digital
Open Innovation 2.0 – A New Paradigm
Marking the successful conclusion of the Open Innovation 2.0 Conference held in Dublin on 20-21 May 2013, the EU Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group (OISPG) have released the paper entitled “Open Innovation 2.0 – A New Paradigm”, which outlines the key emerging characteristics and practices of Open Innovation 2.0 (OI2) and how it can practically help address key European challenges.
The OI2 paper and the Dublin Innovation Declaration were the key outputs from the Open Innovation 2.0 Conference in Dublin. The paper outlines key emerging characteristics of the new Open Innovation 2.0 paradigm, whilst the Declaration outlines 10 key actions to advance progress in the EU towards achieving the Europe 2020 goals of smart, inclusive and sustainable growth.
3rd Corporate Universities & Ac@demies Summit
At this large-scale event, consisting of 2-day summit and 1-day post-conference workshop, 25+ forward-looking top-level experts will focus mainly on creative design and development of corporate universities, management and leadership skills for a successful mature corporate universities. Furthermore participants will benefit from 3 parallel streams, smaller group discussions and one-of-a-kind digital learning, learning technology & corporate education exhibition.
SmartCulture
The SmartCulture project aims to analyse, stimulate and promote pioneering and engaging digital experiences, transforming passive audiences of cultural heritage into active practitioners.
Most of the eight regions involved in the SmartCulture project have a very high population, a very rich cultural heritage, as well as a dynamic contents production, and all of them have a strong relationship to European Capitals of Culture, as winners or candidates.
The consortium will promote the creation of engaging digital experiences for access to cultural resources by the cross fertilization between ICT enterprises, Creative and Cultural Industries (especially SMEs) and research stakeholders across Europe. This cross fertilization will lead to new opportunities and good practices for innovative digital access to cultural resources and digital cultural mediation.
These challenges fully comply with the objectives of the Work Program for ICT of the FP7 and the EU Work Plan for Culture 2011-2014 and with the conclusions of the Green Paper on Cultural and Creative Industries.
UK Survey of Academics 2012
The UK Survey of Academics 2012 examines the attitudes and behaviours of academics at higher education institutions across the United Kingdom. Published in May 2013, the objective of the study is to provide the entire sector with timely findings and analysis that help them plan for the future.
The survey, funded and guided by Jisc and Research Libraries UK and conducted by Ithaka S+R, covers a range of areas: from how academics discover and stay abreast of research, to their teaching of undergraduates; how they choose research topics and publication channels, to their views on learned societies and university libraries, and their collections.
The Survey of Academics 2012 confirms that the open web is the first port of call for academics starting research. It also confirms that libraries have an important role to play in both surfacing open content on the web and ensuring open content is accessible through library systems.
Key findings include:
Access limitations – While 86% of respondents report relying on their college or university library collections and subscriptions, 49% indicated that they would often like to use journal articles that are not in those collections.
Use of open resources - If researchers can’t find the resources or information they need through their university library, 90% of respondents often or occasionally look online for a freely available version.
The Internet as starting point – 40% of researchers surveyed said that when beginning a project they start by searching the Internet for relevant materials, with only 2% visiting the physical library as a first port of call.
Following one’s peers – The findings suggest that the majority of researchers track the work of colleagues and leading researchers as a way of keeping up to date with developments in their field.
Emergence of e-publications – The findings show that e-journals have largely replaced physical usage for research, but that contrasting views exist on replacement of print by e-publications, where print still holds importance within the Humanities and Social Sciences and for in-depth reading in general.
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.