Working on the #LearningEngine matching #learning to #skillgaps #skills

Forget the search engine, ravel on the emergence of the Learning Engine (admittedly it is still a dream in progress, but we are getting closer)

What made search engines so innovative decades ago? 

They created connections. Connections between online users and content. The search engine developers did not produce a lot of content, but they referred to content from outside providers, and that was what made it special: the immediate connection. It connected supply with demand, connecting small and big businesses, individuals and groups. The service built upon existing new developments that each of the content producers provided. 

Content free and available. A great big benefit of the content that comes up in the search engines is of course that it is free, ... which is a lot more difficult if you are trying to build a learning engine. Professional courses are rarely free (MOOCs notwithstanding), and in a lot of cases even the courses themselves are behind closed walls: e.g. online courses only available for employees, for registered students...

Search engines are great, but Learning Engines are becoming a really urgent demand

The shift in our professional society is no longer about jobs that disappear due to automation, it is about jobs diversifying through the demands of change, driven by innovation. Learning to learn is becoming essential to being employed and moving forward (or at least it seems that way for some of the jobs in sectors driven by innovation and change). 

In order to learn how to do a variety of jobs, we need to learn, and we need to personalize each of our learning journeys based on our previous experiences and skills, both hard and soft skills. This is where the Learning Engine comes in and takes shape. At InnoEnergy I am now co-developing learning for real life jobs. At present ‘addressing the skills gap’ is all the rave. LinkedIn is investing in its Economic Graph, Burning glass and alike are gathering data on Skills, countries and regions are building skills taxonomies (e.g. Nesta ), that can be used either in manual brainstorms and in Artificial Intelligence driven projects. 

If you take into considerations these latest tech-innovations and options, it isn't difficult to imagine a true personalized Learning Engine. 

The challenge is how to build a Futureproof Workforce? Maybe a Learning Engine

With the Learning Engine in my mind it combines innovation, AI and learning skills for the sustainable energy sector (as EIT InnoEnergy works within the sustainable energy sector). Basically, the project identifies industry needs, pinpoints emerging skill gaps in the sustainable energy sector, analysis the existing workforce to know where urgent skills gaps are situated and then refers employees (or employee groups) to a personalized learning trajectory to alleviate their skills gap. 

The combination of these steps should ensure that the employees of the sustainable energy sector stay futureproof in a quickly changing working environment. 

This project helps to realize the emergence of the ‘Learning Engine’, an intelligent career-oriented engine which knows your own skills and signposts you to where you want to go with your career by suggesting a personalized learning track. 

Just imagine that you go to the Learning Engine and you simply type in “Director of Innovation’s in offshore wind energy” and the engine immediately returns a tailored, personalized learning track consisting of a variety of certified trainings from both universities, corporate academies, open educational energy resources and coaching options! Personally, I think that would be quite a catch!

Learners mix and match already

In a way, we already see this shift towards a more quilted professional learning in the MOOC’s which are taken by professional learners to enhance their career opportunities. Those career-minded employees register for MOOCs developed by universities as well as businesses, and they take a few courses here, and a few courses there. Soon employees will be able to link different course certificates to ensure a future-proof career (whether we should be using blockchain in Education to validate the learning trajectory is something else (see some mails on this here and here).

Corporate academies will need to open part of their courses: are they willing?

As the project evolves, it is clear that the AI engines are running and becoming smarter as additional data is fed into the system. But the main challenge is still: how to get access to course descriptions so we can signpost learners to those courses. If we don't have access to courses, even descriptions than we cannot send learners to them. 

I would think that corporate academies would benefit from sharing some of their courses: if they form a network, they will no longer need to develop all the courses, they could 'swap' or agree to develop specific courses and find other courses for their employees at competing companies. Because although they are competing, all of them have basic courses for their employees, and those course costs could be cut by coming to a course-development agreement. 

(picture from http://wwwdev.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/departments.aspx?id=37724 )

#CfP Call for papers on #education, open #learning, #AI and #teaching

This call for papers offers a mix for research papers and call for speakers, enabling more research-based or more experienced based proposals to be written. The calls are organized in order of deadline.

ECTEL2019 conference

Deadline for submitting the mandatory abstract: 29 April 2019 (200 words using Springer template)
Deadline for submitting a full paper: 13 May 2019 (6 - 14 pages using Springer template)
When: 16 - 19 September 2019
Where: TU Delft, Netherlands
More information: http://www.ec-tel.eu/
Description (from website)
The European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL) is a unique opportunity for researchers, practitioners, educational developers and policy makers to address current challenges and advances in the field. This year’s theme of “Transforming learning with meaningful technologies” addresses how emerging and future learning technologies can be used in a meaningful way to enhance human-machine interrelationships, to contribute to efficient and effective education, and to assess the added value of such technologies.
The conference calls for papers focusing on this theme and addressing many topics: intermediation between learning systems, learners and educators; guidelines and methodologies to enhance learning experience through technologies; bridges between technology and learning; assessment of technologies’ educational added value; promotion of coherence and unity of technology and learning; and improvement of complementarity between technology and learning. We encourage participants to extend the debate around the role of and challenges for cutting-edge 21st century technologies and advances such as artificial intelligence and robots, augmented reality and ubiquitous computing technologies and at the same time connecting them to different pedagogical approaches, types of learning settings, and application domains that can benefit from such technologies.

Online Educa Berlin  

Deadline for submission call for proposals: 30 April 2019
When: 27 - 29 November 2019
Where: Berlin, Germany
Link to 'submit your proposal': https://secretariat.oeb.global/oeb_proposals/
More information: https://oeb.global/
Description (from website)
OEB Global, incorporating Learning Technologies, brings you to the forefront of learning technology developments. Get insights on opportunities and challenges that are changing the world of learning

• Find out how to choose and use various technologies
• Discover proven practice, approaches, strategies from leading institutions and organisations
• Participate in pre-conference activities and 120+ break-out sessions with 300+ expert speakers from 70+ countries from across different disciplines, sharing their knowledge, skills and passion
• Follow case studies presenting critical success factors and discuss innovative approaches with peers
• Meet with 2,500+ learning professionals from the education, workplace learning and government sectors and forge essential international contacts and partnerships
• Explore the exhibition at the heart of the event, where leading international e-learning manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers give hands-on demonstrations of innovative products and tools
• Join us as we analyse new technologies and trends within ICT-enhanced learning and training

OEB Global has pushed boundaries, challenged preconceptions and catalysed new ideas for shaping the future of digital learning for 24 years.

International Open and Distance Learning conference

Deadline for submission: 15 July 2019
When: 14 - 16 November 2019
Where: Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey.
More information: http://iodl.anadolu.edu.tr/
Description

The Anadolu University is proud to invite you to the INTERNATIONAL OPEN & DISTANCE LEARNING CONFERENCE – IODL 2019, which will be held at Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey on 14-15-16 November, 2019. After the conferences in 2002, 2006 and 2010, IODL 2019 is the 4th IODL event hosted by Anadolu University Open Education System. The conference is organized by Open Education Faculty, Anadolu University.

Anadolu University, one of the world leaders in open and distance education, currently offers higher education to over one million students worldwide. Anadolu University Open Education System aims to reduce the barriers to education, especially for adult and self-learners. In the 21st century, the idea of openness is in the very core of education which is surrounded with technology in multi-cultural learning environments.

Scope
The main theme of the IODL 2019 is “Glocal ODL Opportunities and Dynamics”.
The aim of the IODL 2019 is to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners to present and discuss a broad range of topics related to open and distance learning, including but not limited to:
• Open and distance learning, Lifelong learning, Open education and globalization, Drop-out in open and distance education, Open and distance learning for refugees, Learning analytics, Financial issues in massive education, Digital division, Barriers to learning, Role of education in crisis, Education in a multicultural society, Micro credential and short learning programs, Mobile learning, Adaptive learning environments, Deep learning in ODL, AI in/for ODL, IoTs for ODL, Student Support Services in ODL, Public science, New challenges to the Higher Education Area, Evaluation and assessment in ODL, Accreditation and QA in ODL, MOOCs and OERs

Transdisciplinary AI (TransAI) conference (combining AI with other disciplines)

Deadline for submission: 1 July 2019
When: 25 - 27 September 2019
Where: Laguna Hills, California, USA
More information: https://www.transai.org/
Description
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is concerned with computing technologies that allow machines to see, hear, talk, think, learn, and solve problems even above the level of human beings. On the one hand it allows data to be analyzed by real-time models that enable unprecedented levels of accuracy and efficiency. On the other hand it enables domain specific problem solving and knowledge discovery that cannot be easily done by humans.
Transdisciplinary AI 2019 (TransAI 2019), technically sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society, is an international forum focusing on the interactions between artificial intelligence (AI) and other research disciplines. It consists of themes that each addresses the applications of AI to a specific research discipline as well as how domain specific applications may advance the research on AI.
The TransAI themes address two dimensions--technology and academic research domains so that technologies can be mapped to domain applications.

Asian conference on education

(focusing on dependence and independence, nice topic)
Deadline for submission abstract: 22 August 2019
When: 31 October - 3 November 2019
Where: Toshi Center hotel, Tokyo, Japan.
More information: https://ace.iafor.org/
Description
The 2019 conference theme for The 11th Asian Conference on Education is “Independence & Interdependence”, and invites reflections on the desirability, extent and limits of our individual independence and autonomy, of that of our students, and of the institutions and structures within which we work, teach and learn. We do not educate, and are not educated in vacuums, but in such contexts and constraints as families, groups, and societies; of nations and cultures; of identities and religions; and of political and financial realities.

Ever changing technologies offer new ways for us to be independent and autonomous learners, encouraging students to be self-directed and confident in making choices, and enabling and empowering students and teachers to be proactive and tailor content. However, myriad technologies and services make us more dependent on the very things allowing autonomy. How do we help students and teachers alike navigate and curate the vast information available? How do we encourage individual growth while also underlining the importance of belonging and of the reciprocal responsibilities and privileges of education? How do we help students build the skills and attitudes necessary for positive engagement in distributed, globalised communities that so often lead to polarisation and alienation instead? How do we educate with independence and interdependence in mind?

This conference is organised by IAFOR in association with the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in Osaka University, Japan.

Liveblog @mathvermeulen #JustDoIt #vovpitstop @vovnetwerk

Liveblog Mathias Vermeulen Ode aan Angus

(Great keynote, capturing the audience first, coming to business with strong ideas)

Lang leve technologie!

Technologie is (ahem)

• ·       Ons LMS
• ·       Ons eLearningmodules
• ·       Onze course vending machine

MacGyver is biggest inspiration of @mathiasVermeulen

Fabulous learning is developed by thinking ‘What would MacGyver do?”

·       Find what is out there, and use it to your own advantage and needs!

·       L&D is a party for everyone: becoming best friends with IT. HR, L&D

·       “Ik ben een bricoleur”

Zwitsers zakmes

• ·       xAPI – LRS
• ·       VR/AR
• ·       Games (bury me my love – try it, text but serious game on Syria)
• ·       Mobile
• ·       AI and chatbots

Don’t worry be crappy (Guy Kawasaki)

Try out tools, set aside time (e.g. Friday afternoon) to test, think, come up with ideas on learning solutions.

Think ahead

• ·       New people (we are good in this)
• ·       More (what can we do to train our people)
• ·       Apply (e.g. performance support when they need it: just-in-time learning)
• ·       Solve (again, take time to learn what is out there)
• ·       Change (produce a lean learning approach)

Data driven #education session #OEB18 @oebconference #data @m_a_s_c

From the session on data driven education, with great EU links and projects.

Carlos Delgado Kloos: using analytics in education

Opportunities

Khan academy system is a proven system, with one of the best visualisations of how the students are advancing. With a lot of stats and graphs. Carlos used this approach for their 0 courses (courses on basic knowledge that students must know before moving on in higher ed).

Based on the Khan stats, they built a high level analytics system.

Predictions in MOOCs (see paper of Kloos), focusing on drop-out.

Monitoring in SPOCs (small private online courses)

Measurement of Real Workload of the students, the tool adapts the workload to the reality.

FlipApp (to gamify flipped classroom), remember and to notify the students that they need to see the videos before class, or they will not be able to follow. (Inge: sent to Barbara).

Creation of Educational Material using Google classroom. Google classroom sometimes knows what the answer of a quiz will be, which can save time for the teacher.

Learning analytics to improve teacher content delivery.

Use of IRT (Item Response Theory) to see which quizzes are more useful and effective, interesting to select quizzes.

Coursera define skills, match it to the jobs and based on that recommend courses.

Industry 4.0 (big data, AI…) for industry, can be transferred to Education 4.0 (learning analytics based on machine learning). (Education3.0 is using the cloud, where both learners and teachers go to).

Machine learning infers the rules from getting answers which are data analysed (in comparison to computer learning, which is just the opposite, based on rules, giving answers).

Dangers:

Correlations: correlations are not necessary correct conclusions. (see spurious correlations for fun links).

Bias: e.g. decisions for giving credit based on redlining and weblining.

Decisions for recruitment: eg. Amazon recruits that the automation of their recruiting system resulted in a biase leading to recruiting more men than women.

Decisions in trials: eg. Compas is used by judges to calculate repeat offenders, but color of skin was a clear bias in this program.

Decisions in academia: Cathy O’Neil: weapons of Math Destruction – how big data increases inequalityand threatens democracy”.

Chinese social credit system which gives minor points if you do something that is seen as not being ‘proper’. Also combined with facial recognition, and monitoring attention in class (Hangzhou number 11 high school).

Monitoring (gaggle, …)

Challenges

Luca challenge: responsible use of AI.

GDPR Art 22: automated individual decision-making, including profiling.

Sheilaproject.eu : identifying policies to adopt learning analytics. Bit.ly/sheilaMOOC is the course on the project.

Atoms and bits comparison. As with atoms you can use it for the better, or for the worse (like atomic bombs).

Maren Scheffel on Getting the trust into trusted learning analytics @m_a_s_c

(Welten Institute of Open University, Netherlands)

Learning analytics: Siemens (2011) definition still the norm. But nowadays it is a lot about analytics, but only little about learning.

Trust: currently we believe that something is reliable, the truth, or ability. Multiple definitions of trust, it is multidimensional and multidisciplinary construct. Luhmanndefined trust as a way to cope with risk, complexity, and a lack of system understanding. For Luhmann the concept of trust compensates for insufficient capabilities for fully understanding the complexity of the world (Luhmann, 1979, trust and …)

 For these reasons we must be transparent, reliable, and be integer to attract the trust of learners. There should not be a black box, but it should be a transparent box with algorithms (transparent indicators, open algorithms, full access to data, knowing who accesses your data).

Policies: see https://sheilaproject.eu   

User involvement and co-creation: see the competen-SEA project see http://competen-sea.eu capacity building projects for remote areas or sensitive learner groups. One of the outcomes was to co-design to create MOOCs (and trust) getting all the stakeholders together in order to come to an end product. MOOCs for people, by people.  Twitter #competenSEA

Keynote talk of Anita Schjoll Brede @twitnitnit @oebconference #AI #machineLearning #oeb18

(liveblog starts after a general paragraph on the two keynotes that preceded her talk, and really her talk was really GREAT! And with fresh, relevant structure).

First of a talk on the skill sets of future workers (the new skills needed, referring to critical thinking, but not mentioning what is understood with critical thinking) and the collective intelligence (but clearly linking it to big data not small data, as well described in an article by Stella Lee).

Self-worth idea for the philosophy session, refer tot he Google map approach where small companies who offer one particular aspect of what it took to build google maps were bought by Google, and as such producing something that was bigger than the sum of its parts). But this of course means that the identity and the self-versus-the-other becomes under pressure, as people that really make a difference at some point, do not have the satisfying moment to think they are on top of the world (you can no longer show off your quality easily… for there are so many others just like you… as you can see when you read the news, follow people online…). While feeling important was easier, or possible in a ‘smaller’ world, where the local tech person was revered for her or his knowledge. So, in some way we are loosing the feeling of being special based on what we do. Additionally, if AI enters more of the working world, how do we ensure that work will be there for everyone, as work is also a way to ‘feel’ self-worth. I think keeping self-worth will be an increasing challenge in the connected, and AI supported world. As a self-test, simply think of yourself, and wanting to be invited to be on a stage… it is a simple yet possibly mentally alarming aspect. Our society is promoting ‘being the best’ at something, or having the most ‘likes’, what can we do to install or keep self-worth?

Than a speaker on the promise of online education, referring to MOOCs versus formal education, the increase of young people going to college… which strangely contradicts what the most profiles of future jobs seems to be like (professions that are rather labour intensive). The speaker Kaplan managed to knock down people who get into good jobs based on non-traditional schooling (obviously, my eye-brows went up, and I am sure there are more of us in the audience pondering which conservative thinking label can be put on that type of scolding stereotype speech, protecting the norm, he is clearly not even a non-conformist).

Keynote by Anita Schjoll Brede 

Here a person in the line of my interest takes the stage: Anita  Schjoll Brede. Anita founded an AI company Iris.ai , and tries to simplify the AI, machine learning and data science for easier implementation. So… of interest.

Learning how to learn sets us human beings apart. We are in the era where machines will learn, based on how we learn… inevitably changing what we need to learn.

She gives what AI is seen by most people, and where that model is not really correct.

Machine learning is based on the workings of a human brain. Over time the machine will adapt based on the data, and it will learn new skills. It is a great model to see the difference. One caveat, we still not sure how the human mind really works.

If we think of AI, we think of software, hardware, data … but our brains are slightly different and our human brains are also flawed. We want to build machines that are complementary to the human brain.

Iris.ai started with the idea that there are papers and new research published every day, humans can no longer read all. Iris.ai goes through the science and the literature process is relatively automated. The process is currently possible with a time decrease of 80%. Next step is hypothesis extraction, than build a truth tree of the document based on scientific arguments. Once you have the truth trees are done, link that to a lab or specific topic, … with an option of the machine learning results leading to different types of research. Human beings will still do the deeper understanding.

Another example is one tutor per child. Imagine that there is one tutor for that child, which grows with that child, helps with lifelong learning. The system will know you so well, that it will know how to motivate you, or get you forward. It might also have filters to identify discriminatory feelings or actions (remark of myself: but I do wonder, if this is the case, then isn’t this limiting the freedom of saying what you want and being the person you want to be… it might risk becoming extreme in either way of the doctrine system).

Refers to the Watson Lawyer AI, which makes that the junior lawyers will no longer do all the groundwork. So the new employees will have to learn other stuff, and be integrated differently. But this relates to critical ideas of course, as you must choose for employing people (but make yourself less competitive) or you only higher senior lawyers (remark of myself: but than you loose diversity and workforce).

Refers to doctors built by machine learning, used in sub-Saharan settings, to analyse human blood for malaria. Which saves time for the doctors, health care workers… but evidently, this has an impact on the health care worker jobs.

Cognitive bias codex (brain picture with lots of links). Lady in the red dress experiment.

Her take on what we need to learn:

Critical thinking,  refers to source criticism she learned during her schooling.

Who builds the AI, lets say Google will transgress the first general AI… their business model will still get us to buy more soap.

Complex problem solving: we need to hold this uncertainty and have that understanding. To understand why machines were lead to specific choices.

Creativity: machines can be creative, we can learn this. Rehashing what is done, and making it to something of your own is something that is (refers to lawyer commercial that was built by AI based on hours of legal commercials).

Empathy: is at the core of human capabilities like this. Machines are currently doing things, but not yet empathic. But empathy is also important to build machines that can result in positive evolutions for humans. If we can support machines that will be able to love the world, including humans.

@oebconference workshop notes and documents #instructionalDesign #learningTools

After being physically out of the learning circuit for about a year and a half, it is really nice to get active again. And what better venue to rekindle professional interests than at Online Educa Berlin.

Yesterday I lead a workshop on using an ID instrument I call the Instructional Design Variation matrix (IDVmatrix). It is an instrument to reflect on the learning architecture (including tools and approaches) that you are currently using, to see whether these tools enable you to build a more contextualized or standardized type of learning (the list organises learning tools according to 5 parameters: informal - formal, simple - complex, free - expensive, standardized to contextualized, and more aimed at individual learning - social learning). The documents of the workshop can be seen here.

The workshop started of with an activity called 'winning a workshop survival bag', where the attendees could win a bag with cookies, nuts, and of course the template and lists of the IDVmatrix.
We then proceeded to give a bit of background on the activity, and how it related to the IDVmatrix.
Afterwards focusing on learning cases, and particularly challenges that the participants of the workshop were facing.
And we ended up trying to find solutions for these cases, sharing information, connections, ideas (have a look at this engaging crowd - movie recorded during the session).
The workshop was using elements from location-based learning, networking, mobile learning, machine learning, just-in-time learning, social learning, social media, multimedia, note taking, and a bit of gamification.

It was a wonderful crowd, so everyone went away with ideas. The networking part went very well also due to the icebreaker activity at the beginning. This was the icebreaker:

The WorkShop survival bag challenge!
Four actions, 1 bag for each team!

Action 1
Which person of your group has the longest first name?
Write down that name in the first box below.

Action 2

• Choose two person prior to this challenge: a person who will record a short (approx. 6 seconds)
• video with their phone and tweet it, and a person/s who will talk in that video.
• Record a 6 second video which includes a booth at the OEB exhibition (shown in the
• background) and during which a person gives a short reason why this particular learning solution
• (the one represented by the booth) would be of use to that persons learning environment
• (either personal or professional).
• Once you have recorded the video, share it on twitter using the following hashtags: #OEB #M5
• #teamX (with X being the number of your team, e.g. #team1) . This share is necessary to get the
• next word of your WS survival bag challenge.
• Once you upload the movie, you will get a response tweet on #OEB #M5 #teamX (again with the
• number of your team).

Write down the word you received in response to your video in the second box below.

Action 3

• Go to the room which is shown in the 360° picture in twitter (see #M5 #OEBAllTeams).
• Find the spot where 5 pages are lined up, each of them with another language sign written on
• them.
• Each team has to ‘translate’ the sign assigned to their team. You can use the Google Translateapp for this (see google play, the app is free!).

Write down the translation in the third box below.

Action 4
Say the following words into the Google Home device which is located in the WS room

“OK Google 'say word box 1', say word box 2, say word box 3“

If Google answers, you will get your WS survival bag!

And although the names were not always very English, with a bit of tweaking using the IFTTT app, all the teams were able to get Google home mini to congratulate them for getting all the challenges right. 

#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

Page for #IDVmatrix on #LMS description and setting it amidst other tools

picture by Giulia Forsythe

In the past year I have been adding some Instructional Design descriptions in my notebook. After I while I realized that something useful could come out of this very varied collection, so now I am putting some of these pages online (the Instructional Design Variation matrix or IDVmatrix). The idea is to grow a compendium of these pages, adding parameters that are meaningful in ID to each of those learning/teaching design elements, and eventually use these parameters as a matrix to use on the job. I will only write them here, and add the #IDVmatrix hashtag for easy recall once these pages grow. The reason behind these pages is to create a contemporary overview of Instructional Design options that are out there, and to build an instrument that allows you to quickly screen whether other ID-options can be used that reflect the same parameters you are looking for (taking into account your target learning population). The collection will have standard ID-tools (e.g. authoring tools, LMS, MOOCs...) as well as more contemporary learning and teaching tools (e.g. chatbots, machine learning, ...). The template I will follow is simple: short description (as brief as possible while allowing main features to be addressed), a segment on who uses it and how (of course that will be a not exhaustive), referring to some examples, important features to keep in mind, and finally adding a matrix stamp to it (taking into account the 5 parameters I think are relevant to structuring educational tools. And trying to add some meaningful, possibly EdTech critical pictures as a bonus. First one: a classic: the LMS.

Learning Management System (LMS)

Learning Management Systems (LMS, also related to Content Management or Course Management Systems) come in many variations, but generally they offer a digital environment to facilitate, support and design online or blended instruction. an LMS offers content structuring options (put specific modules online, sometimes integrate a learning path into those courses), quiz-options (including a question-database with a variety of quiz-options), and communication services between the learners, the facilitators, the course managers ... or all of the learning stakeholders.
The LMS is pre-programmed. In some cases this means the complete system is programmed (e.g. Blackboard, WIZiq), and you - as a course provider - can only customize specific features, but in other cases you can customize a big part of the system (due to open source code), including some programming that you do yourself (e.g. Drupal, Moodle). Some smaller LMSs offer a more specialized and valuable option, e.g. Curatr which emphasizes the social learning factor. Some LMS also include course libraries, or you - the institute - can build an open, LMS supported library to offer support to your learners.
Normally these systems are self-contained, but with options to integrate other tools to align the LMS with contemporary learning realities (e.g. integrate instagram, twitter). Although some LMS are free, you need to consider the cost of server space, programming some features, supporting all users, and keeping the system up and running 24.7.
Who uses it: learners, teachers, trainers, course coordinators, ... each on their own level. Normally user rights can be allocated within the LMS. Depending on the role, the LMS will offer a different experience (back-end mostly for course-delivery people, and front-end for the learner). 
Important features to keep in mind while choosing a LMS: security features are very important as a LMS generates a lot of learner data and communications traffic. A mobile app is a must, test it on multiple devices to estimate the quality of the app. Offline features will make life much easier for learners. SCORM options make life easier for any instructional designer, and xAPI features will allow the educators/facilitators to make meaningful analysis from all the learner data.
IDVmatrix stamp

(free) book Assessment strategies for online learning #education #assessment #eLearning #instructionaldesign

Assessing online learning has many challenges, but with this new book written by experts Dianne Conrad and Jason Openo, a lot of solutions can be found. The book, entitled Assessment Strategies for Online Learning - Engagement and Authenticity, can be bought for 32,99 dollars  here (if you have a budget this is the way to go as you support author and initiative), or you can have a look at the free pdf here. This book is a must read for those using assessment, as it not only gives traditional assessment, but also dives into evaluations that are linked to open learning, journals, portfolios, etc. Great and interesting read.

If you want to check out what Dianne Conrad has in mind while talking about assessment, or if you have some questions, you can join the free online CIDER session on 10th October 2018

When: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - 11am to 12noon Mountain Time (Canada)

Where: Online through Adobe Connect at:
https://athabascau.adobeconnect.com/cider

Registration is not required; all are welcome. CIDER Sessions are recorded and archived for later viewing through the CIDER website. For more information on CIDER and our Sessions, please visit us at: http://cider.athabascau.ca
(from the book description):

For many learners, assessment conjures up visions of red pens scrawling percentages in the top right-hand corner of exams and feelings of stress, inadequacy, and failure. Although learners sometimes respond negatively to evaluation, assessments have provided educational institutions with important information about learning outcomes and the quality of education for many decades. But how accurate are these data and have they informed practice or been fully incorporated into the learning cycle? Conrad and Openo argue that the potential inherent in online learning environments to alter and improve assessment and evaluation has yet to be explored by educators and learners.
In their investigation of assessment methods and learning approaches, Conrad and Openo explore assessment that engages and authentically evaluates learning. They insist that online and distance learning environments afford educators new opportunities to embrace only the most effective face-to-face assessment methods and to realize the potential of engaged learning in the digital age. In this volume, practitioners will find not only an indispensable introduction to new forms of assessment but also a number of best practices as described by experienced educators.

1. The Big Picture: A Framework for Assessment in Online Learning

2. The Contribution of Adult Education Principles to Online Learning and Assessment

3. What Do You Believe? The Importance of Beliefs about Teaching and Learning in Online Assessment

4. Authenticity and Engagement: The Question of Quality in Assessment

5. Assessment Using E-Portfolios, Journals, Projects, and Group Work

6. The Age of “Open”: Alternative Assessments, Flexible Learning, Badges, and Accreditation

7. Planning an Assessment and Evaluation Strategy—Authentically

8. Flexible, Flipped, and Blended: Technology and New Possibilities in Learning and Assessment

9. A Few Words on Self-Assessment

10. Summing Up

Appendix • Other Voices: Reflections from the Field

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author is credited.

Assessing online learning is mostly part of formal education, but can be used to provide a formal status to self-directed learning which the learner wants to show to the public. 

3 Call for speakers/papers and Digital Learning Innovation Award (10.000$ faculty award!)

Learning Solutions conference organised by the ELearning Guild

Conference dates: 26 - 28 March 2019

deadline call for speakers: 27 July 2018

Submission portal: https://www.elearningguild.com/content/5527/learning-solutions-2019-conference--expo--call-for-proposals-form/ 

Venue: Orlando, Florida, USA

Learning Solutions 2018 is for training and learning professionals focused on the design, development, management, and/or distribution of technology-based learning, performance support, or blended solutions incorporating traditional training. The program supports the entire learning team, so regardless of your specific role, you’ll find the tools, technologies, ideas, strategies, and best practices for success. This event attracts people from around the world who want to keep up with the evolving needs of their learners.

Learning Solutions’ dedication to sharing proven examples in learning could help your team gain a stronger sense of what’s available and how you can put these tools and techniques into practice.
The Learning Solutions program is created by learning professionals. The program team comes from the fields of instructional design, eLearning development, and L&D leadership. They pride themselves on staying current with what matters most.
Experts will discuss the strategies and tools currently working in learning, and how they could impact your organization.
The practical, focused sessions will show you how to solve your team’s challenges and use today’s technology for new possibilities.

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Future of Information and Communication Conference (FICC) 2019

Conference dates: 14-15 March 2019, San Francisco, USA
Deadline: 15 July 2018

Technically co-sponsored by IEEE
Please consider to submit your papers/posters/demo proposals for the Future of Information and Communication Conference (FICC) 2019 to be held from 14-15 March 2019 in San Francisco, United States.

FICC 2019 aims to provide a forum for researchers from both academia and industry to share their latest research contributions and exchange knowledge with the common goal of shaping the future of Information and Communication.
The conference programme will include paper presentations, poster sessions and project demonstrations, along with prominent keynote speakers and industrial workshops.

Important Dates
Paper Submission Due : 15 July 2018
Acceptance Notification : 01 August 2018
Author Registration : 15 August 2018
Camera Ready Submission : 15 September 2018
Conference Dates : 14-15 March 2019

Complete details are available on the conference website : http://saiconference.com/FICC

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Online Learning Consortium: Digital Learning Innovation Award (DLIAward) 

The portal is open for submissions until 31 July 2018.

The DLIAward  program recognizes faculty-led teams and institutions for advancing undergraduate student success through the adoption of digital courseware. OLC is calling for submissions from accredited U.S.-based institutions in two categories:

• Institutional Award – $100,000 (up to three awarded)
• Faculty-led Team Award – $10,000 (up to 10 awarded)

We ask that only those who are serious about truly being innovative, creative, and dedicated to changing the world of digital learning apply for this award. Missed the information session? You can register to watch the archive.

All applications must be submitted through the online submission portal. Winners will be announced at the OLC Accelerate conference, Nov. 14-16 in Orlando, Florida.

Visit the website for full details regarding the award competition.

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9TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LEARNING ANALYTICS & KNOWLEDGE - LAK

Learning Analytics to Promote Inclusion and Success

4-8 March 2019, Tempe, Arizona

Deadline for submissions: 1 October 2018

Visit the conference website for more information and submission details.

https://lak19.solaresearch.org | #LAK19

The 2019 edition of the international conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge will take place in Tempe, Arizona, USA. LAK19 is organised by the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) and hosted by Arizona State University.

We take learning analytics to be the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs. We extend invitations to researchers, practitioners, educators, leaders, administrators, government and industry professionals interested in the field of learning analytics and related disciplines.

LAK19 will place particular emphasis on exploring ways in which institutions around the globe are advancing the state of learning analytics in order to promote inclusion and success. Arizona State University, the host institution for LAK19, proclaims in its charter that ASU is ‘measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed’.  Learning analytics play a significant role at many institutions in helping to promote these values. 

Thus the special theme of this edition of the conference will be on ways in which learning analytics can be used to promote inclusion and success. We define inclusion broadly and this definition may cover the engagement of marginalised groups, groups who have not been as successful as others at achieving educational success, learners who find their current curriculum either too challenging or not sufficiently demanding, or other forms of inclusive inquiry. It may also address issues of accessibility in terms of educational opportunities and learning analytics. Success is also defined broadly and may be viewed from the perspective of learners, educators, institutions or society more broadly.

We welcome theoretical, methodological, empirical and technical contributions to all fields related to learning analytics. Related to our special theme the following topics are of particular interest:

• Universal design for learning promotes an inclusive approach to the curriculum – how can learning analytics support curriculum design and revision from this perspective?
• How can analytics be applied in ways that support inclusion and success?
• How can the training of data scientists be made more inclusive?
• What does educational success look like, and how can it be supported?
• How can systematic biases (e.g. related to diversity) in our analytics algorithms be identified, reflected, and possibly avoided?

LAK19 will use a double-blind peer review process for the submissions. It is a LAK policy that submissions will only be considered for the category that they were originally submitted to, and there is no downgrading of papers. However, our timeline allows for rejected papers to be resubmitted in revised form as posters, demos, or individual workshop contributions. Accepted full and short research papers will be included in the ACM proceedings, as in previous years. Other accepted submissions will be published in the open access Companion Proceedings, archived on the SoLAR website.

Important Dates

All deadlines are 23:59 GMT-11

Submission deadline for main track categories (Research, Practitioners, Workshops, Tutorials and Doctoral Consortium)	1 October 2018
Notification of acceptance for Workshops and Tutorials	15 October 2018
Workshop Calls for Participation	29 October 2018
Notification of acceptance for Research, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium	19 November 2018
Submission deadline for Posters/Demos and Workshop Papers	3 December 2018
Camera-ready papers for ACM Proceedings: Full Research Papers and Short Research Papers	17 December 2018
Notification of Acceptance for Posters/Demos and Workshop Papers	4 January 2019
Early-bird registration closes	8 January 2019
LAK19, Tempe, Arizona	4-8 March 2019