digital
Realising the Potential of Peer-to-Peer Learning: Taming a MOOC with Social Media
We report on peer-to-peer learning online, describing the role of cooperative, student managed groupings in successful learn-by-MOOC experiences.
We found that to expand learners’ potential in digital culture, it helps to by-pass traditional notions and tools of online learning support, and embrace networked social media.
Conference Programme for Learning Innovations and Quality: The Future of Digital Resources Available
LINQ event hosts from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany have published the final conference programme for LINQ 2013. The conference in Rome will be supported by a variety of prominent figures vital to the fields of technology-enhanced learning, open educational resources, and vocational education in Europe and worldwide. Furthermore, their presence will further the highlight of LINQ 2013: the launch of ICORE, the International Council for Open Research and Education (www.icore-online.org). Registration for LINQ 2013 is still open for all interested parties until May 8th, but seats are limited and should be reserved as quick as possible.
On May 16th, Learning experts and pioneers such as Dr. Tony Bates of Tony Bates Associates, Dr. Ignasi Labastida, director of the OCW Consortium and Creative Commons, and António Silva Mendes, Director of Education and Vocational Training at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education and Culture will take part as keynote speakers at LINQ 2013. They will join the already confirmed Prof. Dr. Rory McGreal and Prof. Dr. Fred Mulder, both UNESCO chairs for Open Educational Resources (OER), as well as Christian-Friedrich Lettmayr, Director of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP). Together these esteemed speakers will establish the greater context of international learning innovations for LINQ 2013.
Complementing the established experts, selected researchers from over 150 submissions will also present new and innovative research papers and projects. Four parallel sessions, divided into three parts each, will provide the structure for presentations. The 1st Parallel Session will consist of invited European speakers as well as two workshops respectively on the co-hosting VOA3R project and the innovative ODS project. The 2nd Parallel Session will consist of the selected papers from the LINQ 2013 call. These papers in turn fit into three thematic sections: “Digital Resources & Online Repositories”, “TEL for Schools, Universities, & Lifelong Learning”, and “Innovations & Future Trends in LET”. In addition, the 3rd and 4th Parallel Sessions will be dedicated to the presentations of selected European and international projects, thematically divided into “Quality Management: Evaluation, Standards & Certification”, “Open Access & Open Educational Resources: Policies, Tools and Content”, and “New Knowledge Networks – Ideas & Innovation for LLL” on the one hand, and “VET, New Skills & Quality”, “Teachers in Focus: Competence & Skill Development”, and “Innovation in TEL” on the other. The final conference programme is available on the LINQ 2013 conference website at www.learning-innovations.eu/2013/programme.
Registration for LINQ 2013 is still available for all interested groups until May 8th – only a few seats remain, so please register as soon as possible to ensure your chance to participate. Further information on registration is available at the conference website at www.learning-innovations.eu/registration. For the latest updates on LINQ and related initiatives, follow @LINQ_Conference on Twitter and like www.facebook.com/LINQConference on Facebook.
The Real Cost of Curating Digital Objects
As the number and variety of digital objects increases, information gatekeepers become essential filters that make sense of this expanding digital library. Thus, curation ensures digital objects remain understandable, accessible, useable, and safe over time. 4C — the Collaboration to Clarify the Costs of Curation — is an initiative created to help public and private European organisations invest more effectively in digital curation and preservation, sustaining the long-term value of all types of digital information.
4C, the Collaboration to Clarify the Costs of Curation, will help organisations estimate the cost of digital curation work, and demonstrate long and short term benefits.
According to Neil Grindley, project coordinator from Jisc, persuading organisations to invest in curation is often difficult. He pinpoints two main reasons for this: because the real costs involved remain a mystery, and because short term benefits aren't always evident. In order to address these challenges, 4C will create an online 'curation costs exchange' to help users model their costs, and aid in predicting costs and benefits that will result from deciding to preserve. 4C will also provide guidance to practitioners so they can better convince executives to invest in new services.
4C hopes to engage with many different organisations, and will invite those interested to workshops and focus groups during the next two years. The network is ‘open and social’ and rather than waiting for perfect and polished results, they will be blogging and sharing findings as they go, stimulating debate and eliciting useful feedback from participants.
First Keynote Speakers for LINQ 2013 Announced
The 2nd European Conference on "Learning Innovations and Quality" (LINQ 2013) has announced several high-ranking speakers to be present during the event on May 16th and 17th at the Global Headquarters of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy.
The 2nd European Conference on "Learning Innovations and Quality" (LINQ 2013) has announced several high-ranking speakers to be present during the event on May 16th and 17th at the Global Headquarters of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy. Figures such as the esteemed Prof. Dr. Rory McGreal and Prof. Dr. Fred Mulder, both UNESCO chairs for Open Educational Resources (OER), as well as Christian-Friedrich Lettmayr, Director of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), will contribute their experience to the conference. Their support of LINQ’s continuing mission to examine the intersections between learning innovations and quality will provide an excellent framework for the state-of-the-art research and project work collected through the LINQ call for papers and projects, ended on March 4th.
“Rory McGreal and Fred Mulder have long been crucial pioneers in the development of Open Educational Resources as UNESCO Chairs,” says Christian M. Stracke, LINQ Conference Chair and international ISO Convener for learning quality from the University of Duisburg-Essen. “We will be honoured to greet them at LINQ 2013 and to learn from their professional and academic expertise. Likewise, Christian-Friedrich Lettmayr’s familiarity with the inner workings of CEDEFOP will prove incredibly valuable to practically situate the newest research efforts submitted to LINQ 2013. We are certain that the discussion at LINQ 2013 will benefit enormously from their presence.”
More than 150 researchers and practitioners have answered the LINQ 2013 call for papers and projects and the contributions of the highest quality will make the conference programme insightful and exciting. Early-bird registration at the reduced rate of 90€ will remain open until March 31st, 2013. All interested parties active in the fields of new learning methods and design, Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL), quality standards and certification, human resources development, competences and skills, digital resources, learning materials, and online collaboration and communities are encouraged to register for LINQ 2013 and take part in the continuing development of learning innovations and quality. For more information on specific registration requirements and other matters, please visit the conference website at www.learning-innovations.eu.
Overview of the important dates:
- End of early-bird registration period (90€): 31st of March 2013
- Conference Programme Ready: April 2013
- Conference date: 16th and 17th of May 2013
For the latest information on the conference and to submit any pre-conference feedback, please visit the LINQ Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LINQConference and follow the LINQ Twitter account at www.twitter.com/LINQ_Conference.
Beyond the Net Generation Debate
This paper is based on the hypothesis that the use of technology to support learning is not related to whether a student belongs to the Net Generation, but that it is mainly influenced by the teaching model.
The study compares behaviour and preferences towards ICT use in two groups of university students: face-to-face students and online students. A questionnaire was applied to a sample of students from five universities with different characteristics (one offers online education and four offer face-to-face education with LMS teaching support).
European Commission launches Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs
Commission President José Manuel Barroso called on Europe's digital businesses, governments, training and education sectors to join a Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs to address up to 900 000 job vacancies expected to exist in Europe in Information and Communication technologies (ICT) by 2015. Despite the current levels of unemployment, the number of digital jobs is growing by more than 100 000 per year. Yet the number of fresh ICT graduates and skilled ICT workers is not keeping up.
Vice-Presidents Neelie Kroes (Digital Agenda) and Antonio Tajani (Industry and Entrepreneurship) and Commission members László Andor (Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) and Androulla Vassiliou (Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth) also attended the launch of the Grand Coalition held today in Brussels, which is part of the Commission's drive to make Europe more competitive.
President Barroso said: "The Grand Coalition we launch today is an essential part of getting Europe's economy back on track and finding jobs for some of Europe's 26 million unemployed. I applaud those companies who have signed up today. If, together, we can turn the tide and fill the growing number of ICT vacancies, we will see a much wider impact across the whole economy. We want to empower Europeans to fill the jobs that will drive the next ICT revolution."
Europe cannot afford to leave employment opportunities like this unexploited. Today's announcement builds on the groundwork laid by Vice President Kroes in collecting initial pledges on new jobs, internships, training places, start-up funding, free online university courses and more from technology companies, governments, educators, social partners, employment service providers and civil society organisations at the World Economic Forum in Davos (see IP/13/52).
Initial commitments from stakeholders have been endorsed with over 15 companies and organisations signing up to the Grand Coalition. Among the first pledges to come to life is a new online learning platform for young people called the Academy Cube and a new training module for energy smart grid installers.
The Commission has sought pledges in the following key areas:
Training and matching for digital jobs – to help ensure the skills people are getting are the skills business needs;
Mobility – helping those with skills get to the place where they're needed, to avoid shortages and surpluses in different towns and cities;
Certification – making it easier to prove to an employer what skills one has, regardless of the country;
Awareness raising – so that people know the digital sector offers rewarding and enjoyable careers to both women and men;
Innovative learning and teaching – so our education and training systems expand and improve to give more people the skills for success.
President Barroso also called on organisations to follow the example of the early pledgers. The Commission has a role to play, but actions like industry-led training, assisting labour mobility, certifying skills, improving school and university curricula, raising awareness, and creating an entrepreneur friendly environment for start-ups need the active engagement of all stakeholders.
The Commission is also launching Startup Europe, a single platform for tools and programmes supporting people wanting to set up and grow web start-ups in Europe.
eLBA 2013
The 6th «eLearning Baltics 2013 Conference» (eLBa 2013) will be held on the 20th-21st of June in Rostock, Germany. International researchers, practitioners, scientific and business people who all use, produce, investigate in and disseminate eLearning products, services, tools and platforms are invited to attend.
eLBa 2013 will examine the role of digital media in various settings such as classroom, university, workplace, home or mobile environments.
This includes both formal and informal methods, approaches and technology being used in different markets.
eLBa 2013 will run along three different strands:
1. Science Track – international scientific paper presentation,
2. Business Track – business congress and user forum,
3. Exhibition Floor – exhibition of eLearning products and services.
The eLBa 2013 call for papers is now open (http://www.e-learning-baltics.de/601/?L=1). Early Bird registration for the conference will begin on May 12th, 2013.
CeBIT 2013 - Heart of the Digital World
Student Approaches to Learning in Fashion Design
How do students approach their learning in 1st and 2nd year fashion design courses? This study examines the variation between students from four different fashion design departments in UK universities, and explores the differences in how students approach their learning.
This paper explores on the variation between student approaches to learning, specifically within the context of fashion design departments. Everything from different experiences, focus on strategies, design, or concepts, to student intentions, in order to provide a complete study of how students in fashion design approach learning differently.
Filling the gaps: e-skills and education for digital jobs
On the occasion of the European conference "Filling the gaps: e-Skills and Education for Digital Jobs", the Commission is planning the launch of a Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs.
- Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission in charge of the Digital Agenda for Europe
- Antonio Tajani, Vice President of the European Commission in charge of Industry and Entrepreneurship
- Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth
- Laszlo Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.
The Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs is an EU wide multi-stakeholder partnership seeking to address the shortfall in the number of professionals with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills that are highly demanded by the industry. The goal is to increase the supply of ICT professionals by 2015, so as to ensure a sufficient number of them in Europe by 2020. In order to achieve this, the European Commission is offering to forces with industry associations and is inviting Member States, regions and concerned stakeholders (from industry, education, public employment services, various national platforms and others) to engage in this partnership.