EDEN Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP)

1. EDEN Annual Conference in Naples, 13-16 June 2007
The Call for Papers was closed early February and the response was excellent: over 250 submissions received which is exceeding the last year's figure in Vienna by 10 %. The online registration for the Conference is now open. The information about the programme structure, keynote speakers, social programme and hotel booking is also available on the conference site.

2. EDEN welcomes the following new institutional members in the Association:

Anadolu University, Turkey
Technische Universitaet Wien, Austria
Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Videoscop - Université Nancy 2, France
Katholieke Hogeschool Limburg, Belgium

We are most delighted to see the prestigous institutions having joined in the last few months, among them Anadolu University, one of the largest DE provider in Europe.You can check them at the "Welcoming New Members" link on the EDEN web.

3. EDEN-EADTU Joint Board Meeting
Upon the invitation of EDEN, a joint meeting of the EDEN Executive Committee and EADTU Board representatives took place on 25 January in Brussels. On behalf of EADTU, David Vincent, President, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Open University UK, Fred Mulder, Rector of the Dutch Open University and Piet Henderikx Secretary General attended the meeting. Following introduction of both associations, regarding their standing, development, and priorities, the change of the ODL -- e-learning -- open learning field, the new EU Lifelong Learning educational programme and the impacts for professional associations were on the agenda. The role of EDEN and EADTU in the European policy and professional scene and the issue of the the European ODL Liaison Committee was also discussed. Openness and good atmosphere characterised the discussions. Continuation of the dialogue with regular annual meetings of the Presidents was decided.

4. EFQUEL News
On 30 January 2007, during the iLearning Forum 2007 in Paris, the European Foundation for Quality in eLearning (EFQUEL) nominated two innovators to be honored by the first eQuality Awards, for using ICT to improve the quality and organisational relevance of learning. For more information about the award and the awardees visit the Quality Foundation website.

5. Research Workshop papers available
We are pleased to announce that the papers presented at the EDEN Fourth Research Workshop, "Research into Online Distance Education and E-Learning", held in October 2006 in Castelldefels are now accessible in electronic format for EDEN members. If you would like to receive information about how to access the papers, please send a message from your email address as it is registered on the eden-members mailing list, with the subject: 'Proceedings download request' to the EDEN Secretariat addressed to: cser@eden-online.org

6. Upon the invitation of the Chais Research Center for the Integration of Technology in Education, EDEN and the Open University of Israel are jointly launching the 2nd annual research conference of the University. The biggest research conference of educational technologies held in Israel will provide opportunity for selected researchers whose studies will be presented in the conference, to seek for initiating research collaboration ventures with EDEN members. Please, consult the announcement to see the details and links to research projects for which collaboration is offered.

7. EDEN institutional member EADL - European Association for Distance Learning has announced its Annual Conference to take place in Dublin, 23-25 May. The main theme is "Distance Learning in the Digital Age" and the event will address issues on new internet trends in Distance Learning, in Mobile learning, Internet marketing and advertising, and in on-line communications.

8. We are glad to inform that a number of new articles have been released in the European Journal of Open and Distance Learning (EURODL) . The titles include:
Christopher Murray, Andrew Smith: "From application to graduation and beyond: Exploring user engagement with e-portfolios and the e-advantage"
Henry Johnson: "Dialogue and the Construction of Knowledge in E-Learning: Exploring Students' Perceptions of Their Learning While Using Blackboard's Asynchronous Discussion Board"
Namsook Jahng, Don Krug, Zuochen Zhang: "Student Achievement in Online Distance Education Compared to Face-to-Face Education"

9. We would like to draw your attention that European Commission's portal elearningeuropa.info has launched a new digital publication on e-learning, entitled "eLearning Papers". An executive summary of each article is available in 19 languages. Along with the articles, you will find information about the authors and related information sources and participation tools on elearningeuropa.info eLearning Papers will be published five times a year.

10. Open Educational Practices and Resources - OLCOS Roadmap 2012
The report is based on the OLCOS project's research work, expert workshops and other consultations with many international projects that promote the creation, sharing and re-use of Open Educational Resources (OER). The road mapping work was conducted to provide decision makers with an overview of current and likely future developments in OER and recommendations on how various challenges in OER could be addressed. The report covers the following areas:
- Policies, institutional frameworks and business models;
- Open Access and open content repositories;
- Laboratories of open educational practices and resources.
For each of these areas, drivers/enablers and inhibitors of OER and open educational practices are identified and described in detail. The results are summarised in Roadmap Briefs, which may be used as starting points for discussing initiatives in OER and open educational practices on a strategic level. Based on the road mapping results the report also provides a set of recommendations for decision makers and stakeholders. The " target="_blank">OLCOS project welcomes comments on the report as well as the opportunity to establish cooperation with other ongoing projects and new initiatives in OER and open educational practices.

11. We have the pleasure to invite you to the final seminar of the MASSIVE project (Modelling Advice and Support Services to Integrate the Virtual component in Higher Education), an EU funded project under the eLearning initiative. The MASSIVE project has designed a non commercial model of mutual support services for European traditional universities to compare and improve the integration of ICT into their teaching and learning. The main service is based on a peer review approach incorporating a benchmarking methodology developed in the project. During its final seminar, the partners wish to share with the audience the experiences and outcomes of the project as well as to open a discussion on the broader context of quality and accreditation in European Higher Education. To learn more on the project and the final seminar, please visit: http://www.massive-project.org/ .