policy-making
Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Tertiary Education and Employment
Young adults with disabilities, and especially those with learning difficulties, have been going on to tertiary education in increasing numbers over the past decade. More are gaining the prerequisites for tertiary education as policies to promote the inclusion of disabled people developed over the past 20 years bear fruit.
International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education
This handbook provides researchers, policy makers and practitioners with an integrated overview of the field based on research about the potential and impact of IT for K-12 education as well as realization in educational practice. Barriers and opportunities for IT implementation are studied from several perspectives: the learner; the teacher, the curriculum, the school organization and educational policy.
elearningeuropa.info at the Digital Agenda Assembly
elearningeuropa.info will participate at the first Digital Agenda Assembly to be held in Brussels on 16th and 17th June 2011. The Digital Agenda for Europe is the road map for bringing the benefits of a digital society and economy to Europe's citizens.
The main objectives of the assembly are to assess progress, identify challenges and mobilise stakeholder's actions in the Digital Agenda 2010-2020.
elearningeuropa.info portal will participate in Workshop 08: Mainstreaming eLearning in education and training and Workshop 20: Digital literacy and e-Inclusion.
Please note that the Digital Agenda Assembly and its workshops are fully booked.
The elearningeuropa.info portal will open a Community on the topic of ICT and Education across Europe in order to take up the outcomes of Workshop 08, and to continue the discussions about this topic with portal members.
View full programme
Digital Greece 2020
“Digital Greece 2020 – http://digitalgreece2020.gr/” is a horizontal action based on the participation of active citizens from business, education, research and public administration. It gives the opportunity to all interested parties to address policy proposals to the central and local government, representative organizations, as well as the academic-research community with regard to the initiatives that have to be taken and the targets that have to be set for Digital Greece 2020.
Media & Learning Conference Brussels 2011
This conference will bring together people interested in how media can be used to support learning across all sectors, in media literacy and in the re-use of media based resources in education and training as well as broader issues related to ICT skills and digital competence generally. It will include the annual awards ceremony for the MEDEA Awards as well as presentations and inputs from all finalists in the 2011 competition
Media & Learning 2011 is the place to be if you are interested in the latest developments, services and uses of media in education and training. Aimed at both policy makers and practitioners, the purpose of this event is to identify policies and initiatives that promote digital and media competence at all levels of education and training as well as to promote best-practice in the take-up and application of media in education and training.
At this conference we will be discussing:
- the urgency of embedding digital and media literacy skills amongst the European workforce
- how best to convince stakeholders about the importance of embedding digital and media skills amongst learning professionals and learners at all levels of education and training
The conference will include:
- practical learning opportunities showing how you can apply all types of media in education and training through workshops and hands-on training sessions
- information sessions describing lots of different initiatives and developments linked to this field supported by European and national programmes
- sessions linked to the MEDEA Awards 2011, a competition now in its fourth year that recognises and rewards excellence in this field. These sessions will feature winners and finalists from the past and current competitions.
A highlight of the Media & Learning Conference will be the MEDEA Awards Ceremony 2011 when this year’s winners will be announced and shown on Thursday evening at 18:00.
Reviewing (traces of) European Virtual Campuses
The purpose of this 2 year project is to make an inventory and systematic review of cross-institutional Virtual Campus initiatives of the past decade within higher education at European, national and regional levels.
Re.ViCA aims
- to make an inventory and to carry out a systematic review of cross-institutional Virtual Campus initiatives of the past decade within higher education at European, national and regional levels.
- to look not only at currently operational Virtual Campuses, but also at the legacy and impact within higher education generally of those Virtual Campus initiatives that have ceased activities.
- to identify relevant parameters and success factors for evaluating and comparing Virtual Campuses.
- to organise in-depth discussions to incorporate the input of different interest groups: including Virtual Campus management bodies, relevant networks, students, policy makers and a range of experts at a global as well as European level.
- to compare European cases to selected non-European initiatives
- to formulate a set of action points that can be applied to ensure the realisation of successful European Virtual Campus initiatives.
Results of Re.ViCa include
- a global benchmark overview,
- knowledge sharing through the organisation of discussion sessions at carefully chosen events and meetings with experts and policy makers
- a manual with guidelines, best practices, recommendations
Extracted from: EuroPACE
Project Updates:
Launch Re.ViCa wiki: the largest repository on Virtual Campuses and notable elearning initiatives!
Visit our wiki and You will find a list of more than 300 interesting Programmes, all of which have been categorised. Country reports, describing the educational context and ways in which decision-makers in these countries have taken steps to address changes brought about due to the emergence of the Information Society. We have collected and described relevant research projects, outputs, and publications, and provide a list of experts in the field of Virtual Campuses. Please visit and contribute, and become a member of our international group of experts.
New handbook: “Reviewing the Virtual Campus Phenomenon: The Rise of Large-scale e-Learning Initiatives Worldwide” which provides a comprehensive and useful appraisal of Virtual Campuses worldwide.
This practical handbook provides a summary of key initiatives, market leaders and large-scale providers in the different regions of the world presented on a broad region by region basis and refers to more than 300 different institutions, organisations or networks from about 80 countries and reviews many of the factors and issues that can influence Virtual Campuses particularly those in Europe.
The handbook also deals with benchmarking and Critical Success Factors and provides a detailed description of the work undertaken by the research team in arriving at the final set of 17 Critical Success Factors relevant to success of e‐learning in all types of Virtual Campuses along with a list of 14 Key Success Factors ‐ these are Critical Success Factors relevant to success of e‐learning in one or more subsets (categories) of Virtual Campuses, such as private for‐profit providers, consortia, etc.
Paul Bacsich, Director of Research, says “The Handbook documents the immense spread, and to many, unexpectedly wide spread, of tertiary level e-learning across the countries of the world, both developed and not so developed. It will be very useful to many different kinds of readers including policy-makers in ministries, and the analysts who advise them, who will find it vital as they wrestle with the issue of whether to specifically foster and support e-learning or whether e-learning can now be left to some or all of their institutions - the answers are and will be different in different countries. It will also be of significant interest to institutional leaders and their senior management teams, quality agencies who are already actively considering the issue of whether e-learning demands a specific quality regime, communities of researchers in open universities and in distance education as well as practitioners, so often isolated, who will learn that they are not alone - that many others across the world face similar dilemmas and challenges in how best to use e-learning to improve the quality and availability of their courses.
While the Handbook offers no one "magic bullet" for the challenge of making better use of teaching resources (but see the Critical Success Factors for some suggestions), it clearly demonstrates that it is not necessarily the most developed countries or the best-funded and most prestigious institutions that have made the most effective use of e-learning - which should make many people think deeply about their customary practices and beliefs about IT and its role in teaching”.The main editors are Bieke Schreurs, Ilse Op de Beeck, Paul Bacsich, Sally Reynolds, Sara Frank Bristow and Theo Bastiaens.
This handbook is available as a free download, the print version can be ordered from: ilse.opdebeeck@avnet.kuleuven.be (a payment for postage costs may be requested).