EDEN Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP)

EDEN Newsflash - April 2008

1. Welcoming EDEN's 200th Institutional Member

EDEN is most delighted to announce that with the recent joining of the Folkuniversitetet, Sweden, the number of institutional members in the Association has reached 200.

The ongoing development of the EDEN membership is showing the collaboration and confidence of the professional community. EDEN is committed to continue serving the European professional development and networking. With the developing and diversifying activities, the European Distance and E-Learning Network has attracted wide circle of organisations. You can check them at the "Welcoming New Members" link on the EDEN web.

We are also proud to welcome the following new institutions having joined since February:

* University of Saskatchewan, Canada
* University College Falmouth, United Kingdom
* The Plumbing Institute, United Kingdom

2. 2008 Annual Conference, Lisbon

The three plenary sessions will approach the conference themes from different perspectives.

In the first day, the theme will be be "Learning Cultures and Learning Innovation in Europe". The strategy context of the developing "learning continuum" in the information society will be addressed by high level policy and academic speakers.

The second plenary on 13 June will address the main conference theme: "How do we learn - Where do we learn?" Keynotes will highlight the emergence of new learning strategies with the new learning tools, from the angle of ICT and cultural anthropology, workplace learning, and the cultural aspects of online communication processes.

The third plenary session theme on 14 June will be "Intercultural Learning in Global Perspective". Speakers will be senior leaders from the the US Distance Learning Association, UNESCO, from the French National Distance Education Center (CNED) and Universal Learning Systems (Ireland).

Keynote addresses will be presented by leading academic and research professionals, high ranking officials from the European Commission, Government and international organisations, and experts from the corporate sector.

The Conference Dinner will be organised on 13 June, Lisbon's celebratory day of St. Antonio, as well as the date when Universidade Aberta will be 20 years old.

EDEN is pleased to commemorate these two decades of existence with the University.On this truly festive occasion, the magnificent Estufa Real Restaurant will offer a rich, typical dinner with Portuguese dishes and Fado music in the heart of the 18th century Ajuda Botanical Gardens, overlooking the Tagus river.

For other details about the Conference and for registration, please visit the website.

3. EDEN - EADTU

In January 2007 in Brussels, at the joint meeting of the EDEN Executive Committee and EADTU Board (European Association of Distance Teaching Universities), it was decided that such meetings would be organised annually. On 15 April 2008 in Milton Keynes at the UK Open University, EDEN President Alan Tait, Vice-President Martine Vidal and Secretary General András Szucs met EADTU President David Vincent, Secretary General Piet Henderikx and Managing Director George Ubachs.

The changes in the distance learning - e-learning - open learning field and their impact for professional associations was on the agenda, recognising the differences between the strategies, approaches and services of EDEN and EADTU. The continuity of the concept of EDEN conferences and potential collaboration in the project work was also discussed. EDEN has emphasized the increasing role of the Network of Academics and Professionals and the election of the new NAP Steering Committee. The role of EDEN and EADTU in the European policy and professional scene and the participation in the new Learnovation initiative was also debated. All partners appreciated the open and constructive atmosphere of the discussions.

4. New posts on the President's blog

Morten F. Paulsen, member of the EDEN Executive Committee, Director of Development at NKI Distance Education, Norway wrote an article titled "Crystal clear reflections on European e-learning trends", in which he summarises experiences made during two years' working with the Megatrends EU project. You are kindly invited to read this interesting resumé on the blog.

Two further contributions, from Alan Tait and Morten Paulsen, posted after the recent Executive Committee meeting held in London, can also soon be read on the blog.

5. Fifth Research Workshop, Paris - 20-22 October 2008

We would like to kindly remind that contributions are invited for the above event titled "Researching and promoting access to education and training: the role of distance education and e-learning in technology-enhanced environments". The event intends to put special emphasis on the "rights" and "access" to education, in the jubilee year of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights.

To read details about the workshop and how to submit proposal, please visit the conference pages.

6. Extension of the assignment of EDEN's Secretary General

At their meeting of 14 April, the EDEN Executive Committee, following the proposal of the President, Alan Tait, approved the extension of the Secretary General, Dr. Andras Szucs for another three year term, until 2011. Whilst discussing the agenda item, members of the Committee expressed their view that the committed work of Dr. Szucs and his personal qualities have highly contributed to the stable position and continuous development of the Association.

7. Annual General Meeting 2008 in Lisbon

Please, be kindly informed and mark in your diary that the EDEN Annual General Meeting will take place on 14 June, Saturday at 15.30, following the Lisbon Annual Conference. The formal invitation and supporting documents will be posted to all members in due time.

8. Hextlearn - Higher Education exploring ICT use for Lifelong Learning

Quality, Higher Education and ICT. These are the keywords for a new European Union co-funded project started in this year in Budapest, Hungary. The representatives of eleven institutions from all over the continent and beyond held their new project’s kick-off meeting on 14-15 January 2008. The three year long initiative is promoting quality in the strategic use of ICT in European Higher Education. The The partners plan to map the use of ICT by carrying out an extensive research of good practices, analysing the straightness of the different approaches in ICT/eLearning processes in implementing lifelong learning strategy in the educational institutions. Would you be interested in joining or more information on this initiative, please, contact Eva Szalma.

9. Conference on Open and Distance Learning in Dijon

The Seventh Conference of EDEN member fffOD - Forum Francais pour la formation Ouverte et a Distance was held on 2-4 April in Dijon, France with the theme: "Formation Ouverte et a Distance: la nouvelle donne" (Open and Distance Distance Learning: The New Deal).

Martine Vidal, EDEN Vice-President moderated at the conference the round table discussion about "International perspectives and visions" where Andras Szucs presented the theme "E-learning beyond slogans and catchwords".

10. EDEN 2009 Annual Conference - for your diary

We are pleased to announce that EDEN 2009 Annual Conference will take place in Gdansk, Poland, 10-13 June. The event is organised in collaboration with the University of Gdansk, the Foundation for the Development of the University of Gdansk and Gdansk Convention Bureau.

11. A most interesting reading,

"Lifelong Learning for Creativity and Innovation", published under the Slovenian EU presidency.

12. Second LOGOS Open Workshop - Call for Papers

The workshop on "Cross-Media and Personalized Learning Applications with Intelligent Content, to take place on 3 September, Varna, Bulgaria, addresses research and development work boosting the involvement of intelligent characteristics in innovative eLearning applications to make them more flexible - adaptive, cooperative and learner-centred.

The workshop is embedded in the 13th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence: Methodology, Systems, Applications - AI@Work (AIMSA 2008) 04-06 September, Varna, Bulgaria which covers the full range of topics in Artificial Intelligence and related disciplines and provides an ideal forum for international scientific exchange. For detailed information on the themes and submission procedures, please visit the website. Papers should be submitted electronically in PDF format by sending them as email attachments to Danail Dochev by June 02, 2008.

13. Lisbon Forum on Quality and Innovation in Learning - 16-17 June

The first EFQUEL Forum on Quality and Innovation in Learning is organised on 16-17 June 2008 in Oeiras, Portugal in the facilities of INA. The main venue of the Forum is the Palace of the Marquises of Pombal surrounded by beautiful gardens. This unique venue provides an excellent environment for this Forum.

The main issue to be discussed in the Forum is "How quality of learning can be achieved with eLearning". Themes, among others, will include: "Quality as a requirement in the internationalisation of education", "Quality of learning in informal contexts", "Challenges of Web 2.0 to the quality of learning", etc.

The key speakers and facilitators will be: Ms. Nancy White, Dr. Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Dr. Claudio Dondi, Dr. Walter Kugemann, Prof. Roberto Carneiro, Dr. Carl Holmberg, Ms. Kirsti Ala-Mutka as well as representatives of European Commission and OECD.

14. Symposium on "Inter-generational Learning in Europe"

The symposium, the final major dissemination and valorisation event of the SOCRATES Grundtvig Project "ADD LIFE: ADDing quality to LIFE through inter-generational learning via universities" (2006-2008) is organised, in partnership with EUCEN, on 30-31 May at the University of Graz. The event will addres the above theme with focus on Partnerships, Policies and Good Practice.