training, the distance training of teachers in the use of new technologies, the motives, incentives and organisational schemes for enhancing re-education, the needs of the educational environment and technology-based training, the needs of the educators in practical didactic methods, etc. %B Journal of Technology and Teacher Education -JTATE, AACE, Vol. 6, Issue 1 %P 61 - 74 %G eng