Author: Krisztina Tatrai

EDEN NAP webinar recording and #EDENChat archived discussion available

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

The last EDEN NAP webinar and #EDENChat were held on 2 October 2019. The topic was “Widening access to open education – the way forward. What the MOONLITE project (2016-2019) has shown us”.

The ideas and practices that underlie open education have been around for a very long time. Given the promise of such a democratic approach to teaching and learning it is perhaps surprising that it is not more widely used. When Massive Online Open Courses (or MOOCs) appeared on the public radar around 2012 they looked a game-changer, something that could, once and for all, change the role of open education and its importance in the educational landscape. However, seven years later, while there is a wide range of these courses available, little change has taken place in the widespread adoption of open education.

As a result of the research undertaken in the MOONLITE project, and different and varied interchanges of ideas, debates, and collaborations with other academics and experts in the field of open education and social inclusion, it has been possible to identify seven key challenges, that we believe still need to be addressed to take open education to the next level. Namely:

  • improving access to MOOCs and open education;
  • keeping MOOCs open and free;
  • the need for support in inclusive MOOCs;
  • designing and developing MOOCs for social inclusion;
  • the recognition of prior learning and MOOC certification;
  • the need for open education policies at national and international levels;
  • new funding and business models.

The webinar presented and discussed these challenges and considered how to widen access to open education.

The recording of the webinar can be accessed here.

The webinar was followed by an #EDENChat on the same topic on 2 October 2019, at 18:00 CEST and was hosted Alastair Creelman @alacre. You can read the archived discussion here.

#EDENChat is an online discussion event on Twitter initiated by Steering Committee of the EDEN Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP). It is mediated by members of the NAP community and runs for approximately 1 hour. Anyone can join in and contribute to the discussion which is presented in a Question and Answer format, and focuses on current issues in distance, open and e-learning. All sessions start at 18:00 CEST.

Previous #EDENChats are listed on the EDEN website according to topics.

 

Doctoral Research Symposium: 3 November 2019 at the 28th ICDE World Conference on Online Learning

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

The 28th ICDE World Conference on Online Learning taking place in Dublin is one of the largest and most prestigious international conferences in the area. The conference theme of “Transforming Lives and Societies” anchors the growth of new models of open, online and digital learning in a number of big questions and the wider context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The ICDE Doctoral Research Symposium offered in partnership with Dublin City University and EDEN, Official Partner of the Conference provides a unique opportunity for current and prospective doctoral students to share their research interests and engage with experienced researchers in the area. The Symposium will be an interactive event designed to explore some of the major research themes, problems and issues facing today’s educators in the digital era.

For more information visit the Conference website.

European Distance Learning Week #EDLW – 11-15 November 2019

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

11-15 November 2019 – Save the date  – Participation is open and free!

The event is organised by the European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN) in cooperation with the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA).

During the European Distance Learning Week, you will have access to daily online webinars and panel sessions of expert scholars and practitioners presenting a variety of cutting edge open and online learning topics, from innovations in design to open educational research.

EDEN issues digital open badges as a recognition of EDLW participation and contribution.  Receiving and collecting badges provides the opportunity to showcase skills and accomplishments to a wide audience in social web communities.

Detailed programme and registration coming soon.

MicroHE Consortium Meeting and Digital Credentials Masterclass announced

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

The consortium meeting of the ”MicroHE” project will be held on 22 October, followed by a 2 days long Masterclass in Bled, Slovenia on 22-25 October.

The Digital Credentials Masterclass will bring together key experts to fuel the discussion on the future development of micro-credentialing. It will explore various aspects like access to education, development and information on learning opportunities, programme delivery, quality assurance, recognition or credit transfer and accumulation. The results of the European micro-credentials survey launched in MicroHE will also be presented.

Read more about the Digital Credentials Masterclass and visit the MicoHE website for more information about the project.

Report on the Open Classroom Conference 2019 co-organised with Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Athens

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

Date: 29-30 June 2019

Venue: Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Athens, Greece

Invitation to jointly organise the conference Creating Conditions for Deeper Learning in Science was received from Ellinogermaniki Agogi as an event of the Open Classroom Conference (OCC) series. In the field of learning innovation our Greek partners, especially our long term friend Ellinogermaniki Agogi, always played a pioneering role by organising the Open Classroom Conference Series. EDEN was aiming at giving support to this highly valuable initiative.

The conference brought together researchers, practitioners and decision makers from all around the world to investigate the concepts of Deeper Learning, the conditions under which it could lead students to develop mastery in scientific subjects and the methods how these achievements can be assessed.

Contributions centered around Deeper Learning defined as a set of competencies or educational objectives and to characterize a way of learning (or a process) that promotes these competencies (mastering core academic content, thinking critically and solving complex problems, working collaboratively, communicating effectively, learning how to learn, developing academic mindset). The focus was widened considering that training in science using arts has been shown to improve creativity and innovation as well as students’ Deeper Learning.

The programme of the conference contained 6 keynote speeches, 5 workshops, 1 symposium, 1 round table discussion and 22 papers. EA organised a presentation of the results of the Stories of Tomorrow project Mars colonies – Lego-robots, e-book demonstration and a theatre play involving the concerned K-12 students and their teachers, besides the iMuSiCA VR demonstrations.

EDEN supported communication and organisational issues. The Network was represented by Ferenc Tatrai, Senior Advisor as a speaker addressing the conference in the name of Sandra Kucina Softic, EDEN President. Ferenc also held a presentation entitled “Learning Innovation & Professional Communities” highlighting EDEN’s contribution to the educational innovation processes of the European Union. One quarter of the around 100 participants were EDEN members. Besides the most populated Greek delegation, the number of German, Swiss and US participants was remarkable. 34 Tweets were posted about the 2-day event at EDEN Twitter account.

The conference also served as the final conference of the STORIES OF TOMORROW project. The conference was further supported by the projects iMuSciCA, eCraft2Learn and weDRAW. The aforementioned projects have received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. EDEN is supported by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union.

EDEN NAP webinar and #EDENChat on 2 October 2019

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

Widening access to open education – the way forward

What the MOONLITE project (2016-2019) has shown us

EDEN NAP webinar

2 October, 15:30 CEST

WATCH THE RECORDING

Description

The ideas and practices that underlie open education have been around for a very long time. Given the promise of such a democratic approach to teaching and learning it is perhaps surprising that it is not more widely used. When Massive Online Open Courses (or MOOCs) appeared on the public radar around 2012 they looked a game-changer, something that could, once and for all, change the role of open education and its importance in the educational landscape. However, seven years later, while there is a wide range of these courses available, little change has taken place in the widespread adoption of open education.

As a result of the research undertaken in the MOONLITE project, and different and varied interchanges of ideas, debates, and collaborations with other academics and experts in the field of open education and social inclusion, it has been possible to identify seven key challenges, that we believe still need to be addressed to take open education to the next level. Namely:

  • improving access to MOOCs and open education;
  • keeping MOOCs open and free;
  • the need for support in inclusive MOOCs;
  • designing and developing MOOCs for social inclusion;
  • the recognition of prior learning and MOOC certification;
  • the need for open education policies at national and international levels;
  • new funding and business models.

In this webinar we will present and discuss these challenges and consider how to widen access to open education.

Questions to consider

  • If education is a basic human right then why is so much knowledge / educational content locked away in not-for-free sources?
  • Open education, in the sense of resources and practices, seems to offer a solution to the access problem. So why is it not more widely used or appreciated?
  • Are MOOCs the educational panacea they were once thought to be, or just another step on the evolutionary ladder toward next-generation teaching and learning, being inevitably forgotten and overlooked with time?

Participation and privacy

This webinar will feature small group discussions so please make sure you have a web camera and headset activated before you join the meeting. The main part of the webinar will be recorded but not the group discussions. Your name will not be visible in the recording, neither will the chat session.

You will meet

Timothy Read is a senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Languages and Systems at UNED, Spain. He has held a range of positions in the university government at UNED and is currently Pro-Vice Chancellor of Methodology and Technology. He is an EDEN Fellow and also the co-founder of the ATLAS research group and is currently working in European and nationally funded projects in the area of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) and massive open online courses for languages (LMOOCs).

Alastair Creelman

E-learning specialist at Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden. He is involved in several national and international projects and organisations in the field of e-learning, including the MOONLITE project. He is and EDEN fellow and member of the EDEN NAP Steering Committee.

Twitter: @alacre

Blog: Corridor of uncertainty – reflections on technology and education

The webinar will be followed by an #EDENChat on the same topic on 2 October 2019, at 18:00 CEST and will be hosted Alastair Creelman @alacre. Please join us using the hashtag #EDENChat!

#EDENChat is an online discussion event on Twitter initiated by Steering Committee of the EDEN Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP). It is mediated by members of the NAP community and runs for approximately 1 hour. Anyone can join in and contribute to the discussion which is presented in a Question and Answer format, and focuses on current issues in distance, open and e-learning. All sessions start at 18:00 CEST.

Previous #EDENChats are listed on the EDEN website according to topics.

EDEN 2019 Annual Conference resources

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

The 2019 EDEN Annual Conference – #eden19 was again a huge success, rich in content and discussions, which also raised attention on social media channels. We collected some of the most popular resources here:

Re-watch the plenary sessions:

Browse photos of the conference

Re-read keynote presentations on the EDEN portal

Check out the daily social media digest:

     Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday

Conference Proceedings and Book of Abstracts:

We are pleased to announce that the Electronic Conference Proceedings and Book of Abstracts, including the Collection of “Synergy” Synopses are available online.

2019 EDEN Annual Conference Awards and Recognition

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

Best Research Paper Award

Since 2008, EDEN has bestowed the Best Research Paper Award at its Annual Conferences and the bi-annual Research Workshops. The selection process takes place in collaboration with the Ulrich Bernath Foundation for Research in Open and Distance Learning, with the support of a distinguished Jury. Read more and see previous winners here.

The Best Research Paper Award ceremony was held at the conference gala dinner and went to:

Tharindu Liyanagunawardena,
University College of Estate Management,
United Kingdom
for the conference paper on
“Automatic Transcription Software: Good Enough for Accessibility? A Case Study from Built Environment Education“

Award for the Young Scholars’ Best Paper

The award to young scholars has been offered at our Annual Conferences and Research Workshops since its introduction in 2014 in Oxford thanks to the Ulrich Bernath Foundation and the Oldenburg University.

The Award for the Young Scholars’ Best Paper was given in 2019, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

Louise Maddens,
KU Leuven, KU Leuven Campus Kulak Kortrijk,
Belgium
for the conference paper on
“The Instructional Design of an Online Learning Environment (RISSC) for Upper Secondary SchoolStudents’ Research Skills“

Ingeborg Bo Award

The EDEN Executive Committee introduced a new award this year, in honour of Ingeborg Bo, to recognise leadership and outstanding long term contributions to building the EDEN Community, which was awarded to retiring EDEN President Airina Volungeviciene.

EDEN Fellow and Senior Fellow Awards

The EDEN Fellow scheme provides recognition to professionals in Europe in the field of open, distance and e-learning through a respected scheme of recognition.

The EDEN Senior Fellow Awards were given in 2019, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

Andras Benedek
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary

Montse Guitert Catasus
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain

The EDEN Fellow Awards were given in 2019, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

Maxim Jean-Louis
Contact North, Canada

Paul Prinsloo
University of South Africa, South Africa

Ildiko Mazar
Knowledge Innovation Centre, Malta

Ines Gil-Jaurena
National Distance Education University, UNED, Spain

Margarita Tereseviciene
Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania

EDEN Badges

The European Distance and E-Learning Network has extended its quality and excellence recognition with the launch of open badges which aim to help colleagues within the EDEN Network to communicate their achievements and skills acquired via their participation in EDEN activities. See more here.

Sandra Kucina Softic elected as new EDEN President

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

It’s our great pleasure to announce, that the EDEN Annual General Meeting elected former Vice-President, Sandra Kucina Softic, University of Zagreb, University Computing Centre SRCE, Croatia as new President of the Association.

Sandra Kucina Softic is a member of the European Education and Training Expert Panel, a representative in the ET2020 WG Digital Education: Learning, Teaching and Assessment and a representative in the ET2020 Working group on Digital Skills and Technologies of the European Commission. Find out more on Sandra’s background and activities on the Executive Committee page.

We thank the hard work and commitment of our retiring President, Airina Volungeviciene!

Digital Education Hackathon

Articles by: Krisztina Tatrai

As part of the Digital Education Action Plan of the European Commission, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) organises a 24-hour Digital Education Hackathon (DigiEduHack) on 3 October 2019. The initiative, led by EIT Climate KIC and coordinated by Aalto University, will focus on the future of education in a digital age and it will bring together teams of educational stakeholders and innovators in a series of events running simultaneously in Europe and beyond. Read more about the initiative here.