elearning_label_higher_education

Katalogas

Memorandum of Understanding OCWC ICDE 2013

14 Gegužė 2013

The OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC) and the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) signed on 8 May, 2013 a Memorandum of Understanding between the two global associations.

The signature took place during a ceremony at the OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC) Global Conference 2013 at Bali, Indonesia.

 

With this agreement, ICDE and OCWC enter into closer cooperation in recognition of their mutual interest in expanded access to high quality higher education through open and distance education.

 

Both parties undertake to explore opportunities in the following areas:

  • Mutual promotion of activities.
  • Joint regional conference.
  • Explore a joint initiative to support policy discussion and development facilitating open and distance education at governmental and institutional levels.
  • Joint membership services.
  • Opportunities to have synergy in projects, for example in giving attention to and promote "flagship projects".

 

 

Straipsniai

eLearning Africa 2013 – Séance plénière d’ouverture

14 Gegužė 2013

 

Apprentissage & innovation : dans le “Cloud” et sur le “Ground” avec l’esprit Ubuntu. Présidée par l’Honorable Ministre Joel Kaapanda, la séance plénière d’ouverture eLearning Africa 2013 verra les interventions de Mark Kaigwa, Stewart van Graan, Bobana Badisang ainsi que du Professeur Sugata Mitra et du très honorable Docteur Hage Geingo

 

Pour en savoir plus sur cette séance plénière d’ouverture, rendez-vous à l’adresse suivante : http://bit.ly/lVioqv

Education
Straipsniai

eLearning Africa 2013 - Opening plenary

14 Gegužė 2013

 

Learning & innovation: In the cloud and on the ground with a spirit of ubuntu. Chaired by the Honourable Minister Joel Kaapanda, the eLearning Africa 2013 opening plenary will feature experts Mark Kaigwa, Stewart van Graan, Bobana Badisang, Prof Sugata Mitra and the Right Honorable Dr Hage Geingo

 

To know more about the opening plenary, please visit the following address: http://bit.ly/lVioqv

Education
Naujienos

Yishay Mor “Are MOOCs really as adequate to open up the educational scene as they seem to promise?”

13 Gegužė 2013

MOOCs and Beyond” is the title of issue number 33 of eLearning Papers, a quarterly online magazine published by the European Commission. Guest edited by Dr Yishay Mor, Senior Lecturer in Educational Technology at the UK’s Open University, he believes the publication is coming out in an “incredibly timely” moment, at a point when “we are getting over the initial excitement about MOOCs [Massive Open Online Courses] and people are trying to get a more critical view” about them.

In a podcast interview given to eLearningeuropa.info Dr Mor expresses his wish to contribute with this special issue to “open up the discussion about MOOCs” and have a conversation started about questions that are currently on the table, such as “are MOOCs really adequate to open up the education scene as they seem to promise?”.

 

This new eLearning Papers offering shows the wide array of formats MOOCs can take. However, Mor points out that there are still several barriers for participation: basic access (not everybody has a broadband connection) and cultural barriers (some people are not comfortable using means such as blogs or chats). MOOCs generally seem to assume “people are comfortable with a variety of technological tools and channels”, and this is not always the case.

 

Nevertheless there is no doubt that “MOOCs do open up the educational scene. They have the potential to democratize education further and open up the scene in a different way: anyone with something to say can run a MOOC.”

 

The “possibilities are there for democratization and increase access, but the barriers are still there and we have to think hard about this”, stresses Dr Mor, who recommends MOOCs and Beyond to educational practitioners interested or intrigued about this phenomena, university administrators, higher education institutions considering to step into this area, and policy makers, who should remain vigilant and not feel tempted to stop investing in universities because of these online courses. “Both, higher education institutions and MOOCs have their purpose. The two should synergise in various ways. And in order to understand the relationships between both it is good to read this special issue of eLearning Papers”, he recommends.

 

Naujienos

ITU Young Innovators’ competition calls for innovative ICT solutions to global challenges

21 Gegužė 2013

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has launched the third edition of its annual Young Innovators’ Competition, offering talented social technopreneurs the opportunity to present their ideas to industry leaders at ITU Telecom World 2013 in Bangkok this November – as well as winning funding, mentorship and ongoing support.

Open to 18-26 year-olds worldwide, the Young Innovators’ Competition is looking for concrete solutions using cutting-edge technology to one of six Global Challenges developed in partnership with specialized UN agencies and leading private sector players:

 

  • Improve employment opportunities for young people and migrant workers
  • Reduce food and water wastage at individual and retail level
  • Facilitate access to public services for the elderly
  • Improve natural disaster prediction and response
  • Improve road safety for both drivers and pedestrians
  • Protect sensitive personal data and inspire the creation of local digital content

ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology. The competition seeks pragmatic, market-oriented, scalable solutions making use of connected technologies, such as augmented reality, mobile apps, 3D printing or geospatial tracking.

 

Submissions may be either in the form of a concept, well-researched or documented ideas which have not yet been implemented, or a start-up, which is already up and running but in need of funding to take it to the next stage.

 

Ten finalists selected by a committee of experts will win the chance to attend ITU Telecom World 2013, the platform for high-level debate, networking and knowledge-sharing, as well as an ICT showcase, which will be held 19-22 November in Bangkok, Thailand, on the theme "Embracing Change in a Digital World".

 

The deadline for initial submissions is 30 June 2013.

Naujienos

Five new partners join the FutureLearn MOOCs platform

14 Gegužė 2013

Five new partners are joining FutureLearn, the first free, open, online platform for courses from multiple UK universities and other leading organisations.

Launched in December 2012, the latest five partners to join the project are: the British Museum, Loughborough University, University of Sheffield, University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde. Each of these institutions is committed to providing engaging and entertaining courses through the platform, which with these new additions has now a total of 24 partners across the UK.

  

“We are committed to removing the barriers to education by making learning more accessible, inspiring and useful to people, no matter what stage of life they are at. These partnerships will enable us to open up access to the best academics from world-class universities and cultural institutions and deliver new forms of social learning at large scale”, said FutureLearn CEO, Simon Nelson.

 

King’s College London, University of St Andrews, The British Library and the British Council are among the members of the platform, founded by the Open University.

 

The first tranche of FutureLearn MOOCs will be launched throughout 2013.

Straipsniai

MOOCs and disruptive innovation: Implications for higher education

09 Gegužė 2013

The opportunity that Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) offer for cost effective massification of learning has generated significant interest from governments, higher education institutions (HEI) and commercial organisations. A growing number of HEI have been involved in experimenting with MOOCs for the purposes of expanding access, marketing and branding, as well as the potential of developing new revenue streams. The motivation for some MOOC providers is a philanthropic one and for others a business proposition. However, in both cases, there is the challenge of finding a viable business model that allows for sustainability of MOOC provision.

This paper will use the theory of disruptive innovation (Bower and Christensen, 1995) to examine MOOCs development and how their approach could be used to help institutions explore innovative approaches for teaching and learning and to develop new business models in order to gain competitive advantages in the education market. MOOCs provide institutions with a vehicle to think creatively and innovatively to explore new business models and flexible learning paths in HE provision. However, there is a need to rethink current higher education structures and policies and working practices that obstruct innovation. This includes funding arrangements and the ability to disaggregate teaching from  assessment and accreditation for differential pricing and pursuit of marketing activities.

Straipsniai

MOOC Design Principles. A Pedagogical Approach from the Learner’s Perspective

09 Gegužė 2013

The debate around Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is much more focused on the social, institutional, technological and economical aspects than on the need for development of new pedagogical approaches that provide consistent guidance on how to design for this emergent educational scenario.

A new understanding of knowledge production and learning challenges the core of learning design, demanding innovative and appropriate approaches to teaching and learning. We present a set of learning design principles drawn from the learner’s perspective. They focus on empowering learners in networked environments for fostering critical thinking and collaboration, developing competence based outcomes, encouraging peer assistance and assessment through social appraisal, providing strategies and tools for self-regulation, and finally using a variety of media and ICTs to create and publish learning resources and outputs.

Naujienos

MOOCs and Beyond - eLearning Papers 33 released

10 Gegužė 2013

Issue number 33 of eLearning Papers focuses on the challenges and future of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a trend in education that has skyrocketed since 2008.

Guest edited by Dr Yishay Mor, Senior Lecturer at the Open University's Institute of Educational Technology (UK), and Tapio Koskinen, Director of the eLearning Papers Editorial Board, MOOCs and Beyond seeks to both generate debate and present a variety of perspectives about this new popular learning model. 

 

The emergence of MOOCs poses a set of challenges to the educational community. This new special issue of eLearning Papers aims to shed light on the way these online courses affect both education institutions and learners, and tries to find answers to some of the questions confronted by teachers and researchers.

 

Among other topics, eLearning Papers 33 explores whether MOOCs may be a viable solution for education in developing countries and analyses the role of these emerging courses in the education system, especially in higher education. Furthermore, valuable examples from the field are presented, such as the quad-blogging concept and a game-based MOOC developed to promote entrepreneurship education.

 

This issue includes 4 In-Depth articles and 6 From the Field ones:

 

In-depth articles

From the field articles

Straipsniai

The Next Game Changer: The Historical Antecedents of the MOOC Movement in Education

09 Gegužė 2013

Though the history of massive open online courses is very short, scholars can gain insights by looking at similar movements in the past. This paper examines several historical moments in education to develop an understanding of MOOCs and their future.

Specifically, this paper explores two  developments that resemble the discourse surrounding MOOCs—the emergence of studia particulare and generale in medieval Europe and the monitorial educational systems of the early nineteenth century. It also looks at several other educational innovations that have been seen as disruptive to the status quo of education. These include land-grant institutions in the United States in addition to the University Without Walls and open education movements of the 1960s and 1970s. These previous movements are very instructive as proponents of MOOC educational systems develop strategies for promoting MOOCs and giving them lasting resonance in the digital age.