Highlights

Conference Highlights for 2011 included:

• SHIFTS IN LEARNING CULTURE – THE RESEARCH-BASED EVIDENCE

Research suggests that learners’ needs are changing and the culture of how we learn is continuously shifting and developing. Corrado Petrucco, University of Padua, Italy, examined innovative ways to contextualise teaching in Digital Storytelling for Math Learning. Muhammad Khan, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia outlined the increasing use of online distance learning courses and how to develop and implement an LMS effectively.

Sann René Glaza, Toyota Motor Europe, Belgium, presented Building Technical Competency at Toyota Motor Europe to Drive Competitive Advantage Across Europe. In an interactive OEB Learnshop-style workshop, Debbie Lawley, Willow Learning Ltd, UK, invited attendees to consider an alternative way to look at learning strategies within organisations.

• CONTENTS, TOOLS & PRACTICES

Shifts in learning cultures, together with the development and use of more innovative technology in learning, provide greater scope for variety in content, tools and practices than ever before.

Armin Hottmann, viducate network, Kulturring in Berlin e.V., Germany, gave delegates the chance to get interactive with video as he presented an OEB Lab session From Video to Social Video: Supporting Learning in Formal Education, while Oliver Heidmann, Centre for Research and Technology Thessaly, Greece, demonstrated the advantages of game-based technology in developing analytical and critical thinking skills.

Inspired by last year’s conference, Nestor Ceron, National Instruments, UK, began to analyse the effectiveness of his organisation’s training programme. This year, he presented his findings in How to Create Customer Value by Using Assessments. Hands-on experience in the development and practical implementation of interactive resources for business education could be gained as Uwe Spangler, IE Business School, Spain, facilitated an OEB Lab session Business Education Multimedia Documentation: Come and Play Lab.

• NEW LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Technology is continuously developing in new directions, thereby changing the environments in which we learn. Social media is becoming an embedded aspect of most people’s lives and teachers are faced with the challenge of integrating these technologies into their practice. Sharon Stoerger, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, USA, explored the use of social media in the classroom in This is What Learning Looks Like: Using Analytic Tools to Visualise Classroom Twitter Conversations.

In Learning by Blogging, Kjell Atle Halvorsen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, examined the use of blogs in personalised and collaborative learning. Eunhee Jung, IVECA International Virtual Schooling, USA, examined an electronically-facilitated intercultural exchange programme in Tradition Makes Innovative Learning Work: Pedagogy in Intercultural Virtual Exchange of Classroom Activities (IVECA).

In an innovative session, Pasi Vilpas, Sotunki Distance Learning Centre, Finland, presented Teaching Genetics in The Second Life with a Large Scale 3D-Model of DNA. Gaming technology has been in the spotlight for some years now, yet uptake in educational practices can still be problematic. A lively discussion evolved as Rob Nadolski, Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC), The Netherlands and Jannicke Baalsrud-Hauge, University of Bremen / Jacobs University, Germany, asked Game Over? What Hampers a Major Uptake of Serious Games?

• NEW PRACTICES DRIVING NEW POLICIES AND PROCESSES

With new technologies come new possibilities in education and learning. As learning cultures shift and develop, we must examine how to transform our education systems. ICT-based education has often been hailed as providing the means for a revolution in educational methods, access and quality. However, is this true in the developing world? Wim De Boer, VVOB Ecuador, invited delegates to an interactive Learning Café session which examined What Works in ICT Integration in Developing Countries? Proven Strategies Discussed.

Innovators, researchers, policy makers and practitioners need to keep track of emerging signs of change in order to anticipate trends and opportunities. Focusing on the role of universities and implications of social learning for the corporate sector, Christian Voigt, Zentrum für Soziale Innovation – ZSI, Austria, lead a discussion and debate entitled Signs on the Wall: Reading Indicators of Change to Inform Your TEL Strategies.

New technology has the potential to transform education in rural areas. Anu Pruikkonen, Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences, Finland, examined online adult education in At Its Best: Optimal Integration of Support in E-Learning Effort.

• LEARNING TRANSFORMING SOCIETY

As technology develops and alters how we access learning, it can also enable the increased participation of those who may otherwise be excluded. Ayman Mansour Murad, United Nations Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA), Jordan, presented ICT for Palestine Refugees' Education and Development: UNRWA Case, while Katrin Proschek, Georg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, Germany, looked at the challenges of a multicultural working environment in Analysis of a Multi-Disciplinary and Intercultural Russian/German Cooperative Teaching Project.

Suzanne Mordue, British Council, UK, explored how technology can enhance access to language learning in Handheld Learning: Language Training Through Mobile Phones and Handheld Devices.

• DEMONSTRATION AND BEST PRACTICE SHOWCASE SESSIONS

ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN’s Demonstration and Best Practice Showcase sessions offer delegates the opportunity to learn from best practice in action. Ole Smørdal, University of Oslo, Norway, showcased a framework for connecting virtual and real learning spaces in MIRACLE & the Science Hub. Peter Blaschke, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden, showcased educational resource management in The Media Portal: Gateway to the Collective OER, and Aleksej Heinze, University of Salford, UK, examined vocational programmes in Enterprise Cultural Heritage Community and Learning Material.

• ONLINE EDUCA DEBATE

This year, we were discussing the effect of new technology on freedom and the potential consequences for education. The motion was:

“This house expresses its concern about the effect developments in technology are increasingly having on personal liberty and believes this will have serious consequences for learning in the future.”

There has been increasing discussion surrounding the freedom which new technological communication devices and methods can provide. For example, in the case of learning, mobile technologies and social networks can promote a widening in participation in education for those who may otherwise have been excluded and there has been a prominent increase in the use of these learning methods in recent years, notably in developing countries. However, there appears to be a downside to this so called ‘freedom’. With every interaction learners make with these technologies, more and more personal data is captured and user habits tracked. The major providers of these tools are storing and building personal data profiles and basic civil liberty rights and privacy are increasingly being compromised. Providers have the possibility to sell profiles to prospective interested third parties, such as employers, and even open source providers have an interest in data profiling, as they too can sell on the personal data collected. Further development of these technologies may end up being inhibited or halted if these liberty issues are not solved.