networks

Uutiset

International Council for Open Research and Education (ICORE) to be launched in Rome

07 Toukokuu 2013

The International Council for Open Research and Education (ICORE) is a new association bringing together interested experts and stakeholders from the fields of open education and open research. The association will be officially launched on May 16 in Rome (Italy) during the Learning Innovations and Technology (LINQ 2013) conference.

ICORE is a non-profit and requires no membership fees to join. Open to both representatives of organisations as well as individuals, it aims to promote open research and open education as a fundamental social objective. This promotion of these goals will be accomplished through the fostering of collaboration between relevant stakeholders in open research and education, such as national, European and international policy makers, researchers, educators of all levels, students, non-profit  educational providers as well as commercial educational providers, among others.

 

The association's activities will include the administration of an online community portal for information exchange, the organisation of scientific and educational events (conferences, summer schools, etc.) and the establishment of creative partnerships between ICORE members to advance open research and open education internationally.  

 

Interested applicants can register easily at the ICORE website, where the complete first public draft of the association’s statutes can also be found. Joining before the first official meeting of ICORE on May 15 allows new members to be recognized as co-founders.

international cooperation, networks, collaborative networks, open & distance learning, open education, Open educational practices, elearning resources, Research, quality, development
Hankkeet

Tools for Monitoring Urban Integration: UNITE Project

19 Huhtikuu 2013

The UniteEurope project provides Social Media tools and makes software available to policymakers working on integaration of third-country nationals. Users of the UniteEurope tool can save, monitor and track specific integration cases to measure impact and to predict the effect of future decisions.

UniteEurope takes citizen generated content, mass data related to integration issues, and existing platforms, but then acts as an intelligent filter. Its aggregation architecture delivers relevant information for policy makers to support sustainable social integration.

Its grid model with multi-layer logic patterns is used for consistent categorisation of relevant integration areas (e.g. education, business, culture) in cities. Coherent layers with multilingual semantic tags, significant sources and parameters form the basis of this tool, and are supported with information on web-based dashboards and intuitive visualisations. 

 

Additionally, identified target groups and policy makers at a European level are provided with aggregated data and key figures to monitor urban integration in Europe and identify good practices for specific areas of integration. UniteEurope supports operational integration measures and strategic policy development at regional and pan-European level. 

The UniteEurope team consists of system architects, software developers, E-Government, Social Media and integration experts from leading universities, competence centres, companies and three European cities considering integration an agenda priority.

networks, Social Media, policy making, policy recommendations
Hakemisto

QuadBlogging - Connecting pupils through Quads

22 Huhtikuu 2013

QuadBlogging is a free online collaborative teaching tool created by British Primary School educator David Mitchell. The idea connects students with readers around the world, bringing together classes with blogs into a “quad” over four week cycles. Since its launch in September 2011, more than 100,000 pupils have been involved in QuadBlogging from 3,000 classes in 40 countries.

The idea developed by David Mitchell, who teaches at Haworth Primary School, in Bolton, is based on the fact that a blog needs an audience to keep learners engaged. Too often blogs wither away leaving the learners frustrated and bored. Quadblogging gives students’ blogs a truly authentic and global audience.

 

The system is quite simple: teachers sign up online, and shortly after their class will be allocated a quad with other four schools/classes. Students will then start commenting on each other's blogs in an organised fashion.

 

Each week one blog is the focus blog, with the other three classes visiting and commenting during that week. Over the course of a month, every blog gets read and commented. Along the way, students learn about respectful online communication. The four week cycle is then repeated. However, this time, pupils know what is coming and they will work harder to have interesting content in their blog.

 

QuadBlogging has been mentioned very highly in recent OfSTED Reports in the UK and praised for offering opportunities for “profound impact in developing pupils’ team working, communication and problem-solving skills.”

collaborative learning, collaborative learning, innovation, collaborative networks, networks
Uutiset

Join the first LinkedUp Challenge: Veni

11 Huhtikuu 2013

The first of three LinkedUp Challenges is now open! 'Come' participate in the Veni competition, which promotes the innovative use of linked and open data in an educational context.

Researchers, students, developers and businesses...and anyone interested is invited to the first installment of the LinkedUp Challenge: 'Veni'. Participants must build prototypes, demos and innovative tools that exploit, use, integrate or analyse large scale web data for educational use.

 
Handsome prizes will be awarded to the best ideas and solutions regarding the use of linked and open data in education. But that's not the only incentive — work with a large, documented repository of linked datasets that the LinkedUp team is putting together, offering access to resources that have thus far not been made public. The competition also serves as a great excuse to network with a large community of practitioners, researchers, and more. 
 
The LinkedUp team has already identified and connected many educational and non-educational resources, but participants can also use and connect their own material or other data sources. Anyone is free to showcase their creativity and solutions as long as the application is relevant to education in the broadest sense of the word.
Find out more about the LinkedUp challenge here.
 
March 2013: Launch of the Challenge
May 2013: Release of the comprehensive LinkedUp dataset
27 June 2013: Submission deadline
1 September 2013: Notifications and Nominations
17 September 2013: Presentations and award ceremony
Linked Learning, collaborative networks, networks

unX: Ibero-American Digital Entrepreneurs' Network

25 Maaliskuu 2013
networks, collaborative learning, collaborative learning, MOOCs, open education, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and digital competence
Hakemisto

unX: Learning Network for Ibero-American Entrepreneurs

25 Maaliskuu 2013

unX is the first Ibero-American community that offers collaborative and open learning to digital entrepreneurs. Through unX, entrepreneurs can access MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) relevant to their career needs. 

networks, collaborative learning, collaborative learning, MOOCs, open education, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and digital competence
Hakemisto

Assessment of Learning in Digital Social Networks

07 Maaliskuu 2013

This paper summarizes ATC21S assessments for ICT Literacy, including a description of data (collected in Fall 2011 studies in Australia, Finland, Singapore and the U.S.) and discussion on how assessment outcomes can be reported. ATC21S aims to help educators around the world equip students with 21st century skills to succeed in career and college goals, including problem-solving, digital literacy and working together in learning communities.

eSkills, new skills, Skills, networks, collaborative networks, ICT
Tapahtumat

CeBIT 2013

22 Helmikuu 2013

 

CeBIT is the world's largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environments. The key target groups are users from industry, the wholesale/retail sector, skilled trades, banks, the services sector, government agencies, science and all users passionate about technology.
CeBIT offers an international platform for comparing notes on current industry trends, networking, and product presentations. Deutsche Messe AG has organized CeBIT in Hannover each spring since 1986.

 

Hannover, Germany. With some three months yet to go before the gates open on CeBIT 2013 (5–9 March), the organizers at Deutsche Messe are already confident of a successful event which is bound to attract solid attendance thanks to an outstanding program. This was the message conveyed by Frank Pörschmann, the member Deutsche Messe’s Managing Board responible for CeBIT, when he spoke in Hannover on 27 November: “We expect a high-powered CeBIT 2013 which will consolidate its position as the world’s leading high-tech event. This time we are putting an increased focus on interactivity as we invest in enhancements designed to add even more quality to this premium event.”
 
“Making ‘Shareconomy’ the lead theme puts the spotlight on one of the sector’s most pivotal trends”, remarked Pörschmann. Shareconomy addresses the sharing the collective benefits of knowledge, expertise and contacts, as well as the shared use of documents, infrastructures, products and services. Internet and the sweeping wave of social communication have facilitated the sharing of information and goods, and made it more proftitable. The Shareconomy leads to greater transparency, encourages participation and is responsible for the creation of numerous new business models. Many businesses find themselves on the cusp of redefining themselves. Processes and channels of communcation – both internal and external – need to be reshaped to accommodate new patterns and realities, and this, in turn, calls for changes in corporate culture and approach. This obviously takes time and trust, however the outlook for those who take action is positive. The many new ideas emerging in today’s Shareconomy era are destined to fundamentally change the world we live in.
 
As Pörschmann continued: “The keynote themes addressed by CeBIT reflect all of today’s hottest industry trends.” Building on the success of recent years, the upcoming show will retain its four-pillared approach and feature another high-caliber round of CeBIT Global Conferences. Of course, Shareconomy is only one of several core themes. Considerable attention will also be paid to sweeping trends such as Mobility, the Cloud, Big Data, Social Business and the Internet of Things. Pörschmann explained: “The huge upsurge in mobility would be unthinkable without cloud technology. The volume of data which needs to be transmitted is going to skyrocket, not least due to social business and the Internet of Things. Consequently, we can expect exponential growth in the challenges which will need to be tackled by the ICT industry. CeBIT is the only trade fair which gives attendees a total grasp of the fast-changing world of digital technology. The mix of themes covered is right on target, and this is one of the reasons why CeBIT continues to hold steady despite ongoing global economic turbulence.
 
By self-definition, CeBIT is positioned to serve both the developers and suppliers of digital solutions as well as their users. One of the show’s main objectives is to provide the best possible strategic support to the various market players and help them overcome the global challenges they face. Knowledge transfer and cross-sector polination play a major role, as does the acquisition of all the right talent.
 
Alongside its four platforms (pro, gov, lab and life), CeBIT 2013 will place a stronger-than-ever focus on its lineup of conferences and the interactive transfer of know-how. The show will also place greater emphasis on promoting innovations and start-ups. As in the past, CeBIT 2013 will address such highly topical issues as the shortage of skilled labor, the recruitment of next-generation employees and the need for more women in senior management. One addition to the CeBIT Global Conferences program will be the so-called Open Stage presentations. Another new addition is the CeBIT Innovation Award given by Deutsche Messe and the German Ministry of Education and Research in recogniation of highly intuitive, user-friendly solutions. In 2013 the start-up competition Code_n is expected to build on the success of its premiere. This time round it will take place under the motto “Smart Solutions for Global Challenges”. 250 participants from 35 countries have already registered for the competition. The 50 most innovative start-ups will have the opportunity to present their solutions to CeBIT’s highly international audience next March. Furthermore, CeBIT 2013 will offer more opportunites than ever for potential employers and promising job candidates to get together, also thanks to the brand-new Recruiting Business Center for confidential talks and negotiations. The TectoYou initiative designed to get young people interested in technical careers will also be making its debut at CeBIT.
 
For added appeal to the many top managers from various disciplines who attend the show, tailored programs are now being offered especially for marketing, HR and financial executives, and the House of CIOs will be hosting some 500 leading figures from around the world.
 
The Partner Country to be honored at CeBIT 2013 is Poland, which will be presenting over 200 companies and organizations on more than 3,000 square meters of space across a total of eight exhibition halls. “Visitors to CeBIT can look forward to an impressive and surprising showcase by Poland”, remarked Pörschmann.
innovation, Information Technology, networks
Hankkeet

Learning languages by talking about nature

21 Helmikuu 2013

This project aims at developing English language skills among students and teachers, break down cultural barriers and stereotypes, and help young people find where they belong in the modern world, with special attention given to educational and job prospects.

We intend to achieve the above-mentioned aims by undertaking a project on the history of the local communities, while putting a strong emphasis on the role the minerals extracted in the area play - the stone "Pińczak" in Pińczów and oil in Ploesti, which have been important in shaping the history of both towns and have had a profound influence on their development and the lives of their inhabitants.

 

Various aspects in relation to extraction and processing of the natural resources will be examined: economic development of the towns from the earliest years, settlement and migrations determined by the presence of the minerals, trade exchange with the outside world, everyday life, customs, culture and art of the people belonging to the stone or oil trade.

 

The project is intended to implement joint undertakings in the form of practical and open-air activities, both in Pińczów and Ploiesti. It includes getting to know local natural environment, industrial centres and historical places connected with the local minerals. We will be meeting people whose professional lives (stoneworkers, research centre and university workers) and artistic lives (sculptors) are bound up with stone and oil.

 

The project is aimed at pupils aged 13-15. Implementation of the project will be based on using modern information technologies: Power Point and Movie Maker presentations, interactive whiteboards, real-time Internet text messaging (chat rooms), blogs and social network services.

 

language learning, networks, Social Media, collaborative learning, collaborative learning
Blogit

Web 2LLP Strategy and Social Media Training

15 Helmikuu 2013
Lifelong Learning Programme, networks, lifelong elearning