quality
Poland's best learning mobility projects awarded in Sopot
"Mobility from Childhood to Seniority" was the theme of the EDUinspiration Awards, which was organised by the Polish National Agency for the Lifelong Learning Programme. In the category "institutional mobility" the first prize went to "Giving Heart to European Senior Citizens", a Leonardo da Vinci project from Nowy Sącz which partly focused on home-care for elderly people. In the category "individual mobility" the first prize was given to "Creating E-learning Courses – Hands-on Tools and Practical Tips" which allowed Beata from Poland to do a Comenius in-service training in Malta.
The aim of the competition was to highlight successful cross-border learning projects which received support from Comenius, Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci and Grundtvig. These programmes offer the opportunity to acquire new competencies, learn languages, exchange experience and good practices. The end result will be higher quality of education across Europe.
The laureates were selected among 134 eligible Polish projects carried out between 2008 and 2010. The jury awarded six EDUInspiration prizes evaluating candidates in terms of effectiveness of the project, efficiency, impact, sustainability of results. In addition, the experts decided to award 12 honourable distinctions for the projects which demonstrated innovative approach in dissemination of the achieved results.
The awards gala was held on 18 October 2011 during the Mobility Conference in Sopot, Poland. Each award winning project received a statuette and a diploma.
The winning projects are:
Institutional Mobility
1st Prize
Giving Heart to European Senior Citizens
Jadwiga Wolska Post-Secondary School for Medical and Social Workers in Nowy Sącz
Project coordinators: Agata Piwowar, Barbara Kafel
Leonardo da Vinci (vocational education and training) - Initial Vocational Training
2nd Prize
Amazing Europe
No.1 Integration School Compound in Łódź, No. 67 Janusz Korczak Integration Primary School in Łódź
Project coordinator: Julita Skulimowska-Wilk
Comenius (school education) - Multilateral School Partnerships
3rd Prize
Community Based Rehabilitation in Neurology - Training Programme
EU Sp. z o.o.
Project coordinator: Anna Czernuszenko
Leonardo da Vinci (vocational education and training) - Partnerships
Individual Mobility
1st Prize
Beata Stępień
Creating E-learning Courses – Hands-on Tools and Practical Tips
No 1 Primary School with Integration Forms in Racibórz
Comenius Programme (school education) - In-service Training
2nd Prize
Iwona Przemyk
ICT for Collaborative, Project-Based Teaching and Learning
School and Preschool Compound in Studzienice
Comenius (school education) - In-service Training
3rd Prize
Piotr Sikora
Triple T – Theory, Teaching, Technology: Teaching and Learning with ICT
Municipal Office in Tarnowiec
Transversal Programme – Study Visit
Here is a short story of each of the projects.
The power of education to transform lives - access, investment and development
The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) held its 24th biennial world conference in collaboration with The Open University (Universitas Terbuka), Indonesia from 2-5 October 2011. The conference, which looked at new approaches to learning, took place on the island of Bali and was attended by over 600 delegates representing 49 countries.
The importance of creative solutions for education
In opening the conference, the Minister of National Education of the Republic of Indonesia Muhammad Nuh praised Universitas Terbuka for its work in overcoming challenges in the provision of access to education: “We have to be creative – open and distance learning has to be used as widely as possible to narrow social gaps”.
A personal story about educational opportunity
Hal Plotkin, Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education drew on his own life story to highlight the opportunity that distance education can bring to underprivileged sections of society. On the verge of losing the family home, 17-year-old Plotkin left high school to work as a waiter until a newspaper article about school dropouts provoked him to write a reply, the beginning of a career as a writer and journalist. His formal education came through the US community college system which has no requirements for previous formal education: “Only 5% have real opportunities to enter higher education and among the other 95% could be geniuses capable of finding the cure for diabetes and solutions to the world’s economic challenges – open education is the only tool to unlock talent and capacity and to extend economic growth”.
Investments in access to education
Plotkin reported on massive investments in open education being made by the Obama administration in the United States through the federal Online Skills Laboratory, an initiative to build open resources for learning. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program (TAACCCT) will invest $2 billion over the next four years in initiatives including free to access materials.
Keynote speaker Duk Hoon Kwak of the Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), a public television network dedicated to lifelong public education noted similar investments planned in Korea for 2012-2015. All Korean students will be provided with digital textbooks by the end of this period.
Access challenges in developing countries
Onno W Purbo an IT evangelist from Indonesia spoke of how 6 million children enter school annually, but only 600,000 graduate from higher education. While learning materials are ever more freely available, the predominance of English language creates barriers, though Google translate is widely used. Students and teachers use USB memory drives to overcome the problems of slow internet connection, while kitchen utensils are used to extend the range of Wi-Fi hotspots.
From a Brazilian perspective, Stavros Xanthopoylos spoke of the challenges to creating and distributing free educational content when quality education is only available through private universities and colleges: “the value chain is based on profit and this goes against what they are about”.
Academic perspectives
Lawrence Lessig, lawyer, activist and founder of Creative Commons, an initiative to provide certificates for the licensing of scientific and educational materials spoke passionately about the injustices of commercial scientific publishing which restricts access to knowledge to the most privileged: “copyright is 18th century rules in a 21st century world”.
Respected academics working with open educational resources including Gráinne Conole from the University of Leicester, UK, and Rory McGreal from Athabasca University, Canada spoke on the role of technology in learning. McGreal advised colleagues to create educational materials for mobile devices first: “a third of the world’s population can only access the Internet from mobile devices”.
Conference website: www.ut.ac.id/icde2011
For information about the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE): www.icde.org/en/about
Contact: Gard Titlestad, Secretary General, ICDE, Mobile: +47 48 10 80 96, titlestad@icde.org
2011 WISE Awards: Six High-Impact Projects Now Selected
The Jury reviewed a pool of applicants from all regions of the world and all fields of education. The Winners were selected for their innovative approaches and positive impact upon societies and education, within the perennial theme of Transforming Education: Investment, Innovation and Inclusion.
Joining the ensemble of winning projects from 2009 and 2010, this year’s Winners once again highlight the growing significance of sharing knowledge through new information and communication technologies. Three of the WISE winning projects indeed provide wide access to materials and tools for teaching and learning through open source platforms. Dynamic inter-sectoral partnerships and innovative approaches to teaching through problem-solving and creative thinking are also well represented in the Jury’s choices.
WISE is delighted to welcome the first project from the MENA region to the Awards community of innovators, driven by the Al Jisr organization in Morocco. For the first time also, an initiative dedicated to children with disabilities is among the winning projects, highlighting the value of inclusiveness towards communities of learners with special needs.
Transformation of education occurs as educators and other stakeholders are able to share good ideas, effective practices and lessons learned. By joining the WISE Awards community, these winning projects can reach an even broader global audience. These Winners will be celebrated at the next WISE Summit to be held in Doha, Qatar on November 1-3, 2011.
Find out more about the Winners and their remarkable impact:
Project: Al Jisr School-Business Partnerships (Morocco)
Reach: Morocco
Project holder: Mhammed Abbad Andaloussi
Organisation: Al Jisr
Project: BBC Janala (UK)
Reach: Bangladesh
Project holder: Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman
Organisation: BBC World Service Trust
Project: Connexions (USA)
Reach: Global
Project holder: Richard Baraniuk
Organisation: Rice University
P
roject: Creative Partnerships (UK)
Reach: UK
Project holder: Paul Collard
Organisation: Creativity Culture and Education (CCE)
Project: SueñaLetras (Chile)
Reach: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Spain
Project holder: Ricardo Rene Rosas Diaz
Organisation: Center for the Development of Inclusion Technologies - CEDETI
Project: Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa (TESSA) (UK)
Reach: Sub-Saharan Africa
Project holder: Freda Wolfenden
Organisation: The Open University
To view the list of the 20 Finalists selected in June by the Pre-Jury click on the link below.
> Learn More about the Criteria Used to Select WISE Awards Winners
Open Educational Resources in Lithuania: State-of–the-Art, Challenges and Prospects for Development
The publication opens the series of case studies summarizing best practices in OER in non-English-speaking countries. The publication will be of help for educational decision makers and practitioners as it identifies and offers solutions to the challenges that countries usually encounter on the way of promoting open content to raise accessibility and quality of education.
Qualitätspakt Lehre: 5,45 Millionen Euro Fördermittel für Verbundantrag der niedersächsischen Hochschulen – »eCULT« verbessert den Einsatz digitaler Lerntechnologien in der Lehre
Die erste Antragsrunde des Bund-Länder-Programms für bessere Studienbedingungen und mehr Qualität in der Lehre ist entschieden. Darunter ist auch ein Verbundantrag, der bundesweit die meisten Hochschulen in ein Gesamtkonzept zusammengeführt hat: Elf niedersächsische Hochschulen und zwei weitere Verbundpartner erhalten 5,45 Millionen Euro für ihr Verbundprojekt »eCompetence and Utlilities for Learners and Teachers« (eCULT).
Dies ist nach Ansicht der Niedersächsischen Ministerin für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Professor Dr. Johanna Wanka höchst erfreulich. »Niedersächsische Hochschulen haben seit Jahren gezeigt, wie die Qualität der Lehre durch geschickten Einsatz innovativer Lehr- und Lerntechnologien erhöht werden kann. Beeindruckend ist insbesondere die konstruktive Zusammenarbeit einer Vielzahl von Hochschulen, die den Erfolg des Projektes erst ermöglicht hat.« Zwischen den niedersächsischen Hochschulen gibt es seit langem intensive Arbeitskontakte, nicht zuletzt im Rahmen des E-Learning Academic Network (ELAN e.V.). Diese jahrelange Einsatzerfahrung hat offenbar geholfen, einen überzeugenden Verbundantrag zu formulieren, der zeigt, wie man durch Vernetzung und Kooperation das erreichte Niveau noch weiter verbessern kann.
»Das Projekt ›eCULT‹ bietet die einmalige Chance, die vielfältigen Spezialisierungen und Kompetenzen der niedersächsischen Hochschulen durch Einsatz von digitalen Lerntechnologien gegenseitig nutzbar zu machen und dadurch gemeinsam die Qualität der Lehre zu verbessern«, freut sich der Koordinator des Verbundprojekts Dr. Andreas Knaden von der Universität Osnabrück. Der Präsident der Universität Osnabrück und Vorsitzende des ELAN-Vereins, Prof. Dr. Claus Rollinger, fügt hinzu: »Diese Bandbreite kann keine Hochschule allein bieten, das können wir nur gemeinsam leisten«.
Neben dem standortübergreifenden Erfahrungsaustausch prägen vier Leitgedanken den Verbundantrag:
- Die Vermittlung didaktischer Kompetenzen beim Einsatz digitaler Lerntechnologien braucht eine fachdidaktische Fundierung.
- Wesentlich ist, dass werkzeugbezogene didaktische Szenarien an guten Praxisbeispielen vermittelt werden.
- Gleichartige E-Learning Werkzeuge müssen für Lehrende an jedem Hochschulstandort ohne großen Aufwand verfügbar sein und entsprechend betreut werden.
- Die bereitgestellten Lerntechnologien müssen erprobt sein und dem aktuellen Stand der Technik entsprechen.
Das auf fünf Jahre angelegte »eCULT«-Projekt soll durch verstärkten Einsatz von Didaktikern, didaktisch orientierten Fachwissenschaftlern und Informatikern die Rahmenbedingungen an den beteiligten Hochschulen entsprechend dieser vier Leitgedanken nachhaltig verbessern; es startet im Wintersemester 2011/2012. Neben der federführenden Universität Osnabrück übernehmen in der Koordinationsgruppe die Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, die Leibniz Universität Hannover und der ELAN e.V. leitende Aufgaben. Zu den weiteren Verbundpartnern gehören: Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, Technische Universität Clausthal, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Hochschule Hannover, Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaft und Kunst (Hildesheim), Hochschule Osnabrück, Universität Vechta, Ostfalia Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften sowie der Stud.IP e.V. (Göttingen).
Das Vorhaben eCULT wird ab 01.10.2011 mit Mitteln des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung gefördert (ELAN e.V.-Förderkennzeichen: 01PL11066I).
Submissions invited to OPAL Awards
The OPAL Awards for quality and innovation through open educational practices recognize outstanding achievements in OER policy, promotion and use which have resulted in the improvement of quality and innovation in educational organizations. Submissions are invited in three categories; bodies which influence policy, institutions and learning contexts.
The OPAL Awards are developed by the Open Educational Quality (OPAL) Initiative, a consortium which works to promote open educational practices – practices which support the production, use and reuse of open educational resources (OER). Open educational practices help learners, educational professionals, organizational leaders, and policy makers improve quality in higher education and adult education and training.
Winning entries
Winners and highly commended entries will be selected by juries of prominent experts and will be announced at Online Educa Berlin, Germany, 30 November – 2 December 2011. Award winners will receive a plaque and a contribution of EUR 300 to make a short film which will be shown at the awards ceremony and may be used for self-promotion. Award winners and highly commended submissions will receive significant international exposure through the OPAL Initiative website and publications, and through the networks of each of the consortium members. They will also receive a unique logo and animated graphic for self-promotion.
The deadline for submission of entries to the OPAL Awards is midnight CET on 23 October 2011.
The OPAL Awards Secretariat is hosted by the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and the OPAL Initiative is being implemented through a consortium including UNESCO, ICDE, the European Foundation for Quality in E-Learning (EFQUEL), and a number of European universities. The Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission is the main funding body for this initiative, which is lead by the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
European indicators and ranking methodology for university third mission
The aim of this project is to generate a comprehensive instrument to identify, measure, and compare Third Mission activities of HEIs from a wide perspective. This will be achieved by creating indicators on Third Mission activities and by giving a new approach on the concept of ranking methodologies.
here is a growing recognition around the world of the role universities can play towards economic growth and social development in the modern "knowledge society" as lay out by the Lisbon Strategy. University activities have traditionally been understood as two missions: teaching and research. However, more recently policy makers have been keen to encourage all the other contributions of universities to society, their Third Mission.
While several ranking systems exist for the First and Second Missions, the Third Mission lacks any cohesive methodology. E3M will address this need.
First, a set of standard indicators for three dimensions of the Third Mission that we believe to be indicative of the Third Mission as a whole will be developed and validated. These dimensions are Continuing Education, Technology Transfer & Innovation and Social Engagement. Second, a ranking methodology will be created to assess the performance of European Third Mission providers, benchmarking excellent practices, and helping to create a common European area of higher education institutions. These tools will be built into a web based platform to provide access for project stakeholders, along with a range of case studies of excellent providers.
E3M will involve several leading European Higher Education networks to ensure a broad and sustainable dissemination of the project's outputs. The project will enable Third Mission providers to assess their own performance, share best practices and build relationships with other European Third Mission providers. This will lead to more effective and efficient services being provided to society and industry as institutions seek to improve their standards, improving the quality of their lifelong learning provision and other services. Funding bodies will be provided with a tool to understand Third Mission performance, rewarding excellence and rectifying lower standards.
ITworldEdu 2011 Award: Rewarding best educational technology solutions developed and applied in schools and companies
Generalitat de Catalunya (the regional government), Barcelona City Council, CETEI- Joan XXIII Foundation and the companies driving the ITworldEdu 2011 promote this award aimed at the best educational technology solution developed and applied in schools and this year too, the best ICT solution applied to education by the company.
Within the ITworldEdu 2011, the fourth edition of the Great Meeting Point towards Excellence in Educational Technology, the ITworldEdu Award is announced aiming the next goals :
- Recognizing the growing effort of the educational field in the creation and assessment of new digital resources.
- Recognizing the technological and teaching entrepreneurship initiatives and proposals for educational innovation in education by the demand sector.
- Stimulating and informing technological suppliers, as well as the entire education sector, about the high-quality, creative and innovative tools that really work in the classroom, enabling personalized learning and facilitating teaching and managing.
Thus, the ITworldEdu 2011 Award, besides offering recognition to teachers and schools, starts a new category aimed at the business.
Deadline: September, 30th
Check out the Awards Rules.
Schulhomepage AWARD 2012
Die Erstellung einer Schulhomepage erfolgt fast immer im Rahmen freiwilliger AGs, in denen sich Schüler und Lehrer über den regulären Unterricht hinaus einsetzen. Ziel des Schulhomepage AWARDs ist es daher, die vielen hervorragenden Leistungen und den großen Einsatz der Schüler und Lehrer für Ihre Schulhomepage zu würdigen und die besten Internetpräsenzen zu prämieren.
Allen Teilnehmern winkt nicht nur der Titel „Beste Schulhomepage des Jahres 2012“, sondern sie können auch Preise im Gesamtwert von über 5.000 Euro gewinnen.
Jede Schule aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz kann teilnehmen.
Anmeldeschluss ist der 20.01.2012.
Countdown to MEDEA Awards deadline
Entries are arriving at the MEDEA Awards Secretariat from practitioners and educational media producers from Europe and further afield and we are looking forward to a receiving a lot more before the 16 September deadline. Sponsors including Adobe are adding their support and plans for the competition are well underway.
Calling out to all creative minds who produce educational media: be sure to participate in the MEDEA Awards! Submit your entry online before 16 September 2011 to have a chance to win in one of the award categories: