Smart signs on the roadmaps of e-learning Dr András Szűcs Secretary General, European Distance and E-Learning Network.

Smart signs on the roadmaps of e-learning

Dr András Szűcs

Secretary General, European Distance and E-Learning Network

Outline

• EDEN in nutshell• Complexity as new reality (Conole)• Digital competences• UK Open University report on innovating pedagogy• The Engineering Education Report

EDEN in nutshell

• The largest such professional association in Europe• UK based, launched 1991 - 20th Anniversary in 2011• Active, developing community - Membership in 2010:

– 195 institutions – universities, national associations, research bodies, companies

– 1150 individuals– 400+ institutions represented from 56 countries

• Involvement in strategic, innovative EU initiatives 180 institutions as project partners in the past 10 years

• EDEN conferences: major academic and professional events in Europe;

• European Journal of Open, Distance and E-learning

THE EDEN ROADSIGNS IN THE PAST DECADE

Learning and Sustainability

Media Inspirations for Learning

Learning Without Limits

Open and Distance Learning in Europe and Beyond Rethinking InternationalCo-operation

New Learning 2.0?

Innovationin Learning

Communities

The Quality Dialogue

New Challenges and Partnerships in an Enlarged European Union

E-Competencesfor Life,

Employment and Innovation

Lifelong E-Learning

New Learning Cultures

4

Complexity is the new reality (Conole)

New technologies have a unique set of characteristics: • dense interconnectivity, • highly dynamic, • open, • non-linear, • extraordinary behavourial diversity and • intrinsically unpredictable.

Social and participatory media• networked, • distributed, • peer reviewed and open,• complex, dynamic and evolving,• Your network and who you connect with defines you

New approaches to openness – beyond Open Educational ResourcesProf. Gráinne Conole, University of Leicester

EU Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS)

Report on digital competences

Digital competence:

• The confident, critical and creative use of ICT to achieve goals related to work, employability, learning, leisure, inclusion and/or participation in society

(Ala-Mutka, 2012)

Highlights from the IPTS report...

A digital competency framework - Components:

– Medium-related skills and knowledge – understanding how to use media. – Communication and collaboration – to effectively express and communicate– Information management– Meaningful participation – to find and participate in digital activities– Intercultural and collaborative attitude– Critical attitude – to critically reflect on the quality of things found on the net – Creative attitude – to adopt creative practices– Responsible attitude – to be aware of the consequences of digital activities. – Autonomous attitude – to be clear of your objectives and find right tools to meet

them

Innovating Pedagogy 2012: Report from Open University, UK 

The report proposes 10 innovations in pedagogy:• Innovative ways of teaching and learning with next-generation e-books • Publisher-led short courses - commercial courses for leisure and professional

development • Assessment for learning, Assessment that supports the learning process through

diagnostic feedback• Badges to accredit learning, Open framework for gaining recognition of skills and

achievements • MOOCs, Massive open online courses • Rebirth of academic publishing, New forms of open scholarly publishing • Seamless learning, Connecting learning across settings, technologies and activities • Learning analytics, Data-driven analysis of learning activities and environments • Personal inquiry learning, Learning through collaborative inquiry and active

investigation • Rhizomatic learning, Knowledge constructed by self-aware communities adapting to

environmental conditions 

„Rhizomatic learning”

• Proliferating informal and non-formal learning contexts, situations, with the help of ICT

• Practice of learning which is diversifying spontaneously without co-ordination,

• Nodes, able to grow independently, no center, no boundaries (cf. blogs, wikis)

• Strength and weakness at the same time: the content and competence is legitimated by the networked co-operation.

A botanical metaphor, offering flexible conception of knowledge for the information age: the

rhizome. A rhizomatic plant has no center and no defined boundary; rather, it is made up of a number of semi-independent nodes, each of which is capable of growing and spreading on its own, bounded only by the limits of its habitat.

• http://davecormier.com/edblog/2008/06/03

EDEN FELLOWS DAY O’REILLY HALL, DUBLIN, IRELAND

June 21st, 2011

20 YEARS OF EDENProfessional Development, Networking

and Integration from a Strategic perspective

FELLOWS BUILDING A VISION

Which were in the past 5 years the most unexpected developments?

Emerging technologies:

• Social Media;

• Open Educational ResourcesOpen Educational Practices;

• Mobile Learning;

• Personal and Open Learning Environments

Which were in the past 5 years the most unexpected developments?

All developments were predictable and in fact were predicted, although not by all.

Even so, resistance to educational innovation persists.

Developments are substantially slower than foreseen because the inertia of educational

A new critical factor that will mark the coming decade will be the financial constraints and their impact on learner support, curriculum and the relationship between them.

Advise on relevant themes to researchers, PhD students

•Social inclusion and transformation•Role of state and scale educational interventions•Democratization of learning•Change management and organizational development•Financial models of education •Sustainability, scaling & transferability of projects/initiative

•Learner’s motivation, emotions, attitudes, values, social & societal context•Multilevel perspectives: learning individuals, learning groups & communities, learning societies and their interactions Digital identity, legacy & heritage

TO DO: Reinforce communities of serious peer assessment processes Strengthen quality-scheme based, trusted educational resources

2012

The way ahead...

Thank you!

www.eden-online.org