collaborative learning
Networked Learning: Call for papers
The Networked Learning in Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Professional Development Conference, which will take place at the University of Edinburgh, 7-9 April 2014, is now accepting paper submissions.
The 9th Edition of this international conference will provide a place for researchers and practitioners involved in network learning to meet and exhange ideas. Keynote Speakers will include Professor Neil Selwyn & Professor Steve Fuller. All submissions will be peer reviewed, and accepted papers published in conference proceedings.
Further details on submission at:
http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/call/themes.htm
Full Conference Details can be found at: http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/
Teaching 4.0 - Graphic Expression in Construction OCW
The concept Teaching 4.0 is the result of uniting the use of participatory networks, online tools and digital content available in the Internet, and adding educational material generated by teachers in traditional media (offline) and using ICTs (online).
The Universitat de les Illes Balears (Spain) is a pioneer in the implementation of this 4.0 concept, where professor Antonio Fernández-Coca combines face-to-face teaching, following the traditional parameters, with the external support of relationship marketing and ICT tools (such as online videos and social networks) to produce specific content aiming to support teaching in an open and shareable way.
The Teaching 4.0 website developed by professor Fernández-Coca shares the learning and teaching materials produced under a Creative Commons licence for the subject Graphic Expression in Construction, part of the UIB’s Construction Engineering degree curriculum.
Teaching 4.0 is the winner of the Universia Open Course Ware 2012 contest, organised by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports and Universia.
Click here to see a video where professor Fernández-Coca explains his Teaching 4.0 concept (in Spanish).
Five new partners join the FutureLearn MOOCs platform
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.
ICELW
ICELW works to improve online learning so that it makes a measurable difference in workplace performance and morale. Anyone with an interest or background in workplace eLearning is invited to attend and participate in the conference, which will take place in New York City from the 12-14 of June 2013.
The ICELW program cover a variety of topics relating to e-learning in the workplace and the use of technology to improve job performance, in the form of demonstrations, mini-seminars, case studies, interviews, debates, presentations, and panel discussions.
MOOCs are More Social than You Believe
We report about two ongoing studies, which challenge the individualistic model of MOOC based learning. MOOC usage is embedded in the context of collocated study groups.
The ability to pause a lecture and discuss its contents with peers creates learning opportunities. Learning by explaining has been proved effective through many empirical studies. We investigate the best way to configure these study groups with different tools.
European MOOC Summit
Many European universities are engaging in MOOCs-related initiatives. Some host their MOOCs on US platforms, while others are developing their own platforms. What strategies do European universities employ?
The École Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) will host a meeting in June in preparation for the Fall 2013 Summit regarding Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at European Universities.
The questions to be discussed include:
Why do European Universities engage in MOOCs? In which languages are they produced? Which audiences are targeted? How effective have the first MOOCs experiences in Europe been? Why should Europe have its own platform? How do MOOCs build upon existing online learning activities? How do regional, national or European governments see their role? What is the impact on mobility of European students? Which research initiatives are launched in Europe? What are the new business opportunities?
Key actors will gather at EPFL for two days of sharing information. On the first day, participants will have 5-10 minutes to present the state of affairs in his or her institution, i.e., what has been achieved so far and what are the key challenges. The second day will be structured around the themes that will emerge from the first day, such as those mentioned above.