EDEN 2018 Annual Conference: #EDEN2018
17-20 June 2018, Genova, Italy

Exploring the Micro, Meso and Macro:
Navigating between dimensions in the digital learning landscape

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS OPEN

CALL | SCOPE | THEMES | SUBMISSION | REGISTRATION | VENUE

Towards the end of the calendar year, with the peaceful winter holidays approaching, we hope you will find time and inspiration to consider how you could add value to the content offerings of the EDEN 2018 Annual Conference.

Conference Vision

Pressure is on all players of the online education community to keep up with new learning solutions, and better supply the skills currently demanded by growing economies. Digital credentials and open badges are the new currencies which are beginning to transform the economic models in education. Social and economic tensions continue to raise the issues of scalability, the micro-credentialling of education, training and skill development processes.

Micro, meso and macro aspects provide an interesting range of lenses for considering the problem. Navigating these dimensions are the reshaping of digital pedagogy and online instructional design; and social elements including digital societal mechanisms and the position of the individual in our new era. Read more…

Call for contributions

We need renowned reflections of practice that support paradigm-changing transformations based on systematic knowledge.

Join the Conference in Genova to tell
about your research, projects and experience!

Networking and interactivity, sharing and discussion will be core aspects of the conference experience, focusing on what you can learn from and with your peers.

Submissions, taking into account the Conference Scope and related to the Conference Themes are welcome in paper, poster, workshop, training, demonstration and Synergy formats.

Submission deadline for contributions: 5 February 2018

The tradition of awarding the EDEN Best Research Paper will be continued. The selection process takes place in collaboration with the Ulrich Bernath Foundation for Research in Open and Distance Learning.

For more details on the conference, please visit the conference website.

Hosted by the University of Genova

In co-operation with ITD-CNR

Wrapping up 2017 in EDEN

"September came with a promise of an Autumn rush for EDEN, but none of us could anticipate the richness of blended virtual and physical events that EDEN community enjoyed through the semester." Read the latest post on the Presidency Blog.

Call for hosting the EDEN 2019 Annual Conference

EDEN invites Expression of Interest from its institutional members to host the Annual European Conference of open, distance and ICT enhanced education, Learning innovation to be organised by EDEN in co-operation with the host institution in June 2019.

The EDEN conferences since 1992 have been major academic and professional ODL events in Europe, supporting professionalisation and international exchange of experience.

The host institution is expected to demonstrate strong professional background, national and international position and activities in the field, able to provide logistic, promotion and organisation background for the event.

Express of Interest documents should be sent to EDEN Secretary General Dr. Andras Szucs by email. Further consultations about details and criteria will be initiated and tender-based decision about the 2019 conference venue taken before June 2018.

Digital Skills Gap Peer Learning Activity in Zagreb

The EU Education and Training 2020 Working Group on Digital Skills and Competences organised on 7-8 December 2017 a very productive Digital Skills Gap PLA (Peer Learning Activity) hosted by the E-Learning Center of the University of Zagreb (SRCE) in Croatia.

EDEN had a strong presence and was well-positioned at the PLA with presentations from Mark Brown - a keynote on supporting educators for innovative, open, and digital education, Lisa Marie Blaschke - OER strategies of EDEN institutional members, Sandra Kucina Softic - Role of Open Badges in open non-formal learning, and Wim Van Petegem - summary of the Peer Learning Activity. Read more...

#EDENChat: What are Open Degrees & Open Badges?

Join our Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP) members in discussing current issues and questions in distance, open and e-learning. The last #EDENChat of the year will take place on 20 December at 20:00 CET, where Open Degrees and Open Badges will be the topic.

In case you missed the last #EDENChat on the Open Licenses moderated by Cable Green, you can now read the archived discussion on EDEN’s Storify page.

EDEN NAP webinar – recording available

The recording of the "New Global Challenges for Quality Development in Open Online Learning" webinar is now available.

The webinar took place on 7 December, 2017, with the EDEN Executive Members Josep M. Duart moderating, Ebba Ossiannilson giving a short presentation on the EDEN Special Interest Group, Technology-Enabled Learning. Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Germany gave a presentation on Global Quality Challenges for Quality in Open Online Learning.

The EDEN interviews: Rosie Jones

Watch the latest video: The future of libraries in the digital age - Rosie Jones interviewed by Steve Wheeler at the 2017 EDEN Annual Conference in Jönköping #eden17.

Winter holidays at the EDEN office

We inform you that between 20 December and 7 January, the EDEN Secretariat will be partly attended. We wish all of you a peaceful holiday season and a successful new year!

European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators published

European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) has just been published to guide educators at all levels of education with a model that would allow them to assess and develop their digital competences in teaching.

Blockchain in Education

This report introduces the fundamental principles of the Blockchain focusing on its potential for the education sector. It explains how this technology may both disrupt institutional norms and empower learners, and proposes eight scenarios for the application of the Blockchain in an education context, based on the current state of technology development and deployment.

European Economic and Social Committee Opinion on digital skills and new forms of work

"Digitalisation will change our working life dramatically. We have to act now to ensure that the appropriate skills are available for the future", the EESC said in the opinion "Provision and development of skills, including digital skills, in the context of new forms of work: new policies and changing roles and responsibilities". Download the document here.

Differences between Regular and Distance Education in a Teacher’s Training Program

Giannakoudakis Zacharias, Giossos Yiannis

Webinars as Active Learning Arenas

Alastair Creelman, Hróbjartur Árnason, David Röthler

www.eurodl.org

EDEN’s Participation in European Projects 2017

EDEN has been active in several European projects during 2017 taking a leading role in cooperation with its partners to promote developments in open, online, flexible and distance learning and in innovation in education in general.

Take a tour on our website to see our projects and start the year with reading EDEN Projects' Highlights we are preparing for you in the January 2018 Newsflash.

We wish to all our project partners a peaceful holiday!

New President in EADTU

During the EADTU 2017 General Assembly, Alejandro Tiana Ferrer, Rector of UNED, Spain was elected for the next term as President of the Association. Airina Volungeviciene, EDEN President congratulated Professor Ferrer, emphasizing in her welcome message:

"EDEN has an active policy of co-operation and partnerships with fellow associations in the field. This has also been the case of EADTU with which we have had excellent relations on Presidential and Board levels in the past years and have been discussing a number of significant initiatives. I am confident that the good atmosphere and openness that characterised these discussions will allow us to reach more important results."

Build your online course with OERs

Join the next CO-LAB webinar on 18 January 2018 at 4pm CET and learn about experiences, design concepts and OERs used in developing online training for practitioners in the context of the CO-LAB project and the European Schoolnet Academy.

Research Trends in Mobile Learning in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Articles (2011-2015)

"The potential and use of mobile devices in higher education has been a key issue for educational research and practice since the widespread adoption of these devices. Due to the evolving nature and affordances of mobile technologies, it is an area that requires ongoing investigation. This study aims to identify emerging trends in mobile learning research in higher education in order to provide insights for researchers and educators around research topics and issues for further exploration." Read the article by Greig Krull and Josep M. Duart.

Evaluation of the UNED MOOCs Implementation: Demographics, Learners' Opinions and Completion Rates

"The paper is a study about the MOOC experience at the Spanish National University of Distance Education (UNED), where we have collected initial and final information about learners' profiles and opinions, as well as enrolment, completion and certification rates." An article by Inés Gil-Jaurena, Javier Callejo, and Yolanda Agudo.

Consciousness

"Consciousness seems to be mysterious to most people. How does subjective experience arise? What is the relation between the perception of redness, say, or the thought that "Paris is the capital of France," and the purely physical mechanisms that philosopher Daniel Dennett believes - and I believe - constitute human processes of thought?" An interesting article by Stephen Downes.

OEB Global 2017: Government Adviser Says Stop Investing in Systems that Don’t Work

A senior adviser to Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and to the Finnish Government claimed at the OEB Conference Berlin that education ministers in England, Australia and the United States are continuing to invest in unsuccessful education systems, in spite of clear evidence that they are not working. Read more...

How can universities remain international post-Brexit?

Welcome, diversify and promote- three suggestions to the UK university sector to make sure the country continues to attract the best international students. An article by Miranda Thomas.

These Technologies Will Shape The Future, According To One Of Silicon Valley’s Top VC Firms

Andreessen Horowitz analyst Benedict Evans explains how AI, mixed-reality, cryptocurrencies, and autonomy will play out over the next 10 years. Read more...