EDEN Annual Conference 2019
16-19 June 2019, Bruges, Belgium

Connecting Through Educational Technology
In search for contemporary learning environments

Conference resources

The 2019 EDEN Annual Conference – #eden19 was again a huge success, rich in content and discussions, which also raised attention on social media channels. We collected some of the most popular resources here:

- Re-watch the plenary sessions:

• Plenary session livestream – Monday morning – Joris Hindryckx, Airina Volungeviciene, Sandra Kucina Softic, Bert Wylin, Steve Wheeler
• Plenary session livestream – Monday afternoon – Delphine Wante, Nell Watson
• Plenary session livestream – Tuesday – Josep M. Duart, Jan Elen, Yves Punie, Angeliki Dedopoulou
• Plenary session livestream – Wednesday – Lisa Marie Blaschke, Rebecca Galley, Gerald Evans, Ilkka Tuomi, Wim van Petegem, Antonio Teixeira, Joris Hindryckx, Sandra Kucina Softic

- 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, with the support of a distinguished Jury. Read more and see previous winners here.

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

Tharindu Liyanagunawardena, University College of Estate Management, United Kingdom

for the conference paper on "Automatic Transcription Software: Good Enough for Accessibility? A Case Study from Built Environment Education"

Award for the Young Scholars' Best Paper

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 Award for the Young Scholars' Best Paper was given in 2019, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

Louise Maddens, KU Leuven, KU Leuven Campus Kulak Kortrijk, Belgium

for the conference paper on "The Instructional Design of an Online Learning Environment (RISSC) for Upper Secondary SchoolStudents’ Research Skills"

EDEN Fellow and Senior Fellow Awards

The EDEN Fellow scheme provides recognition to professionals in Europe in the field of open, distance and e-learning through a respected scheme of recognition.

The EDEN Senior Fellow Awards were given in 2019, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

• Andras Benedek (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary)
• Montse Guitert Catasus (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain)

The EDEN Fellow Awards were given in 2019, based on the decision of the EDEN Executive Committee to:

• Maxim Jean-Louis (Contact North, Canada)
• Paul Prinsloo (University of South Africa, South Africa)
• Ildiko Mazar (Knowledge Innovation Centre, Malta)
• Ines Gil-Jaurena (National Distance Education University, UNED, Spain)
• Margarita Tereseviciene (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania)

Ingeborg Bo Award

The EDEN Executive Committee introduced a new award this year, in honour of Ingeborg Bo, to recognise leadership and outstanding long term contributions to building the EDEN Community, which was awarded to retiring EDEN President Airina Volungeviciene.

Sandra Kucina Softic elected as new EDEN President

It's our great pleasure to announce, that the EDEN Annual General Meeting elected former Vice-President, Sandra Kucina Softic, University of Zagreb, University Computing Centre SRCE, Croatia as new President of the Association.

Sandra Kucina Softic is a member of the European Education and Training Expert Panel, a representative in the ET2020 WG Digital Education: Learning, Teaching and Assessment and a representative in the ET2020 Working group on Digital Skills and Technologies of the European Commission. Find out more on Sandra's background and activities on the Executive Committee page.

We thank the hard work and commitment of our retiring President, Airina Volungeviciene!

New Member of the EDEN Executive Committee

We are happy to announce that Alfredo Soeiro (University of Porto, Portugal) has been elected by the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Bruges to serve as new members of the Executive Committee of EDEN from June 2019.

#EDENChat archived discussions available

In case you missed the last #EDENChat on "Road to Bruges" or "Connecting through educational technology – Summing up the Annual Conference" you can now read the archived discussions here.

New post on the EDEN President's Blog

Read the new post on the EDEN President's Blog from EDEN President Airina Volungeviciene: "Collaborative leadership creates the possibilities to learn to see the whole picture"

EDEN NAP webinar recording available: Possible use of a portfolio as European Development

The “Possible use of a portfolio as European Development”webinar took place on Wednesday, 5 June 2019 at 15:30 CEST with Alfredo Soeiro, Deputy Chair of the NAP Steering Committee, from the University of Porto, Portugal. Read more and watch the recording here.

OEPass project’s Learning Passport draft finalised

As part of the OEPass project, the draft version of the Learning Passport has been finalised. Everyone is welcome to experiment with the Learning Passport and determine its usefulness by filling in the form. The OEPass partnership welcomes feedback on how well the Learning Passport facilitates the recognition and transferability of non-traditional learning experiences. Read more...

www.oepass.eu

Digital Education Hackathon

As part of the Digital Education Action Plan of the European Commission, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) organises a 24-hour Digital Education Hackathon (DigiEduHack) on 3 October 2019. The initiative, led by EIT Climate KIC and coordinated by Aalto University, will focus on the future of education in a digital age and it will bring together teams of educational stakeholders and innovators in a series of events running simultaneously in Europe and beyond. Read more about the initiative here.

Call for admission to Ph.D. programme, 35th cycle

Roma Tre University has launched the Call for admission to the 35th cycle of the Ph.D. programme. One scholarship is reserved for foreign students. Applications will expire on 24 July, 2019 (2PM CET).

Re-elected President and Vice-President of EURASHE

EURASHE President Stéphane Lauwick and Vice-President Prof. Ulf-Daniel Ehlers EDEN Board Member and Fellow were re-elected as President and Vice-President for the next 2 years mandate at EURASHE Board during the General Assembly meeting which took place on 15 May, 2019 in Budapest. Read more...

Practical Guidelines on Open Education for Academics: modernising higher education via open educational practices

"These guidelines are for the academic staff of higher education institutions, with the goal of helping them move towards the use of open educational practices (OEP) in order to widen participation in education. The guidelines are meant to provide an understanding of each of the ten dimensions of open education based on the OpenEdu Framework (JRC, 2016), and to show how academics can start using OEP to prompt inclusion and innovation as important values, starting from their day-to-day activities such as teaching, knowledge creation and research." A publication by Andreia Inamorato dos Santos.

Ambitious Modi plan to restructure HE and boost research

India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development unveiled a draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019. The ambitious plan lays out a wide-ranging restructuring of higher education in the country and aims to promote a research culture in higher education with the creation of a new National Research Foundation. Read the article by Shuriah Niazi and Yojana Sharma.

A new Magna Charta Universitatum: MCU 2020

Having served universities well for 30 years the MCO Council has decided that a new Magna Charta Universitatum is needed. A draft has just been released for wide consultation which can be found here along with a background note. The Council would value your comments so that the new edition can also serve universities well and for as long. The consultation period closes on 2 August.

How can we address the needs of digital learners?

"The blossoming EdTech sector has begun to overwhelm higher education with innovative educational tools that can spice up the learner experience inside the classroom and beyond. Established delivery models are consequently being disrupted to the point where ‘teachers’ become ‘facilitators’ of learning with a much-reduced role as skill trainers and content providers." Read the article by Ulrich Hommel and Sophie Zuchowicz.