Can people be pushed into #mandatory #learning? Old myths in new mantra's #learning #pedagogy #instruction

Let's be clear: teachers still are not transforming into guides-on-the-side, contemporary-online-learning is not a fabulous learning utopia (we can build it, but we lack whom we want to reach) and pedagogy is now debilitated through new innovations in learning. At least that is my frustration of the day. Let me explain (picture credit: PhD comics.com).

As I am getting more into the 'AI helps people to be trained in a personalized way'-project (officially called the skills3.0 project, slides here), I am starting to feel uncomfortable with some of the ideas that emerge and resonate with false assumptions found 20 years ago:

• the old elearning assumption: if you build it, people will come (they did not, at best you need to market it ferociously in order to attract some worldwide learners - confer MOOCs). But when looking at the numbers and the degrees, it is still rather weak in terms of successful tailored learning resulting in professional learning enhancement. In most cases, MOOCs cover the basics, not the advanced side of professional topics.  
• another one: having to transform instructors (defined as sage-on-the-stage) to guides-on-the-side (something which is repeated by Norris Krueger in his blog article 'from instructor to educator' with a focus on entrepreneurial education). This idea of guide on the side stems from 1981, which means in the last 38 years we haven't managed to get there... this does show it is hard to expand people to embrace a different approach to learning. For in my opinion the best teachers have always been guides-on-the-side, they inspire their students and lift them to their own next level.  
• The debilitation of pedagogy: I cannot get around this tendency to oversimplify learning, and almost dismiss the proven, evidence-based pedagogy we - the learning researchers - established over the last 30 years. For years fellow researchers in online learning were testing, investigating, reiterating learning options, to see what worked best. And as soon as the market took over, all is reduced to .... classic courses, with one speaker who delivers knowledge but barely listens, clearly a sage-on-the-stage model (MOOCs) and all of us learners discussing and sharing knowledge with each other in the discussion areas in order to tailor what was said to our own situations (social learning, which actually happens in face-to-face courses as well). The only thing that is added to the sage-on-the-stage in most of the MOOC cases is 'fancy video' and a 'new type of Learning Management System' (cfr. Coursera, FutureLearn, EdX... they are basically LMS's with some extra's). Yes, some people learn from the hole in the wall, some do, but most of us don't. So why do learning data scientist and innovators in their new learning tools think that all of humanity will start to learn simply because they say: here it is, this will get you in a better career position. And even if this would be the case, please tell me who would have these actual magic courses, for who can build courses at the speed of the emerging, changing industry? And if we build them, who will be waiting, filled with anticipation and willingness to follow these courses?

I feel frustrated that learning is again be seen as simply a thing that all of us do, and for industry-related reasons. Honestly, I think most of us learn informally (proven!) and if we learn for professional reasons we need to be able to spend time on it (HR enabling time), and if we were to be allocated time to learn, it should be allocated in terms of our own capacity for learning, based on our own background in learning (using a holistic approach to pedagogies). 

In order to move forward with the Skills3.0 project, there are several elements that need to come together and make sense in order to scale the project as well. These elements are:

1. Using AI to filter out industry needs (which means you look at all the reports from industry, and analyse which new concepts arise from these reports to predict where the industry is going)
2. Using AI to analyse which true experiences (and related competencies and skills) a person has: based on LinkedIn profiles, current CV's...
3. Finding the skills gap between both previous steps: getting to know what people might be missing in order for them to answer to upcoming industry needs,
4. And finally pointing them to training/courses/workshops that might push them to be better for the future jobs. 

The project is taking off (see movie at the end, to see where we are at, I look a bit tired in it, or maybe simply older).
The last step is underestimated by most of the non-educational people. At present learning cannot be put into simple formula's, it is the complexity of life itself, it is why everything evolves in the long and in the short term, including us humans. 

All of the above steps of the Skills3.0 project are laudable. If this works, it has a broader societal meaning, you can even say it provides a way to direct people to a more fulfilling professional life. But... that feels like a Utopian emotion following new innovations. We can see how providing guidance to courses that will help each one of us to perform better, to enhance our careers, to find new professional challenges, ... is a good thing. The only problem is, that humans are also bound to their own learning characteristics (e.g. Big five personality traits, or more academically the learner characteristics guiding their own self-directed learning).

Simply providing courses might not be enough, we need coaching, workshops, orientational sessions which depict which types of learning will benefit you most (e.g. if we look for data science courses online, which ones are useful to each of us individually? that will depend on what we know, where we want to use them for, and how we learn (for me, numbers are a challenge)).

Whether we say learners must self-direct, or self-regulate or self-determine their learning, inevitably this means we are talking about learners that are willing to learn, and are capable of learning. Indeed, in the near future we will ask learners to learn at a speed that is ever increasing, meaning you need to be a really good learner to keep up with your own changing field. Can we do this? And if we can, how does it work?

Short video on the Skills3.0 project recorded during the WindEurope conference in Bilbao. Which will lead to 'building the workforce':

The impact of working to your heart's content #learningDesign #MobiMOOC #inclusivity

Last week was inspiring thanks to the company I was in and the ideas that were exchanged Thank you John Traxler for organizing this wonderful workshop! My presentation was part of a multiplier event for the European MOONLITE project, looking MOOC design for refugees and migrants. A couple of days ago I realized what an impact this event had and how it affected my well-being. So why did it feel meaningful? It was the mixture of being on the road, meeting up with like-minded peers (the importance of exploring the concept of inclusivity), and suddenly realizing I was in a workshop where all presenters were female… something one rarely finds oneself in outside of the gender-circuit or designated ‘all female sessions’.
All of these factors finally got me to break out of my social media silence and see how I want to move forward.

Realizing the impact of projects that evolve out of ‘just some idea’
MobiMOOC was the eight MOOC out there and focused on mobile learning, which was also a new topic for MOOCs in April 2011. The idea of organizing MobiMOOC just came out of a wild idea, having worked on mobile learning for Sub-Saharan countries, and because I loved the experience of CCK08 the first MOOC ever.
While I was rearranging my slides for this presentation, I realized that organizing MobiMOOC resulted in quite a lot of meaningful actions and connections. To give you some idea of what was said during the talk, I am adding my slide deck here.

MobiMOOC design of a community MOOC from Inge de Waard

Being on the road
I like being on the road (though - when happens too frequently - it takes a toll on family life, creating some imbalance at home). But being on the road somehow gives me ideas, and it puts me in a mindset that feels exhilarating. Although not as exciting as Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, I do feel it has something. To me, being on the road provides ideas, and it gives a feeling of being alive. I guess my ancestors have been populated with a lot of nomads, for instance, my great grandfather who sailed the seven seas as a cook on international boats since the age of 14, and there must have been more ancestors doing the same thing. Wanderers.

Being inspired by like-minded peers
It felt so good to be in the company of inspiring peers, and to feel my heart and soul being content.
It was wonderful to meet-up with Nell Bridges (great mind, wonderful home), to finally meet up with Gabi Witthaus (I still laugh out loud with the divorce anecdote you told me), meeting Marwa Belghazi, to share ideas with Agnes Kukulska-Hulme on what I would love to be paid for (simply sharing ideas, thinking, writing them down), to meet with the always warm-hearted Daniyar Sapargaliyev who is now living in the UK with his family, trying to provide ideal surroundings for his two young sons, and of course to listen and question John Traxler who always has a different and in-depth view on academia, on life, on creating a meaningful life.

Each day I was learning and I learned from all of them, as each person I met was truly inspiring. They walk the talk of inspiring people and they work to somehow make the world a better place. How wonderful is that!

It is fascinating how you can feel what makes you tick by being surrounded by people you connect with. But most of all, each person there told me about the importance of doing something you really like. Of putting yourself out there, in whatever capacity you can (all efforts are worthwhile), and of simply being yourself.

Call for Papers #CfP #AI #mLearning #MOOC in conferences #UNESCO @FedericaUniNa

January has started and three important calls for papers are coming up, all related to conferences. The three conferences are: eMOOCs2019 (on MOOCs), Mobile Learning week at UNESCO (focus on AI for development and mobile learning, and eLearning Africa (this year in Cote d'Ivoir), listed per deadline of the CfP.

Mobile learning week UNESCO (Paris, France): focus on AI for sustainable development

Call for proposals deadline: 11 January 2019
UNESCO Global AI Conference: Monday 4 March 2019
Policy Forum and Workshops: Tuesday 5 March 2019
Symposium: Wednesday 6 & Thursday 7 March 2019
Strategy labs & International Women’s Day: Friday 8 March 2019

Exhibits: Monday 4 to Friday 8 March 2019

More information: https://en.unesco.org/mlw/2019

UNESCO, in partnership with its confirmed partners – the International Telecommunication Union and the Profuturo Foundation – will convene a special edition of Mobile Learning Week (MLW) from 4 to 8 March 2019, at the UNESCO Headquarters building in Paris (France). The five-day event, under the theme ‘Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable development’ will start with the ‘Global Conference - Principles for AI: Towards a humanistic approach?’, followed by a one-day Policy Forum and Workshops, a two-day International Symposium and a half-day of Strategy Labs. On 8 March, towards the close of MLW, participants will be invited to join the celebration of International Women’s Day, particularly a debate on Women in AI to be held in UNESCO Headquarters. During the entire week, exhibitions and demonstrations of innovative AI applications for education and more than 20 workshops will be organized by international partners and all programme sectors of UNESCO.

eMOOCs 2019 in Napels, Italy

Deadline CfP: 14 January 2019.
Conference date:  May 20 – 22, 2019
More information: https://emoocs2019.eu/call-for-papers/overview/
Description
The Higher Education landscape is changing. As the information economy progresses, demand for a more highly, and differently, qualified workforce and citizens increases, and HE Institutions face the challenge of training, reskilling and upskilling people throughout their lives, rather than providing a one-time in-depth education. The corporate and NGO sectors are themselves exploring the benefits of a more qualified online approach to training, and are entering the education market in collaboration with HE Institutions, but also autonomously or via new certifying agencies. Technology is the other significant player in this fast-changing scenario. It allows for new, data-driven ways of measuring learning outcomes, new forms of curriculum definition and compilation, and alternative forms of recruitment strategy via people analytics.

At the MOOC crossroads where the three converge, we ask ourselves whether university degrees are still the major currency in the job market, or whether a broader portfolio of qualifications and micro-credentials may be emerging as an alternative. What implications does this have for educational practice? What policy decisions are required? And as online access eliminates geographical barriers to learning, but the growing MOOC market is increasingly dominated by the big American platforms, what strategic policy do European HE Institutions wish to adopt in terms of branding, language and culture?

The EMOOCs 2019 MOOC stakeholders summit comprises the consolidated format of Research and Experience, Policy and Business tracks, as well as interactive workshops. Original contributions that share knowledge and carry forward the debate around MOOCs are very welcome.

eLearning AFrica - Abidjan - Cote d'Ivoir

Deadline CfP: February 22, 2019.
Conference date: October 23 - 25, 2019
More information: https://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_cfp.php
Description
The 14^th edition of eLearning Africa, the International Conference & Exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development, which will take place in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire from October 23 - 25, 2019 and is co-hosted by the Government of Côte d'Ivoire. 

A unique event, Africa’s largest conference and exhibition on technology supported learning, training and skills development, eLearning Africa is a network of leading experts, professionals and investors, committed to the future of education & training in Africa.

Read more about the eLearning Africa 2019 theme, The Keys to the Future: Learnability and Employability, and become involved in shaping the conference agenda by proposing a topic, talk or session here.
Register today to profit from our Early Bird Rate

About eLearning Africa
Founded in 2005, eLearning Africa is the leading pan-African conference and exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development. The three day event offers participants the opportunity to develop multinational and cross-industry contacts and partnerships, as well as to enhance their knowledge and skills.
Over 13 consecutive years, eLearning Africa has hosted 17,278 participants from 100+ different countries around the world, with over 80% coming from the African continent. More than 3,530 speakers have addressed the conference about every aspect of technology supported learning, training and skills development.

#MOOC free report, event MOOC for refugees (w travel fund options) and #CfP eMOOC2019

Two interesting MOOC events coming up one focused on MOOCs for refugees, and one for all you out there involved in researching or experiencing MOOCs (the eMOOC2019 conference). 

Free MOOC report

Linked to the MOONLITE event, there is a free MOOC report (130 pages) on : “Exploiting MOOCs for Access and Progression into Higher Education Institutions and Employment Market”

The report gives an overview of the goals of the project, the methodology, and finishes with the practical recommendations for using online courses to enhance access and progression into higher education and the employment market (for refugees). 

MOONLITE multiplier event (part of a EU Erasmus+ project)

The MOONLITE event supports learning without borders, practically it harnesses the potential of MOOCs for refugees and migrants to build their language competences and entrepreneurial skills for employent, higher education, and social inclusion. 

There are bursaries to help cover your travel expenses which you can apply for at the venue!

23-24 November, UNED (Madrid, Spain).

Friday November 23

15:20. Welcome (Timothy Read & Elena Barcena, UNED, Spain)

15:30-16:30. Presentation of the MOONLITE project and its outputs (Jorge Arús-Hita, UCM, Spain & Beatriz Sedano, UNED, Spain)

16:30-17:30. Open Education Passports and Micro Credentials for refugees and migrants (Ildiko Mazar, Knowledge Innovation Centre, Malta)

17:30-18:00 Coffee

18:00-19:00 Kiron Educational Model and Quality Assurance for MOOC-based curricula (María Bloecher, Kiron, Germany)

Saturday November 24

10:00-11:00:  Inclusive by design: how MOOCs have the potential to reach people in ways other online courses do not (Kate Borthwick, University of Southampton, UK)

11:00-12:00: A tool for institutions for quantifying the costs & benefits of Open Education (Anthony Camilleri, Knowledge Innovation Centre, Malta)

12:00-12:30 Coffee

12:30-13:30: Workshop on how to design a socially inclusive MOOC (Elena Martín- Monje & Timothy Read, UNED, Spain)

13:30. Farewell (Timothy Read & Elena Barcena, UNED, Spain)

See travel details, online registration and more info here. No attendance fee. Limited places. 

➢ Sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/RXYWS8MiQgYqfLkC2 (to obtain attendance certificate, materials, coffee).

➢ Venue: C/ Juan del Rosal, 16 - 28040 Madrid. How to get there: Metro until the stop: “Ciudad Universitaria” + Bus “U” until

the stop: UNED-Juan del Rosal: http://www.ia.uned.es/llegar-etsii

Call for papers eMOOC2019

Dates: 20 - 22 May 2019 

Venue: University of Naples, Federico II in Italy

Important Dates:
16 Jan 2017: Paper submissions for Research Track.
24 Feb 2017: Notification of acceptance/rejection
20 Mar 2017: Camera-ready versions for Springer LNCS Proceedings and copyright form.

The Higher Education landscape is changing. As the information economy progresses, demand for a more highly, and differently, qualified workforce increases, and HE Institutions face the challenge of reskilling and upskilling people throughout their lives. The corporate and NGO sectors are themselves exploring the benefits of a more qualified online approach to training, and are entering the education market in collaboration with HE Institutions, but also autonomously or via new certifying agencies. Technology is the other significant player in this scenario. It allows for new, data-driven ways of measuring learning outcomes, new curriculum structures and alternative forms of recruitment strategy via people analytics.

MOOCs represent the crossroads where the three converge. Come to EMOOCs 2019 and explore the impact and future direction of open, online education on a social, political and institutional level.

The eMOOC summit has four tracks: research, business, policy and experience track.

At the MOOC crossroads: where academia and business converge

The Higher Education landscape is changing. As the information economy progresses, demand for a more highly, and differently, qualified workforce and citizens increases, and HE Institutions face the challenge of training, reskilling and upskilling people throughout their lives, rather than providing a one-time in-depth education. The corporate and NGO sectors are themselves exploring the benefits of a more qualified online approach to training, and are entering the education market in collaboration with HE Institutions, but also autonomously or via new certifying agencies. Technology is the other significant player in this fast-changing scenario. It allows for new, data-driven ways of measuring learning outcomes, new forms of curriculum definition and compilation, and alternative forms of recruitment strategy via people analytics.

At the MOOC crossroads where the three converge, we ask ourselves whether university degrees are still the major currency in the job market, or whether a broader portfolio of qualifications and micro-credentials may be emerging as an alternative. What implications does this have for educational practice? What policy decisions are required? And as online access eliminates geographical barriers to learning, but the growing MOOC market is increasingly dominated by the big American platforms, what strategic policy do European HE Institutions wish to adopt in terms of branding, language and culture?

The EMOOCs 2019 MOOC stakeholders summit comprises the consolidated four-track format of Research and Experience, Policy and Business. And will feature keynote speakers, round table and panel sessions as well as individual presentations in each track. The aim is for decision-makers and practitioners to explore innovative and emerging trends in online education delivery, and the strategic policy that supports them. Original contributions that share knowledge and carry forward the debate around MOOCs are very welcome.The number of HE institutions involved in MOOCs, and the numbers of courses and enrolled students, has increased exponentially in recent years both in Europe and beyond. One of the results of this growing MOOC movement is an increasing body of research evidence that positions itself within the established research communities in technology enhanced learning, open education and distance learning. Key trends that are accelerating HE technology adoption are blended learning design and collaborative learning as well as a growing focus on measuring learning and redesigning learning spaces, and, in the long-term, deeper learning approaches and cultures of innovation.

This track welcomes high-level papers supported by empirical evidence to provide a rigorous theoretical backdrop to the more practical approaches described in the experience track, and particularly invites contributions in the area of these key trends.

• Learning Designs – blended learning, collaborative learning, learner-generated content, open textbooks, immersive learning, relating course and content to learning outcomes
• Defining and Measuring learning – learning analytics, educational data mining, user behaviour studies, adaptive and personalisation studies, cognitive theories and deep learning
• Technology – infrastructure and interface, tools and methods to provide learning at scale; tools and methods for assessment; tools and methods for data collection and processing; blockchain technology; AI + automated feedback

Submission of Papers
This is a one-step process, via direct submission of abstract and full paper.

Full paper: up to 10 pages including references

There will be official conference proceedings for this track and submissions will be handled through EasyChair.

The use of the supplied Springer template is mandatory: https://www.springer.com/it/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines

Please remember to indicate the relevant Track when you submit your paper.

Proceedings

The Proceedings of the Research Track will be published by Springer in the Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) Series.
Submission of Work-in-Progress Short Papers

Short papers (up to 6 pages) are also accepted in this track, reflecting work in progress, for publication in Online proceedings with ISBN.

The use of the Springer template is mandatory:
https://www.springer.com/it/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines

When submitting your paper, please indicate type of paper and track in the submission process.

Proceedings

The Work-in-Progress proceedings will be submitted to CEUR-WS.org for online publication. Outstanding short papers may be included in the Springer Proceedings.

Important dates:
25 February 2019: Short Paper submissions for Research Track.
25 March 2019: Notification of acceptance/rejection
29 April 2019: Camera-ready versions for online Proceedings with ISBN and copyright form

In search for #AI for critical thinking in #education #criticalthinking #language

Who knows of Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives being developed to support critical thinking in education, or based on data text analysis and cognitive language use? Please drop me a line (or message). To give you an idea of what proceeded this question, I am providing some AI background, including my thoughts. A good read is the paper by Yeomans, Stewart, Mavon, Kindel, Tingley and Reich investigating "the civic mission of MOOCs: engagement across political differencess in online forums", which adds to the idea of using AI as a way to stimulate debate across opposing viewpoints, thus enhancing critical thinking (for those willing). 

AI to help human thinking processes

AI is rapidly expanding its reach: you have initiatives of meaningful curated content generated by AI into elearning (e.g. Wildfire http://www.wildfirelearning.co.uk/ ), you have legal research analysed and organised by AI (e.g. http://www.rossintelligence.com/ ), you have multiple AI molding social media interactions based on factors such as friends, exchanging ideas, similar content (sometimes opinions) shared… basically, industry is looking at AI as a means to refocus on less-repetitive parts of their business or profit goals (https://insidebigdata.com/2017/01/29/amplifying-human-potential-towards-purposeful-artificial-intelligence-a-perspective-for-cios/ ).

But, I am wondering whether there is research projects taking into account AI using text analysis but including cognitive language use to enhance critical thinking (for instance: if you have echo chambers, why not use AI to pick up frequently used arguments from ‘the other side’ to generate more in-depth arguments for either side. Or for those looking to become dominating world leaders (devils advocate here): creating something which goes beyond fake news: using arguments that feel right but actually are built using persuasive language construction to trigger a feeling of ‘that is right’ and parallels what a person thinks is morally correct (I said it was a devils advocate example :D )

AI in education

With all the talk on the new citizens needing to be ‘creative’ mindset above anything else, the creativity does not seem to emerge yet in AI, the focus is still more on rehashing what is already there, but with more focus on the norm by using AI in education (I could be wrong, feel free to provide arguments on why creativity is indeed boosted by AI in education).

A couple of examples where AI is used to boost learning, but along the lines of existing norms, nevertheless of interest.

Deep Knowledge Training. One of the interesting strands of AI in education research is Deep Knowledge Training (a good read is the 2015 paper by Piech, Bassen, Huang, Ganguli, Sahami, Guibas and Sohl-Dickstein https://web.stanford.edu/~cpiech/bio/papers/deepKnowledgeTracing.pdf ) this allows a machine to model the knowledge of a student as they interact with coursework. It can be used to extrapolate student performance for instance. This seems to be good, but you know that this is based on ‘what we expect of students’, which is not necessarily what could be good for humanity or social thinking.

Assessing future scores. Another example is the algorithm built by Google and Stanford which relates to a students learning ability (well more specifically how a student would answer questions) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3380374/The-end-exams-Algorithm-predict-students-answer-questions-explain-questions-wrong.html . Here as well, the learning seems to parallel taking exams… which does not seem to promote creative thinking.

IBM Watson for education (https://www.ibm.com/watson/education ). Starts from the idea of personalised learning (and passion, so I really love that starting point), but when I looked at the videos, the definition of personalised learning seemed to be limited to personal interests (in educator video), which limits the concept of personalised learning. And though it is good to provide skill-level content, if the content base you pull it from is standard…. The standards will again be the norm, which does not necessarily result in creative ideas or insights.

AI based on language data

One example I found using AI in relation to natural language processing is NexLP (https://www.nexlp.com/ ) (quoting from their page: “leveraging the latest advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Cognitive Analytics, and Machine LearningㅡStory Engine turns disparate, unstructured data - including email communications, business chat messages, contracts and legal documents - into meaningful insight that can be used to act, as well as combined with structured data to create a truly comprehensive view of the entire data universe.) and the people behind NexLP state that they use cognitive analysis to add more context to the actual text analysis”.

But when looking at it, it seems more of an enhanced interactive dashboard at first glance. This means it feels more like a quantifiable AI implementation than a qualitive one. One of the solutions to filter meaningful content is wikification (where you link entities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_linking ) which seems to be an effective way to add context to text analytics technology (https://www.nexlp.com/blog/2017/12/26/nlp-technology-architecture )

Past fake news or beyond critical thinking

The term fake news is now a given in many politician’s speech, both in its originally intended definition, as well as in popular debate where it functions as a way to ridicule and diminish the truth or value of an argument by an opposing person. But maybe we can turn this around. Create algorithms that can be used to enhance our debating skills, our critical thinking by generating arguments that are most frequently used by groups gently opposing our views. I mention gently opposing, as persuasive arguments are rarely harsh, completely opposing arguments.

I see this as a possible way to tear down the echo chambers created by filter bubbles, and build bridges. Or at least get a conversation started.  

Feel free to share your thoughts or link to examples.

Picture from http://cdn.nanalyze.com/uploads/2017/08/mckinsey.jpg 

360 camera use in online/blended courses #elearning #IDesign #MOOC

Sometimes simple instructional design tools can add to the efficiency of learning in an online or blended course. One of the simple options is using a 360° camera to immerse learners in a specific setting providing a more indepth learning context. Creating, using and providing a 360° experience has a long standing use especially with artists who wanted to use multiple visual angles to create a more captivating piece of art using multiple mirrors.

At the same time, using 360° cameras to give contemporary (MOOC) learners a better idea of what is meant by specific descriptions is now being fully tested in online courses. The real-life example provided a bit further down, relates to a MOOC on Climbing and the effect of using 360° videos to instruct online learners (comparing fully online with blended learners and the effect of those videos... really great research read!).

Description 

The 360° camera is a camera which records or captures visuals in a 360° field (so the entire sphere). This offers the viewer the ability to move through the full panorama by choosing a specific or multiple viewing directions, using either a keyboard, pointers or by simply tilting their head in the direction they want to view when using Virtual Reality glasses.

360° camera functionality

As a 360 degrees camera will allow you to capture a scene or setting with a 360° angle, this means you - as a learner - can manipulate what you see with your keyboard or mobile phone buttons and get a full visual overview of ... for instance an engineering plant, the inside of an ambulance which is filled with medical equipment, a specific controller room, an event where all of the surrounding areas are of importance to the learner... all shown from one particular point in that space (that being where the picture or movie is taken) but enabling the learner to shift through that space to see all of the potentially interesting features as they can be seen in real life.

An example of this can be seen here, which depicts a room at the Gaudi Exhibition Center in Barcelona, Spain, where I took a picture of a historical artist set-up for 3D capturing (old style). You can see the whole room by using the pointers at the bottom of the picture frame.

Today the 360° camera can be purchased at a reasonable price (e.g. Ricoh Theta S) which allows you to make pictures as well as 360 degrees videos. Although these more reasonably priced camera's come with some restrictions (e.g. size of the videos), they are a good testing board to see what you can do with such a device. Once you realise its applications, you can consider implementing it in a bigger online or blended course.

When to use this tool

A 360 degrees learning element is of use in any situation that demands a full surround understanding of a certain context. If you are looking for an instructional decor which has multiple elements all gathered in one space, or related to each other in a space, than this is the way to go. Providing a 360 overview of such spaces enables the learner to grasp all the elements influencing each other. For instance if you are a medic in an ambulance, you need to know where to find specific equipment in a moments notice in order to save the life of the patients. At the same time the driver of the ambulance can benefit from a 'real life' drive through traffic after picking up a patient, and see which traffic situations (being able to see full street coverage) to watch out for while having a patient in the back.

Example of implementing 360° video in online and blended learning

A great research example can be read in this paper shared and co-authored by Martin Ebner.
Abstract:

In this research study a course, combining both computer-supported and face-to-face teaching using the concept of blended learning, has been designed. It is a beginners climbing course called “Klettern mit 360° Videos“ (climbing with 360° videos) and the online part has been implemented as a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This research study presents the background of the course, the course concept, the course itself and the results of the evaluation. To measure the difference between the pure online participants and the blended learning participants the MOOC has been evaluated independently from the blended learning course. It should be mentioned that all participants (whether pure online or both) evaluated the course in a positive manner. The use of technology enhanced learning realized by the concept of blended learning proved to be a well-suited method for this course setting. Furthermore, many advantages of computer based learning, blended learning and 360°-videos have been reported by the participants.

Call for papers, free online events and paper opportunity #CfP #elearning

In this post you can find three Call for Papers, two publication opportunities, and to start off multiple initiatives from EDEN (European Distance and eLearning Network) which has their online learning week (started yesterday, with free online seminars each day up until the 10th of November.

EDEN European Distance Learning week

An online, free event with daily seminars. The one for today is starting soon. More info here or look at the upcoming events below.
You simply need to provide your name and email to get registered, and also receive the link to the recording. 

Perspectives on Open Education

Tuesday, November 7, 2017, 13:00-14:30 CET
Format: Presentations and panel discussion
Moderator: Fabio Nascimbeni, EDEN Executive Committee member
Please click here for a more detailed description of the event
Click here to register

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Designing Learning Spaces in Open and Distance Learning

Wednesday, November 8, 2017, 13:00-14:30 CET
Format: Presentations and discussion
Moderator: Lisa Marie Blaschke, EDEN Vice-President
Please click here for a more detailed description of the event
Click here to register

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Re-considering Access, Quality and Flexibility of Education

Thursday, November 9, 2017, 13:00-14:30 CET
Format: Presentation and discussions
Moderator: Sandra Kucina Softic, EDEN Vice President
Please click here for a more detailed description of the event
Click here to register

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International Experiences with OER

Friday, November 10, 2017, 13:00-14:30 CET
Format: Presentation
Moderator: Antonella Poce, EDEN NAP Steering Committee Chair
Please click here for a more detailed description of the event
Click here to register

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EDEN Open Classroom Conference: Introducing Agenda for Open Professional Collaboration – Plenary broadcast 

Friday, November 10, 2017, 9:45 – 11:45 CET
Format: Plenary Session live stream – Live streaming of the plenary session of the EDEN Open Classroom Conference held in Kaunas, Lithuania. Link to the broadcast will be announced soon. Participants will be able to ask questions using the conference website.
Moderators: Kristijonas Jakubsonas, Elena Trepulė
Keynote speakers:

• Digitally competent teachers in the area of Open Education, Yves Punie, European Commission – DG JRC – Directorate Innovation and Growth
• The Joyous Voyage: situating open learning in a fractured world, Alan Bruce, Universal Learning Systems, Ireland, National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan
• National ICT Implementation Initiatives for Educational Openness, Vaino Brazdeikis, Ministry of Education and Science of The Republic of Lithuania
• Implementing recognition of open non-formal learning. Organizational perspective, Airina Volungevičienė, European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN), Vytautas Magnus University

Technological Innovation for Specialized Linguistic Domains (TISLID 18)

A conference on EdTech, MOOCs related to languages for digital lives and cultures.

Conference dates: 24-26 May 2018
Venue: Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Abdisstraat 1, 9000 Gent, Belgium.

Call for abstracts deadline: 10 December 2018 (an 300 - 500 word abstract, more CfP info here).
More information: http://www.tislid18.ugent.be/

This conference offers a great opportunity to interchange knowledge and experiences, both in a formal and informal, creative way, regarding language-based digital realities. This event aims to promote academic debate on digital language technologies, with a special focus on their potential for promoting communication and (lifelong) learning.

The conference will include keynotes, paper presentations, posters, a roundtable debate (on Thursday and Friday) and workshops (on Saturday).

14th International Conference Mobile Learning 2018

Conference dates: 14 – 16 April 2018, Lisbon, Portugal

Info: http://www.mlearning-conf.org/

Deadline for papers: 8 December 2017

* Conference Scope
Mobile learning is concerned with a society on the move. In particular, with the study of “…how the mobility of learners augmented by personal and public technology can contribute to the process of gaining new knowledge, skills and experience” (Sharples et al. 2007).
The ML Conference seeks to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of mobile learning research which illustrate developments in the field.
For more details and information about topics please check http://www.mlearning-conf.org/call-for-papers

* Paper Submission
This is a blind peer-reviewed conference. Authors are invited to submit their papers in English through the conference submission system by December 8, 2017. Submissions must be original and should not have been published previously.

* Important Dates:
- Submission Deadline: 8 December 2017
- Notification to Authors: 8 January 2018
- Final Camera-Ready Submission and Early Registration: Until 29 January 2018
- Late Registration: After 29 January 2018

* Paper Publication
The papers will be published in book and electronic format with ISBN, will be made available through the Digital Library available at http://www.iadisportal.org/digital-library/showsearch.
The conference proceedings will be submitted for indexation by IET’s INSPEC, Elsevier, EI Compendex, Scopus, Thomson Reuters Web of Science, ERIC and other important indexing services.

* Conference Contact:
E-mail: secretariat@mlearning-conf.org
Web site: http://www.mlearning-conf.org/

EDEN Annual conference on 17 - 20 June 2018

Subject: investigating the micro, meso and macro in digital learning landscapes
Deadline for submissions: 5 February 2018
Information on the call for papers/workshops: http://www.eden-online.org/2018_genoa/submission/
Scope of the conference:

The demand for people with new, enhanced skills is growing. The volume of information produced and shared in all fields is overwhelming. Building the data economy became part of the EU Digital Single Market. Powerful and sophisticated ICT is part of everyday life, and the world of learning is not an exception. Pressure is on all players of the online education community to keep up with new learning solutions, and better supply the skills currently demanded by growing economies.
Open Education continues its success, providing radical advances in knowledge acquisition, sharing, distribution, and improving business models. Digital credentials and open badges are the new currencies which are beginning to transform the economic models in education.
Social and economic tensions continue to raise the issues of scalability, the micro-credentialling of education, training and skill development processes. Practitioners and stakeholders are eagerly seeking right approaches to providing learning opportunities, and many scholars are researching holistic answers.
Micro, meso and macro aspects provide an interesting range of lenses for considering the problem. These aspects may be applied in a general sense, distinguishing between the learning of individuals (e.g through mobile learning), learning at the institutional or group levels through a meso lens, and the learning of organizations or societies directed through policies through the macro lens.

EDENchat initiative, using the twitter chat approach on subjects related to distance, open and eLearning

#EDENChat is an online discussion event on Twitter initiated by Steering Committee of the EDEN Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP). It is mediated by members of the NAP community and runs for approximately 1 hour. Anyone can join in and contribute to the discussion which is presented in a Question and Answer format, and focuses on current issues in distance, open and e-learning.
EDENchat schedule:

European Distance Learning Week #EDENChat	November 8, 2017
What is Open Web?	November 22, 2017
What are Open Licenses?	December 6, 2017
What are Open Degrees & Open Badges?	December 20, 2017

More information (and prior chat info):  http://www.eden-online.org/events/ and here http://www.eden-online.org/resources/edenchat/

Opportunities for publication: one on mobile learning, and one on launching at technology driven university.

IGI global: Handbook of Research on Challenges and Opportunities in Launching a Technology-Driven International University 

Publication edited byDr. Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, Executive Director of the Information Resources Management Association (IRMA).

Deadline for chapter proposals: 30 November 2017.
Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by no later than December 13, 2017 about the status of their proposals and will receive chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by January 30, 2018. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind basis. Contributors may also be requested to be engaged as reviewers for this project.
To view the full call for papers, with recommended topic areas, please visit the link here: https://www.igi-global.com/publish/call-for-papers/call-details/2913


The aim of this publication is to offer both empirical and theoretical research focused on the effective construction of technology-driven higher learning international universities. Themes such as: developing an accelerated and innovative curriculum, the recruitment and retention of internationally renowned faculty and researchers to lead courses, as well as the development of an on-campus and distance learning system will be presented. Also, taking into consideration the financial and economic impacts of launching a university – specifically, how to identify the appropriate locale for universities and/or branch campuses, which will ideally complement the local interest of business sectors within the selected location.

The target audience for this publication will be entrepreneurs, practitioners, academicians, instructional designers, administrators, government officials, and independent researchers and consultants focused on online education research and scholarship, educational leadership and administration, educational marketing, educational policy, course management, instructional design, educational theory and practice, human resources in educational settings, and curriculum design and management.

Mobile book looking for contributors, but it costs 350 Swiss Franks (approx. 300 EUR or 350 USD)

This looks like a good, yet paid, opportunity for those wanting to get a chapter in a research book on mobile learning. The publication is international and Open Access, but indeed the publishers demand a downpayment to get accepted (so, only when you will be published) chapters published.
Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/education) is currently running a Special Issue "Mobile Learning" (http://www.mdpi.com/journal/education/special_issues/Mobile_Learning), which is guest edited by Prof. Maria Uther, from the University of Winchester, UK.
The submission deadline is 31 May 2018. You may send your manuscript now or up until the deadline. Submitted papers should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

This Special Issue, Mobile Learning, addresses the increasing popularity of mobile devices and their potential for developing learning. Articles are welcomed for inclusion in this Special Issue that:
(1) provide empirical evidence on the efficacy of mobile devices for learning applications; (2) showcase novel uses or technical developments for mobile devices in learning; (3) review pedagogical and user interface design considerations and develop theories around the design of mobile learning applications; (4) interface mobile technologies with other technologies to enhance learning (e.g., speech recognition, augmented reality, psychophysiological recording); and (5) offer examples of situated learning (e.g. using augmented/virtual reality technology) with mobile devices. The above topics are indicative and we would also welcome any papers relating to mobile learning that do not immediately fit into the above categories.

For further reading, please follow the link to the Special Issue Website at: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/education/special_issues/Mobile_Learning. We also encourage authors to send a short abstract or tentative title to the Editorial Office in advance (education@mdpi.com).

If the Special Issue collects more than 10 papers, it will be made available in printed book format. An example could be seen at http://books.mdpi.com/.

/Education Sciences/ (ISSN 2227-7102) is an international and open access journal, which is double-blind peer-reviewed. It is published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/education. Open access (unlimited and free access by readers) increases publicity and promotes more frequent citations, as indicated by several studies. Open access is supported by the authors and their institutes. More information is available at http://www.mdpi.com/about/openaccess/. If you decide to submit to this Special Issue, Article Processing Charges (APC) of CHF 350 is applied. For more information on APCs please visit http://www.mdpi.com/about/apc/

.
Education Sciences has been accepted for inclusion in ESCI http://mjl.clarivate.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=MASTER&ISSN=2227-7102
For further details on the submission process, please see the instructions for authors at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/education/instructions.

Free webinar: language learning apps and MOOCs for refugees

This one hour free webinar focuses on language learning apps and some used within MOOCs for refugees. The idea is to increase social inclusion and enhance employability for new arrivals. However, the language learning apps can also be an addition to other formal learning (e.g. for students who recently came to live in a new country and are attending regular school but who can use personalised language support, anyone moving to another country where they need to learn another language (ex-pats, immigrants), to anyone simply interested in keeping up to date with a language they have learned (e.g. my French needs refreshing).

Free webinar link and registration information:
https://moonliteproject.eu/events/webinars/language-learning-apps-moocs-for-refugees/


When: Wednesday 25 October, 15.00-16.00 CEST (Central European Summer Time, to know when the webinar takes place in your timezone you can look at Time Zone Converter here: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter-classic.html )
Where: Online via Adobe Connect (so check the link to the webinar once it is sent to you).
You need to register for this free webinar (link here), this means you need to add your firstname, name and organisation (if you are not linked to an organisation, simply put 'virtual network' or similar).  

The link to the webinar room will be sent to all registered participants one day before the event.

Speakers:
Agnes Kukulska-Hulme: mobile language learner by excellence, The Open University, UK
Timothy Read: computer languages and systems (also set up first MOOCs in Spain), UNED, Spain
Alastair Creelman: elearning specialist, Linnaeus University, Sweden.

What to expect
The question being considered in this webinar is whether such resources represent an effective learning approach for refugees given their changing geographical, sociocultural and technological circumstances?
An important part of social inclusion is having the foreign language skills necessary for day to day life. ICT, including mobile apps and open online courses, forms an important part of the way in which languages are learnt in our modern society. The improvement in communication networks and online tools, accessible from a range of mobile devices and desktop computers, facilitate activities developed to improve the four basic language competences (written and oral comprehension and production). Furthermore, the wide availability of free language learning apps can help to supplement the online learning experience, especially when network access is limited.


The webinar is organised by the Erasmus+ project MOONLITE in cooperation with EDEN (European Distance and E-learning Network), NVL Distans (Nordic Network for Adult Education) and the Swedish Network for IT in Higher Education (ITHU). The Moonlite project focuses on MOOCs for social inclusion and employability.

#LearningTechDay in Belgium, come and join experts #EdTech #elearning

One of the highlights for Professional eLearning is coming up next month. On Tuesday 20 June 2017, Mathias Vermeulen (CEO of Winston Wolfe) organizes the Belgian LearningTechDay an annual event that always seems to trigger multiple ideas.

Location: Zebra in Ghent, Belgium. Zebra is a unique project that combines housing, culture and economy all in one. And it has cheap parking space.

This is not just any other eLearning opportunity. If you are in the neighborhood and you are interested in eLearning, this is the place to be! The three keynotes alone will make it worth your while: Stephen Downes (integrating MOOCs in corporations), Nell Watson (Artificial Intelligence in all aspects of learning, living and society), and Jamie Good (Neuroscience, habit-building and technology).

Although some of the break-out sessions are in Dutch, the keynotes are in English, and I am pretty sure everyone participating speaks English.

I will also share a presentation, specifically on the Instructional Design Variation Matrix, an ongoing work which looks at parameters that are often opposite to each other, and bridging these opposites with possible online learning steps befitting diverse instructional design demands. This is slowly but surely resulting in a manual that can be used as a job aid to quickly look for options to implement diverse learning purposes, providing solutions for your own specific learning environment or tailored to your own target population (e.g. master students, informal learners, professional learners).

To give an idea, the Instructional Design Variation Matrix lists an array of actions that can be taken to address different learning parameters (individual versus sociaal learning, memorizing content versus challenge-based education, standardized learning versus contextualized learning, just-in-time performance versus long-term implementation, …). Because the designs are linked to different (intended) learning objectives, it enables the online material to be used in a variety of learning trajectories.

When learning analytics meet #MOOCs by @mebner #learninganalytics #liveblog

Today I had the pleasure of meeting up with Martin Ebner from the TUGraz, who gave a detailed and critical overview to show how Learning Analytics can support the future MOOC-learner as well as the future MOOC-lecturer.

Martin starts off talking abut iMOOX (with an explicit open license (creative commons), so you can use the content for free. EdX license for open courses was a conscious choice.

‘Making’ kreatives digitales gestalten met Kindern (http://imoox.at, another famous one: Gratis online lernen. Which won them the Austrian National Price of Adult Education in 2015. So, to reach all adults a blended approach was used to get the learners from what they new (paper learning) to MOOC learning.

How did they implement learning analytics

iMOOX learning analytics prototype architecture: learners, MOOC  platform, learning analytics and prototyping, that was returned to the learners.

The webserver did log-files, the data was collected, and the learning analytics server visualised results. The LA server was developed at TUGraz (Khalil, yeah!!) with screenshots.

Some MOOC learning statements: what can we learn from these learning analytics

High dropout rate on MOOCs is a legend: statistics show that it is a myth (referring to Lackner, Ebner, Khalil (2015). Moocs as granular systems: design patterns to foster participants activity, elearning papers, 42 (2015), pp. 28-37.

Activity profile is shown: posting, reading, text files, … with different colors for certificate earners.

The decline of participation over the weeks. Very similar to other MOOCs. After the first 4 weeks learner activity is quite stable.

Video tracking was done, (Khalil, 2016, what MOOC Stakeholders can learn from learning analytics? In Lockee, Childress (Ed.). The video start is seen, but the video end rarely.

Learning success:what is it? In many cases learner activity is compared. But not clear link to which activity is related to learning success (not sure if I got this).

Learning analytics tells us how learning in classroom happens: social aspects lecture of Ebner was turned into a MOOC. The idea was to open the course to both the students and the public. The course lasts 10 weeks, with regular content, and the learners can choose how to go through the MOOC, and it includes a self-assessment per week. Each quiz could be taken 5 times. Cut-off was 75 % and if you did all the quizzes you got a certificate. When looking at the clusters (Khalil, Ebner, 2016, clustering ptterns of engagement in MOOCs: the use of learning analytics to reveal student categories).

University students had highest certification ratio, with high reading, low writing, high video watching and high quiz attempts. (really interesting).

Learning happens all the time and can be fun. (Lackner, Khalil, Ebner, 2016, How to foter forum discussions within MOOCs, a case study).

Then badges were introduced, compliant with mozilla backpack. Badges for quizzes and course finalisation. This was used for the first time in 2015. Learners who did take badges, went for all the badges. The drop out rate was much lower for those learners going for badges, then simply certification. (Inge: is this related to multiple motivation drivers?).

Gamification: was done in one MOOC. (Khalil, Ebner, 2016, how gamification can improve your MOOC student engagement). The gamification element got more learners active than in the first week! Never seen that graph in any other MOOCs. (interesting). But one setback with gamification, are those who are no longer active, as these are not engaged in the game.

 

Learning analytics constraints

Revealing personal information

Morality to view student data

Collecting and analysing data transparency

Deleting data policies

Who owns student data

Protection and copyright

Integrity, confidentiality and availability

Inaccurate analysis results

Benefits: potential for society

Knowledge society

Access to education (but bachelor degree at least are the most successful learners in MOOCs)

Lifelong learning

Cost reducing

Quality improvements

Learning analytics: drop out not that high, get them in for the first 4 weeks, the rest is stable.

Remark of Martin on a recent adult learning MOOC, which used local ad-hoc groups that could meet on the subject of MOOCs, which turned out to be very successful (similar to other MOOC groups that were set up).

Future actions: bridging MOOCs to prepare students prior to university. 

These are Martin's slides:

When Learning Analytics Meets MOOCs from Martin Ebner