The 2018 EDEN Annual Conference – #eden18 was again a highly successful event, gathering over 320 delegates at the University of Genova. It was rich in content and debates, also reflected in the social media.

Conference resources

You can attend the most popular resources here:

• Re-watch the plenary sessions:

Plenary session livestream – Monday – Airina Volungeviciene, Georgi Dimitrov, Fabrizio Cardinali, Claudio Dondi

Plenary session livestream – Tuesday – Antonella Poce, Alan Tait, Teemu Leinonen, Anthony Camilleri, Joe Wilson

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– Wim Van Petegem, Sarah Guri-Rosenblit, Tom Wambeke, Claudio Dondi, Airina Volungeviciene, Sylke Vandercruysse

• 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 is available online.

Conference awards and recognition

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.

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

• Paul Prinsloo, University of South Africa, South Africa,
• Sharon Slade, The Open University, United Kingdom,
• Mohammad Khalil, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

for the conference paper on: "Stuck in the Middle? Making Sense of the Impact of Micro, Meso and Macro Institutional, Structural and Organisational Factors on Implementing Learning Analytics"

Young Scholars Award

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 Young Scholar Award was given in 2018, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

• Mengjie Jiang, University of Leicester, United Kingdom for her conference paper co-authored with Palitha Edirisingha, titled: "Boundary Crossing: International Students’ Negotiating Higher Education Learning with Digital Tools and Resources"
• Maria Rosaria Re, Roma Tre University, Italy for her contributions to the conference by the paper co-authored with Antonella Poce, titled: "MuseTech: A Web App to Enhance 21st Century Skills through Heritage Education" and partnership in the workshop titled "Road To Barcelona: Developing Joint International Researches Presenting Results at the 10th Eden RW", further the Synergy submission „Opening Education for Developing, Assessing and Recognising Virtual Mobility Skills in Higher Education”

EDEN Fellow and Senior Fellow Awards

The purpose of the EDEN Fellow scheme is to provide validation and support to professionals in Europe in the field of open, distance and e-learning, and to enhance their mobility within Europe through a respected scheme of recognition.

The EDEN Senior Fellow Awards were given in 2018, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

• Fabio Nascimbeni (Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Spain)
• Lisa Marie Blaschke (Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany)
• Alfredo Soeiro (University of Porto, Portugal)
• Don Olcott Jr. (Global ODL Consultant, Romania)

The EDEN Fellow Awards were given in 2018, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

• Svetlana Knyazeva (UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, Russian Federation)
• Josep M Duart (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya – UOC, Spain)
• Mark Nichols (The Open University, United Kingdom)
• Francesco Agrusti (Universita Degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy)

#EDENRW10
24-26 October 2018, Barcelona

Towards Personalized Guidance and Support for Learning

Home | Keynotes | Call | PhD Symposium | Submission | Venue

Building on its success of the research workshops, EDEN is pleased to announce its Tenth Research Workshop organised in collaboration with the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Barcelona, Spain.

Invitation

EDEN’s 2018 Workshop “Personalized Guidance and Support for Learning” focuses on the crucial and changing roles of teachers in supporting student learning in the digital world. This includes the creation of enabling conditions that encourage learning personalization, learner agency and self-direction.

EDENRW10 will be held in Barcelona on 24-26 October 2018. The Workshop Themes revolve around the topics of personalized learning, teachers' and learners' roles, open education, adaptive teaching, formative assessment and teacher-learner dialogue.

Call for Contributions

EDEN will bring established scholars and researchers of ODL together with early researchers in the field. The workshop will create an open stage for further extending discussions on DE, delegates to engage with experts and actively explore the topics of Personalized Guidance and Support for Learning. Take part and discover the Workshop Themes by submitting your proposals!

The Call will remain open during the summer, due to numerous requests from scholars with different holiday schedules, until 15 September.

Keynote speakers

- Neil Selwyn

Neil Selwyn is a professor in the Faculty of Education, Monash University. His research and teaching focuses on the place of digital media in everyday life, and the sociology of technology (non)use in educational settings.

- Sanna Järvelä

Sanna Järvelä, PhD, is a professor in the field of learning and educational technology and a head of the Learning and Educational Technology Research Unit (LET) in the Department of Educational Sciences, University of Oulu. Her main research interest deal with learning processes in technology-enhanced learning, self-regulated learning and computer supported collaborative learning.

The Ulrich Bernath Foundation for Research in Open and Distance Learning will support FIVE young scholars or teams of young scholars with a grant of 600 Euros for successfully submitting a conference paper to be presented at the EDEN Research Workshop in Barcelona in October 2018.

Conference Venue

The conference venue is the Cosmocaixa Museum, a great example of modernist architecture, built 1904 -1909 which offers its visitors fantastic insight into the world of science. The building is just a few steps walk from the UOC main building, where the Welcome Party will be held.

In collaboration with

New Members of the EDEN Executive Committee

We are happy to announce that Elena Caldirola (University of Pavia, Italy), Ulf-Daniel Ehlers (Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Karlsruhe, Germany) and Timothy Read (UNED, Spain) have been elected by the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Genova to serve as new members of the Executive Committee of EDEN from June 2016.

We thank the hard work and commitment of the EDEN Executive Committee retiring members: Lisa Marie Blaschke, Wim Van Petegem and Fabio Nascimbeni!

Morten Flate Paulsen, former EDEN President is appointed as Secretary General for The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)

Helmut Hoyer, Chair of the ICDE Board of Trustees, is pleased to inform that he will take office from July 1. Paulsen is a professor of online education and former president of EDEN – the European Distance and E-Learning Network. He is a Norwegian citizen and has followed the organization since he took part in his first ICDE conference in 1988.

You can read more about the new Secretary General in ICDE’s blog interview “Looking forward with three decades of online education experiences: An Interview with Morten Flate Paulsen” here.

Micro thinking on human values for macro actions

"After an intensive and rich Spring semester, which started with a discussion on the new, but very significant and forward looking EU Education policy, the European Commission adopted the initiative of the Digital Action plan.

This was followed by the preparation of EDEN actions and contribution suggestions towards its implementation – such as the Paris Peer Learning Activities, the Sofia Plenary meetings, several research activities, EDEN representing Europe in global Open Education Week with hundreds of followers online, the Bulgarian Presidency Conference in April, and several more events with participation of EDEN board and Presidency.

With the EDEN Genova Conference, AGM and EDEN Fellows’ meeting, the reflection on the Spring events helps to recall EDEN strengths and potentials that contribute to the implementation of the Digital Action plan in Europe, as well as to the preparation for the meeting with the think- tank of EDEN, the EDEN Seniors and newcomers in Genova, personalising and customising the agenda to meet the EDEN community expectations.

But what are the worries and concerns of the EDEN professional community?"

Read the full post on the Presidency Blog.

#EDENChat archived discussions available

“Road to Barcelona: Developing Joint International Researches Presenting Results at the 10th EDEN Research Workshop” took place on 27 June 2018 and was hosted by Maria Rosaria Re, from Roma TRE University and winner of the Young Scholar Award at the 2018 EDEN Annual Conference. Read the discussion here.

The previous #EDENChat “Looking forward to EDEN Annual Conference in Genova – hints from the Programme” was held on 13 June by Antonella Poce, professor at Roma TRE University and Chair of EDEN’s NAP Steering Committee. Read the discussion here.

#EDENChat will return in September, to see the schedule, visit EDEN’s website.

Building a stronger Europe: new initiatives to further boost role of youth, education and culture policies

The Commission is advancing work to build a European Education Area by 2025, reinforce the cultural dimension of the European Union and bolster youth participation, with a new set of measures, including a new Youth Strategy and a new Agenda for Culture. The Commission presented a package including an overarching Communication on 'Building a Stronger Europe, a Youth Strategy for the period 2019–2027, proposals for Council Recommendations on High Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Systems and a New Agenda for Culture. Read more...

EU budget: Commission proposes to double funding for Erasmus programme

For the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the European Commission is proposing to double funding for Erasmus to €30 billion. The Erasmus programme already enables millions of young Europeans to study, train or learn abroad while broadening their experience and awareness of Europe, and increasing their future chances on the job market. With doubled funding, this programme will be even more effective in supporting key political objectives such as building a European Education Area by 2025, empowering young people and promoting a European identity through youth, education and culture policies. Read more about the proposal and the budget.

#CedefopPhotoAward 2018 for learners in vocational education and training

Vocational education and training (VET) learners in the European Union, Norway and Iceland are invited to take part in #CedefopPhotoAward 2018. The award is an initiative endorsed by the European Commission, aiming to showcase VET excellence. Teams of up to four learners in vocational education and training are invited to produce an original photo story, which demonstrates their VET experience, along with a narrative of up to 100 words explaining the idea behind their work. For a detailed overview of the competition rules and the application form, visit the #CedefopPhotoAward 2018webpage.