EDEN 2021 Annual Conference Recognition of Excellence

EDEN 2021 Virtual Annual Conference – UNED Madrid 

“Lessons from a pandemic for the future of education”

CALL IS OPEN!

Conference Call

Dear EDEN Members, Friends and Partners,

During the EDEN 2021 Virtual Conference – UNED-Madrid, the PhD Symposium will be held on Wednesday, 21 June, 2021. The Symposium, within the frame of the Conference, will be organised as continuation of series of such EDEN events held in Barcelona (2018), Bruges (2019), Dublin (2019), Timisoara (2020), and Lisbon (2020).  It is an open-invitation event for PhD students and their supervisors working in the field of e-learning or educational technology, which is offering opportunity to network with fellow researchers, discuss your research, and receive feedback from international experts.

2021 marks EDEN’s 30th Anniversary year, therefore the virtual Madrid Conference, hosted by the National Distance Education University UNED on 21-24 June 2021 will be special to all of us in many regards, setting the tone for the Conference, let us inform you that the resources of the 2020 EDEN events, the Electronic Conference Proceedings and the Short Paper Books of the Timisoara Conference (last June) as well as the Lisbon Research Workshop (last October) are available and can be revisited online on the following links:

EDEN 2020 Virtual Conference, Timisoara, Romania
EDEN 2020 Virtual Research Workshop, Lisbon, Portugal 

With regard to restrictions due to COVID-19, we have also taken into account the good experiences with the EDEN 2020 Virtual Annual Conference, the EDEN 11th Research Workshop, including two PhD Symposia and our spring ‘Education in time of a pandemic’ webinar series which we resumed in autumn under the title ‘Education in time of a new normal’. 


Invitation

The gradual transition from traditional classroom-based education to online teaching and learning has been accelerated by the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis has forced educators to reappraise their roles, professional practices and beliefs.

EDEN has a long history of supporting educators in online and distance education, providing a forum for discussion, learning, and refinement of best practices in this area. This pandemic has been no exception. This year’s conference is intended as a continuation of the efforts of EDEN to support educators by providing a space to explore the issues and insights that have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not only does this conference provide attendees with the perfect opportunity to explore this range of topics but it also provides us with a space to reflect upon the role that online and distance education will have after the pandemic. As noted in our webinar series #covid19 #onlinetogether Education in a time of a pandemic, fully online education on a global scale is unprecedented in the history of education. Today we are talking about the “new normal” and “future normal”.

What will this future look like? How can EDEN members help to shape it and bring their insights to bear?


Main Topics of the Conference

  • Learner-centeredness in education
  • The evolution of online and distance learning (ODL, ODeL, blended, hybrid, hyflex)
  • The transformation of face-to-face teaching, through online, to blended learning
  • Guidance for navigating “the new normal”. How educational institutions will survive and evolve
  • Best practices for transitioning from emergency remote teaching to online learning
  • Digital preparedness, digital literacy, and digital citizenship
  • Diversity and social inclusion in higher education
  • Ongoing developments in the continued adoption of Artificial Intelligence
  • Methodological advances (genius hour, bite-sized learning, social-emotional learning, gamification, experiential learning)
  • Potentiating health and wellness in online education
  • Non-traditional assessment solutions
  • STEM
  • Topics related to the EU Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027). Resetting education and training for the digital age:
    • Fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem
    • Enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation
  • Application of micro-credentials and alternative digital credentials in higher education
  • Reflections on the resilience of the education community during the pandemic – well being of teachers and students in online environment
  • Evolution of online: Has online education finally been accepted as equal to face-to-face education?

Read the full topic list here.

Contributions are invited which are addressing by own research, project achievements, case studies, theoretic and conceptual work the conference theme and tracks and the creative use of educational technology.
Submissions – taking into account the conference theme and related to at least one of the conference topics – are welcome in the following formats: full paper, poster, workshop, demonstration, synergy session, training session.
Networking and interactivity, sharing and discussion will be core aspects of the conference, focusing on what you can learn from and with your peers.


Recognition

The tradition of granting the Best Research Paper Award (in collaboration with the Ulrich Bernath Foundation for Research in Open and Distance Learning), the Young Scholar’s Best Paper Award will be continued at the Madrid Conference as well.
The EDEN Fellow Awards will also be bestowed on the selected professionals. The purpose of the EDEN Fellow scheme is to provide validation and support to professionals in Europe in this field, and to enhance their mobility within Europe through a respected scheme of recognition. 


Contact

EDEN 2021 Conference Contact Information: madrid2021@eden-online.org