The 80th Anniversary of ICDE

Message of Airina Volungeviciene, EDEN President to Belinda Tynan, The President of ICDE and Morten Flate Paulsen, the Acting Secretary General

The 80th Anniversary of ICDE

On this great occasion, EDEN would like to convey warmest congratulations to the leaders and all colleagues of International Council for Open and Distance Education on behalf of the European academic and professional community of learning innovation in open, distance and e-learning.

ICDE and EDEN relations for the development of open distance and e-learning have always been substantial. The progress, both in the information technology and in the professional - academic fields has been particularly intensive in these years. Open, distance and e-learning have entered into a new phase, becoming the mainstream. No doubt, ICDE role will become more and more significant and recognised as asset for the successful operation and collaboration of higher education institutions.

On behalf of EDEN community, allow me to wish you the continuation of success promoting and supporting global developments in open and distance education. EDEN is looking forward to the fruitful co-operation with ICDE community.

Airina Volungeviciene
EDEN President

Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University launches Smart Advising System based on technological innovation and artificial intelligence

As part of its pioneering efforts to adopt technological innovation and promote creative thinking for smart learning and the knowledge industry, EDEN member Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) celebrated the launch of the Smart Advising System for its learners starting fall of 2018, reinforcing its position as the first university in the Arab World to adopt a new smart and innovating learning system that represents a key step in the path of smart learning.

ODLAA 2019 Conference - Call for Abstracts

The next ODLAA Conference will be held on 3-5 February 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. The theme of the conference is Open Thinking, reflecting on the growing area of interest, research and practice in recent years that has centred on the concept of ‘openness’. For more information visit the Conference website.

Official Opening of University of Oldenburg’s Center for Open Education Research (COER)

The official opening of the University of Oldenburg’s Center for Open Education Research (COER), which will be held on 1-2 October 2018.
COER is an international research consortium that was established in 2018 in order to increase international collaborative research projects, furthering innovation and understanding in the areas of open education, educational technology, lifelong learning, and international education.
COER will offer a fully online Master of Technology-Enhanced Learning (MTEL) program, which addresses a market need for leadership and management in realizing digital transformation within educational institutions.
More information about COER can be found here.

Swedish National Association for Distance Education Autumn Conference 2018

The Autumn Conference 2018 of the Swedish National Association for Distance Education will be held on 19 October in Stockholm, Sweden. Details of the Conference are available here in Swedish.

Press Invitation: 4th EUA Funding Forum addressing the efficiency challenge
18 - 19 October 2018, Barcelona, Spain

The European University Association (EUA) is pleased to invite you to its 4th Funding Forum, “Frameworks that empower, universities that deliver.” The event will be hosted by Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Spain from 18 to 19 October 2018. This year’s Funding Forum will focus on the capacity of universities to deliver on their missions in an efficient way.
For more information and registration contact: jessica.carter@eua.eu.

New Distance Education Books from AU Press

Two recently published books, part of the Issues in Distance Education series: "Assessment Strategies for Online Learning: Engagement and Authenticity" and "An Online Doctorate for Researching Professionals: Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation" are available to download in PDF format from AU Press's website.

EU Parliament releases three new studies 'Towards the Next Programme Generation'

Two studies requested by the European Parliament's CULT Committee were published on Erasmus+ and Creative Europe. Erasmus+: Towards a New Programme Generation is a complement to the European Commission mid-term evaluation of Erasmus+. The second study, Creative Europe: Towards the Next Programme Generation provides recommendations for a more ambitious future programme, reflecting the richness of European cultural diversity. The third study concerns the Europe for Citizens programme and suggests synergies with the others.

PARTNER SEARCH

A Lex Expert Ltd. is a Budapest-based company which is specialised in developing IT supported interpreting services. Our new R&D project focuses on Computer Assisted Interpreting Systems. In framework of the project, we are looking for partners to carry out scientific research and development work and testing at international level.Phase 2 of H2020 will aim to develop a prototype, in consortium with the R&D partners.
Interested partners: please visit http://alexexpert.hu/cassis/index.html for details and contact Alex kata@alexexpert.hu; alex@alexexpert.hu

Mapping the open education landscape: citation network analysis of historical open and distance education research

The term open education has recently been used to refer to topics such as Open Educational Resources (OERs) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). In this article the antecedents of the modern open educational movement are examined, as the basis for connecting the various strands of research.

Barriers to using E-Learning in an Advanced Way

"E-Learning has become a common way to teach and learn. The number of technologies for a variety of educational purposes is already quite high and constantly rising. Scientific experiments and studies increasingly confirm the usefulness of various technologies for teaching purposes. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of formal training and support of digital skills within faculty training." An article by Annika Jokiaho, Birgit May, Marcus Specht, Slavi Stoyanov.

Big Data vs Small Data

"We are becoming accustomed to big data and analytics. Analytic and statistical models have been developed to predict students’ interest levels, travel and mobility ranges, likelihood for successfully passing courses, financial need levels, and likelihood of persisting to graduation. Big data has become big business." Read the article published on teachonline.ca.

Effective Teacher Policies- Insights from PISA

"Teachers are the most important resource in today’s schools. In every country, teachers’ salaries and training represent the greatest share of expenditure in education. And this investment in teachers can have significant returns: research shows that being taught by the best teachers can make a real difference in the learning and life outcomes of otherwise similar students. Teachers, in other words, are not interchangeable workers in some sort of industrial assembly line; individual teachers can change lives – and better teachers are crucial to improving the education that schools provide." Read the article published by OECD.

CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS: Sustainable Development in Higher Education

Tentative Volume Titles (topic areas):

• Integrating sustainable development into the curriculum
• Sustainable development leadership and strategies
• University partnerships for sustainable development

These volume(s) will be part of the book series entitled, Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning - series editor, Patrick Blessinger and published by Emerald Group Publishing. Learn more about the Call here.