A Collaboration & Learning Environment to Enable to be a University Leader in Education Innovation

/by

Delft University of Technology was founded 176 year ago as an engineering school. It is a traditional brick-and-mortar university in engineering, science and design with 24,000 students on campus. In 2014 the executive board embraced the online learning development and started the innovation programme on open and online education (TU Delft, 2014). The objectives of the programme are to educate the world and enhance the quality of education (for both the online and campus programmes). This new programme combined with the changing needs in campus education required a new learning management system (LMS) that is both flexible and stable in a rapidly changing world.

Part of enhancing the quality was selecting a new LMS for both our campus and online students. TU Delft was using Blackboard since 1999 and it was time for a change. In the preparation for the European tender process we organized pilots with some of the popular platforms in the market to use that experience in formulating our tender document. Three important lessons we learned from this:
• The implementation is much more important than the system.
• We need a system that is not only easy to use, but also very advanced in its capabilities.
• We should look for a partner that will work together with us to enhance our education.

For the tender we used a Best Value Procurement, which is a new method of tendering. Instead of listing all your requirements, you describe your vision, mission, strategy and conditions and the suppliers are asked to come up with their best possible solution. Desire2Learn with the Brightspace Learning Platform delivered the best proposal. As Ovum (Johal, 2016) concluded Brightspace is the #1 LMS for next-generation online teaching and learning. As part of our project we decided to brand the system as Collaboration & Learning Environment (CLE) to emphasize the goal of the project. It is not about the management, it is about the collaboration between teachers and students and learning of students.

A Digital Learning Ecologies Conceptual Framework in the Microsystem of Online Higher Education

/by

The field of online and distance learning (ODL) has expanded exponentially in the networked society becoming part of mainstream higher education practices and a catalyst for both reform and educational transformation, ushering in new pedagogical models of open and distance learning through the affordances of networked information and communication technology.

The guiding research problem recognizes an urgent need to think more holistically and critically about online learning across a variety of contexts, and deliberately consider the interconnections between institutionalized learning and the informal, incidental and tacit learning that happens in contexts outside of formal environments.

This paper presents a conceptual framework that contributes to the literature base on student experiences of learning in online higher education, seeking to broaden understanding of ecological approaches and student experiences of online learning. A digital learning ecologies conceptual framework is introduced as an organizational scheme, extending from Brofrenbrenner’s (1979) ecosocial system model, that can be used as a guiding heuristic and analytical model for researching and conceptualizing student learning in virtual contexts across a continuum of learning formality. It presents conceptual findings useful in examining the role of emerging digital learning ecologies in online higher education, analysing the individual microsystem dimensions of students in relation to their digital learning ecologies that offer opportunities for learning.

A New Approach to Digital Competence Building for University Educators in Europe

/by

Since the mid 1990’s, the exponentially growing adoption of digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) in everyday life has resulted in new social dynamics and reconfigured opportunities for access to expertise and knowledge transfer. This has important implications for teaching and learning processes, for example through participatory cultures and open educational practices. The potential benefits of this include opportunities for informal and peer-to-peer learning, a new attitude toward intellectual property, diversification of cultural expression, a better dialogue around skills valued in the workplace, and a more proactive conception of citizenship.

However, to fully enjoy these benefits, a number of challenges need to be overcome, including unequal opportunities for participation, low media literacy and ethical issues (Jenkins et al., 2015). To address these challenges, it is essential to carefully reconsider the knowledge, skills and attitudes that must be at the core of contemporary learning experiences and, based on that, expand the key attributes that educators should possess in order to meaningfully support learners – across all age groups – in becoming competent professionals and engaged citizens in a networked world.

Therefore, it is crucial for institutions and governments to understand how to better design professional development opportunities and capacity building programmes for academics at various career stages. A number of generic frameworks redefining the idea of literacy in a digital world have emerged over the last few years out of different disciplines, schools of thought and professional sectors (Ala-Mukta, 2011). As a consequence, the range of competences, levels of proficiency, scope and terminology is extremely varied. More specifically, some proposals have attempted to identify the attributes and qualities that are particularly relevant to academics at various levels (Redecker, 2017; UNESCO, 2011). Ultimately what is at stake is the (re)definition of what it means to be an educator in the context of contemporary educational institutions, what students need to learn and how they can best learn in contemporary networked societies.

Communication and Interaction in a Blog-Based Learning Space

/by

This study is an exploratory case that follows one course offering in an attempt to trace the way the space either constrains or enhances communication and participation in an open, online course offered using a variety of social networking tools.

As social technologies are designed with an architecture of participation how the learners use the spaces afforded to them, to both communicate with each other and engage with the learning content were examined.

Content and structural analysis were conducted of blog posts and comments using a modified coding scheme based on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model to look for patterns of participation and cultural production.

Enhancing Teachers’ Intercultural Conflict Management Competences through Digital Game-Based Learning: A Pedagogical Framework

/by

With the recent immigration flows, diversity has become a structural characteristic of European societies.

The growing proportion of students with a migrant background implies a series of challenges for the education systems in most member states: diversity leads to educational disparities between dominant cultural groups and immigrant students; also, discrimination and intercultural conflicts have become significant phenomena at school.

Teacher education programs do not seem to adequately address those challenges. Hence, there is a growing need to prepare educators to effectively deal with diversity and to build bridges towards migrant communities.

In the context of the ACCORD project (Erasmus+ programme), this paper proposes a pedagogical framework aiming to prepare teachers to take an active stand against intercultural conflicts. Through an open online course using scenario-based learning and game-based learning, teachers will develop competences in terms of intercultural literacy, inclusive
education and conflict management.

A preliminary study, based on national focus groups conducted in five European countries, allowed for confronting the pedagogical framework to teachers’ views and practices. Results allowed for validating and refining the ACCORD competence areas, pedagogical approaches and digital tools.

Characteristics of Digital and Network Society: Emerging Places and Spaces of Learning

/by

Network society is a term by Jan van Dijk which came first into being in 1991 with his book DeNetwerkmaatschappij (1991) (The Network Society) and by Manuel Castells in The Rise of the Network Society(1996), the first part of his trilogy The Information Age. It is describing the social, political, economic and cultural changes induced by the spread of networked, digital technologies. The intellectual origins of the idea can betraced back to the work of early social theorists such as Georg Simmel who analysed the effect of modernizationand industrial capitalism on complex patterns of affiliation, organization, production and experience. An additional underlying theoretical perspective can be taken from system theory as Luhmann formulated it when he defined societal systems as constituted on bases of communication and interaction (Luhmann, 1996). More recently, in Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age, Castells (2011) takes up the subject of networked social movements with reference to the Arab Spring and other movements.

H5P Content types

/by

H5P makes it easy to create interactive content by providing a range of content types for various needs. Preview and explore these content types below.

You can create interactive content by adding the H5P plugin to your WordPress, Moodle or Drupal site, or integrate it via LTI with Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard and many other VLEs that supports LTI integration.

Digital Communication Online Communication for Digital Entrepreneurship

/by

The Module ‘Digital Communication’ is structured in four units, each dedicated to a key issue related to online communication specific to digital entrepreneurship. The first Didactic Unit approaches the main aspects of Managing a Virtual team: defining a team, how the structure of the team is influenced by the physical location of each member, which are the main success and failure factors, how to organize effective virtual meetings and what technology can be used.

‘Cross-cultural Communication Issues’ is the second unit of the module, introducing the learner to the main aspects and concerns related to culture-specific issues which can influence the way people act and communicate in a professional setting.

The six cultural dimensions as defined in Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory are proposed as the starting point for a better understanding of the factors which might lead to culture-related issues. However, instead of proposing one-size-fits-all solutions, this unit is promoting a rather open and flexible approach, encouraging the virtual team manager to gather feedback from the team members themselves and embed it into the team’s charter and ground rules.

The third unit, ‘Conflict Resolution in Virtual Environment’ introduces the learner to the main types of conflicts that can arise while working with virtual teams, their most frequent causes, conflict management styles and a step-by-step guide on solving such conflicts. The last unit, ‘E-negotiating’ covers the main basic points specific to negotiation using electronic means, providing an overview of the topic, along of a list of pros and cons and a set of practical tips.

 

 

Micro-credentials linked to the Bologna Key Commitments

/by

The MICROBOL project engages ministries and stakeholders involved in the Bologna Follow-up Group to explore whether and how the existing EHEA tools can be used and/or need to be adapted to be applicable to micro credentials. The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is a unique international collaboration on higher education and the result of the political will of 49 countries which, step by step during the last twenty years, have built an area implementing a common set of commitments structural reforms and shared tools (European Higher Education Area and Bologna Process – www.ehea.info). For this reason, the project focuses its efforts on national qualifications frameworks, QF-EHEA and ECTS as they are one of the key bases for transparency in European
Higher Education Area, while acknowledging the existence of other frameworks such as European qualifications frameworks for lifelong learning across EU member countries.

In the framework of the project 3 working groups on the 3 Bologna key commitments – Quality Assurance, recognition and QF & ECTS – have been established with nominated representatives of the EHEA countries. The 3 working groups had a kick-off on the 1st of September 2020 and two extensive meetings in the first semester of 2021, in January and May 2021. The first meeting of the working groups on QA, recognition and QF & ECTS focused on identifying challenges in the applicability of Bologna tools to micro-credentials, while the second meeting focused on identifying possible solutions.

 

Learning Nurse e-Learning Center

/by

This e-Learning Center has several sections. First, a section for eCourses. Currently, we have courses on documentation, professional development, LPN Code of ethics, and pressure ulcers. We also have some micro learning nuggets on how to prevent common nursing mistakes. Please click on the appropriate item below to access the relevant page of information.