Benefits in #mobile technology development: the implications for #education #unesco_mlw

Panel: Mario Deriquito, Jill Attewell, Don Knezek, Jonghwi Park on mobile tech development benefits
Mario Deriquito,
beliefs in mobile technology for improving the educational system (works in Philipines). But the mobile solution will not be immediate, nor will it be a total solution. Looking for mLearning solutions that can be mainstreamed. Not all knowledge that young kids can learn, can be delivered through mobile phones. But what about values, leadership, relating to people... that needs to be learned through personal interaction. So there are barriers in harnessing mobile technologies for education. So we need to look at the contexts, the needs. We need to look for mLearning solutions that can enhance existing situations.

Jill Attewell, we need to engage with and convince stakeholders and gatekeepers. Staff development is essential. Its not all about delivery and content. Its not just about kids and schools.
constructing meaning is at the core of learning. An iPad for every learner is not going to improve learning, it is the holistic approach which will lead to better learning.
Listing barriers for mLearning (particularly for teachers):

• pedagogy
• teachers lack ict skill confidence
• fear of change/loss control
• cost/cost effectiveness/sustainability concerns
• safeguarding healt and safety

It is the way technology is used by teachers who want to innovate. Maybe mobiles can help in getting back in touch with school dropouts.

Don Knezek,
Lists some positives on mLearning:
mobile technologies improve access to learning, and it will be a global technology. But we must use that access to also come to equaty. He beliefs with care equity will be achieved. He emphasizes literacy and the relief brought by mobile technology... (personal thought: but this raised a thought in my head: literacy did not eradicate poverty in literate regions. So will mobile learning be able to tackle this? Or can anything tackle poverty unless we transform the whole of society?)

Jonghwi Park
benefits of mLearning: key is the creative use of technology, not the technology itself that will make a difference. Mobile tech can be used as a collaborative tool, to produce ideas, knowledge and sharing thoughts. Our mindset must be taken away from 'the tiny screen', it needs to be on using mobile technology as a participatory tool, so that the students can become learning agents.

Future trends in #mobile technology what can we expect in the next 5, 10, 15 years #unesco_mlw

Keynote Paul Kim, Stanford University. Good talk, but a bit technology utopian.
He focuses on success stories from his projects with children around the world while using mobile devices. He speaks with such enthusiasm, that he sounds like a promotional movie for mobile learning created at Stanford. Main idea: pedagogical paradigm shift, learning by students. (a live blogpost, so excuse me for mistyping words etcetera).

In the next 15 years, we will no longer have mobile phones, innovations evolve towards embedded technologies.
If there is a competitive benefit, it is always temporarily... for most human fields. Education however has always changed slowly, however in the recent decade, there was a phenominal transformation. Now we see electronic pads, mobile devices...
So we move from time consuming learning (getting to school etc). So learning is becoming much more durable and sustainable. New kinds of literacies are increasing (note from myself: in Northern and richer areas). He says that although technology is changing at an incredible pace, schools are tredding behind.
Quality learning is created with the learning, in the middle of all this teacher learning is the last of the transformation equation.
He got into a project: programmable open mobile internet 2020. So he is involved in creating mobile technology to be used in 2020 (thought: what is the audience he has in mind?). Tested various mobile learning games: maths, literacy, with tracking feature to know which buttons the children (in different countries: Peru, India) they tap to play the game.
Charging mobile phones by charging while riding a bike. In order to increase sustainability different connections were made with policy makers, universities, ministers of ICT.
Mobile learning creates opportunities for those who have not been reached before: conducted mobile stories with children in refugee camps in Uganda. Conveying the message of peace. Digital stories of cultural heritage even in language that are stressed because they are used less and less.
He beliefs if children are provided the right tools, children all over the world will florish. With mobile efforts, alliances are being created.

From all the lessons he has learned: technology must be linked to pedagogy, for the combination will create more opportunities for the upcoming generations. Sustainability is important, but this means all stakeholders need to be involved. All ICT initiatives for education must start with knowing the complete learning ecosystem, with all stakeholders.
Mobile phones will be cheaper in the future, but we must also learn children to be constructive, self-exploratory and critical in and out of classrooms.
If we can make the phone smarter, it will be able to taylor itself to every learner, making every device a unique and optimal learning device. Links to smart telemedicine devices,

creating mobile learning database that will enable to identify which learner needs to learn what, or has achieved what.

If people are not connected, they will not be able to connect to content. Social DNA: what we belief, what we perceive... will be monitored and the delivered content will be an answer to these data mining algorithms.

"This product will be available in three years time".

Scanning the status of #mLearning across the globe #unesco_mlw

Straight from UNESCO's first mLearning symposium: panel: Jan Hylen, Hyo Jeong So, Shafika Isaacs, Maria Teresa Lugo, Keith Kruger

Focus: Learning with mobile phones: the implications for national policy - drawing on the regional review on mobile learning

There seems to be a lot of one person talking, most listening, so I was looking forward to the first panel of the day (liveblogging what is said, so these are my words paraphrazing the speakers). Many of the people in the panel are educational consultants in a variety of settings.

Shafika Isaacs, YEAH (yes, I think she does great work, and she speaks MUCH quicker than I can follow!!!), immediately starts with a gender picture. sub-saharan region reveals that this continent is most at risk for achieving education for all by 2015. There has been improvement in gender parity and education, but at a number of levels the millenium goals are challenged. The goals were build on the industrial model, which can explain the fact that this model was not attained. Can we reach the education for all goals when it is build on failing systems (industrial model). So maybe we must look at other models. The phenomenal rise in mobile devices and mobile subscriptions, bigger then than textbooks, toilets... so this is an indication that infrastructure is changing, but still challenged. For instance, South Africa is mobile rich, but textbooks poor. The goal is to deepen education quality and education equity. In scanning 15 illustrative projects, if this is mapped to a formalized system (industrial model), and how mLearning is given rise to emerging, innovative projects on education. Also alludes to Arabic spring as a good example of the impact of learning , most mathematics are currently learned outside of the classroom in South-Africa (mobile math projects, e.g. momath). Very important : how are mobile disruptive, and they could and will change the system. From a policy perspective that opens up a significant gap in policy guidelines on how to engage with this disruptive.

Maria Teresa Lugo gives an overview of South America
A very big discrepancy between all the Latin American continent and the adoption/implementation of mobile learning. A lot of social inequality. The potential of learning initiatives: education has improved, but only 4 countries have mandatory secondary schooling. there is an increased expansion of secondary schooling at mandatory level, but a lot of countries have debts, which reflects on education. But teacher training is lacking, which impacts education over all. The indigenous people in Latin America is also a vulnerable group. All of these problems are made worse when you look at the most vulnerable populations across Latin America. When starting to use new technology, you also need to understand its potential, in order to use it to its fullest potential. So we need to come up with new curricula in different formats, also for teachers. And infrastructure needs to be transformed in order for everyone to have access to education. The mobile labs that are set up across Latin America, yet they do not reach the students. Investments are still highly needed in education. The potential of smartphones is underused: to provide real time information that is reliable and viable.

Keith Kruger on education in North America (US and Canada)
k-20 Keith kruger focuses on the fact that communication is the main feature of learning via mobiles. How are mobile devices changing learning (formal and informal), and spaces where learning is happening. Engagement is key for learning motivation, yet there is an increased amount of drop-outs. There is more personalized learning and the expert becomes more of a facilitator.
He emphasises that the US has a vision on education (which is something we all hope our national policy makers will have a vision as well :-D

Jan Hylen focuses on policies on mobile learning in Europe
Lists a couple of European initiatives, like MoleNet in UK, emphasizes changed government role in UK. Focues on promising Danish model with regard to mobile learning, netherlands which has national support for deploying mobile learning. Just like the American model, students are asked to bring their own device (risk of new digital divide, not yet thoroughly researched). A lot of bottom up innovation. Barriers and drivers for mLearning: policy makers and public are often barriers (my own idea: is this really true? Can this not be linked to Innovation Theory of Rogers, and early adopters versus majority? maybe only a 'natural' evolution towards innovation adoption). He also emphasises on the need to see education as a holistic approach, where integration, durability and sustainability can be assured.

Hyo Jeong So focusing on Asia Pacific region
Mobile phone penetration is also very impressive, and increasing fast in those countries who are still catching up. Big gender gap, India has good poor mLearning projects. Descriptiveness of mobile phones, lead to the minister of Maleysia to send a recommendation to ban mobile phones from schools (like in many other countries around the world). Mobile learning frequently falls under ICT for education, this is not always the best => links it more to indirect learning than direct learning. mLearning involves different stakeholders (policy makers, teachers, students, telecom providers, researchers... ). Refers to knowledge ladders framework of Kozma (2011). Our vision needs to take into account micro-level to fully actualize the learning potential of mobiles.

Any innovative #mLearning thoughts on education for development regions? #unesco_mlw

Today is the start of the first mobile symposium on learning organized by UNESCO. It is a joyous occasion, and I have been looking forward to it for weeks. There is only one problem… will this gathering of people result in new ideas on how to get relevant, impactful mLearning on the rails in regions that are lacking trainers/teachers and resources? Or more personally, can I make a difference, can any one person make a difference in such a large gathering of experts?

Ever since I read A&M Texas University’s research conclusion on brainstorming and the fact that it is not useful in big groups, I have been in dubio on how to get my voice heard during large conferences or symposia. If brainstorming only makes sense in one-on-one discussions (the Texan research concluded that in larger groups only consensus of existing ideas is reached, not innovation), then trying to get the one question in after a debate between an expert panel can only … result in some self-flattering idea that I dared to speak up… but it would not mean that my idea of any of the ideas would be picked up unless these ideas would have been launched and discussed beforehand.

The ol’boys (or ol’girl for that matter) network was a familiar concept, but now there is yet another impact factor of that network: if I am not part of the pre-conference network, my ideas will not fall into fruitful soil. So how can I get my voice heard, let alone get the voices or opinions out there from all the educators, teachers, trainers, support workers… that are spread around the world and are working with mobiles to enhance education day in day out?
The only conclusion I could draw at 3 o’clock in the morning was… I should have skyped with the key actors to get my ideas on the agenda. Which inevitably got me doubting my very presence during the next couple of days.

Luckily for my motivation, I am never shy of facing opposing walls, so I want to get one main idea across during these couple of days and if that does not work, I will at least take notes and share it with all of you so we can get into the discussion and build new mLearning opportunities. If you have any thoughts on mLearning, twitter them #unesco_mlw ... looking forward to hearing your ideas!

There is a need to get the format of big gatherings optimized to get all the ideas heard and discussed. Well, some conferences do organize pre-conference discussions (OERu, Networked learning…). Okay... off to record what is said... and looking forward to it!

#IRRODL : Why the #chaos of #MOOC s and #mlearning will be a benefit to #education in the long run

To all of us who think education is stressed for change, this paper on using mLearning and MOOCs to understand chaos, emergence, and complexity in education is a collaborative effort to embrace chaos in new educational formats (MOOC, mLearning) to come to a new educational balance... in the end.

The paper focuses on MOOCs and mLearning and links it to connectivism in order to suggest that these new formats of education have their chaotic side, but ... the chaos which accompanies these new educational formats will eventually result in a new educational balance (well... you cannot blame us for thinking BIG :-D

So to all the MobiMOOC research team: congratulations: +Michael Sean Gallagher, +nilgün keskin +Sean C. Abajian +Rebecca Hogue +Osvaldo Rodriguez +Apostolos Koutropoulos +Ignatia/Inge de Waard (I am really grateful to be part of such a dynamic and diverse group!).

The article was published just this weekend in the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Leanring (IRRODL), vol 12, No 7 (2011): which is a Special Issue on Emergent Learning, Connections, Design for Learning. There are many other great articles in it.

Table of Contents

Editorial

	Editorial: Volume 12, Number 7	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Rod Sims, Elena Kays	i-vi

Research Articles

	Designing for learning: Online social networks as a classroom environment	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Gail Casey, Terry Evans	1-26

	Pointillist, cyclical, and overlapping: Multidimensional facets of time in online education	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Pekka Ihanainen, John Moravec	27-39

	Emergent learning and interactive media artworks: Parameters of interaction for novice groups	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Marta Kawka, Kevin Larkin, Patrick Alan Danaher	40-55

	Aligning the quantum perspective of learning to instructional design: Exploring the seven definitive questions	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Katherine Joyce Janzen, Beth Perry, Margaret Edwards	56-73

	A pedagogy of abundance or a pedagogy to support human beings? Participant support on massive open online courses	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Rita Kop, Hélène Fournier, John Sui Fai Mak	74-93

	Using mLearning and MOOCs to understand chaos, emergence, and complexity in education	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Inge de Waard, Sean Abajian, Michael Sean Gallagher, Rebecca Hogue, Nilgün Keskin, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Oscar C. Rodriguez	94-115

Research Notes

	"Chaos rules" revisited	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	David Murphy	116-134

	Emergent, self-directed, and self-organized learning: Literacy, numeracy, and the iPod Touch	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Carlo Antonio Ricci	135-146

Book Notes

	Book review - Telecollaboration 2.0: Language, literacies and intercultural learning in the 21st century	HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
	Nataly Tcherepashenets

Business models for #gaming #medialearning2011

A panel of game developers who all shed their light on how they got their games funded/financed during the media and learning conference in Brussels, Belgium. It was amazing to see that the main route was via government funding (national). In-game advertising was not discussed (though would be interesting) and no corporate sponsors were mentioned either, though I can imagine that Disney would be interested in providing Disney land decors for an educational game?

Below you will find my transcript of what was said
Members of the panel: Lieve Achten (empowering via gaming), Balthazar Fernandez-Manjon from Universidad complutense de Madrid, spain (computer science background working on eLearning platforms and standards) and Swen Vincke from Larian Studios, a gaming company who built the fabulous MonkeyTales game to enhance math skills for all learners.
Getting money from the parents, as they want the best for their children.
Quickie on Monkeytales math for different ages, international (currently UC,US, Belgium, Poland... growing). The game adapts with an algorithm which enables the program to see how s/he good that student is, the program will adapt to the capacities of teh child in order to keep a motivational pace going that will stimulate the child and not demotivate it.
So even if you take it as an adult, the program will give you increasingly difficult challenges.

Which partners, main challenges for these funding partners
Lieve, works very low-tech so sponsorship for logistics (classrooms, providing students, ...) so she went to the ministry of education and youth to collaborate on this project. She got a lot of skeptical remarks on the 'serious game' idea.
She emphasizes the need to find out what language the different stakeholders understand, so diversifying your business and logic case.
At this stage the governments are more positive towards educational gaming.
Her games are aimed at disabled learners. The teachers are involved from early on (learning labs). The game starts from real life school content, translated to their own experience, then redesigning it towards a game. The teacher often get coaching roles, which the learners can connect to. Once the ball is rolling, it becomes easier to get funds. A game must also feel un-learning, otherwise, with too much pedagogy, the learners think 'get a life' and leave it.

Swen: governments are quite open to it, but frightened by the cost of building a 'real' game. The challenge is to put yourself out there against the competition, so you need research proof that the game HAS impact. So get research funds, manage the enormous amount of curricula. so you will need to be able to sell on the international market, this makes it depending on the curriculum standards in all these countries (quite challenging). you need to demonstrate that the kids will learn more by playing this game. But every algorithm takes years to develop, implement and evaluate. So time is an important factor. You also need to offer the learner a satisfying feeling, the game must deliver what it says it delivers AND without exploding in your face as you are playing it. So finding the strong common denominator with regard to public expectations. Strong surplus of gaming is memorization, by playing it again and again.Multiple disciplines need to be collaboration to get a game going.

Balthazar: problem to incorporate each of the stakeholders language to get positive results on your demand. You risk a deadlock if one of the key stakeholders stalls. The qualitative methodology of the game is also essential. The pedagogical end of the game is tricky, for educationalists come with a long list of learning needs. you need to combine all of the stakeholders concerns to get a high quality result that can stand the test of time and learning. Funding is also a challenge: ministry of education, but a lot of paperwork, but once the money is provided by the government, sometimes the gov contacts the gaming industry, they want to make a clear profit out of it... and this risks your project to become obsolete or missed. So what Balthazar did: sell it to Harvard. This enabled them to get local funding, as the local gov saw the Harvard sell as a quality mark. You must also make the game sustainable (will it be able to shift to 3D, new computers, new devices...), how will you tackle this? You need to make any educational game update-able. Games should be authentic learning. So in-game assessment should be integrated as well. Otherwise you have a discrepancy between learning (gaming) and assessment (paper and pen). The game must also be secured, at all levels... so this costs as well. And if a security breach happens... you risk liability. this is the reason Balthazar builds simple user games, not multi-player games as security is different for each of them.
Working with national standardization institutes of a country REALLY helps in getting funding, as this includes national compliance across that nation.
Games are the new narrative of education, previously it was movies. In the end games could be monetized. (Refers to scratch platform of MIT)

Remarks from the audience
Currently there is no serious game market. Military is one of the key funders of serious games, but what about ethics?

The funding risks killing the serious game market. As the research is subjective, but far too much money is spend on poor research. But the consumer market could be revived. But another risk is the open content which risks killing developing countries as well.

There is a discussion on ethics because of the negative views on killing games. So how to bridge learning and gaming via gaming traditions (shooter up...).

Another option is the learning apps that are on the market, and the completely self-generated games. But to produce this, it takes expertise and you always will and this takes years. That is why teachers will not be able to build games just in a jiffy.

The importance to stimulate children/student/youngsters #brain #medialearning2011

Peter Adriaenssens (expert in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at KULeuven) speaks at the conference of Media and Learning in the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Some notes from his speech.

Brain and educational practice
All starts at the neuron level. These neurons and their branches will form a neural network. From birth to 2 years, this neural network is growing at a quick speed.

this process is genetically determined, but not all will be needed, this is were the genetic will meet nurture. Parts of these will be pruned as theings are 'not needed'. So it is imperative to take this neural plasticity into account when stimulating children from early on.

These synapsis will keep growing all the way to half of the twenties. This is the work that needs to be done for the biggest part in the first 18 years. Exposing the young brain to a wide variety of stimulus will decide the quality of emotion and behaviour. It is a continuous process of adaptation of the brain. this brain needs meaningful interactions to grow, so exposure to media, creativity, ... will actively stimulate growth (language, concentration, ...). This will result eventually in adolescent behaviour.

Children that are not exposed to stimulae, will result in a very poor set of neural networks.

As such society and all of us in it, are responsible for brain stimulus.

Exposure to stimulae are at the center of the discussion about violent exposure by media etc. But why do not we set up research centers about 'good media' instead of looking at the negative impact (personal note: good point!).

The Brain
cosists of many different parts that work together to make meaning of the world
nees appropriate nutrituion to reach it maximal potential
needs appropriate sleep in order to work effectively
needs ongoing developmentally appropiate stimulation
learns most effectively when information is provided in the child's prefrered larning or thinking style

Important to explore the language at which children feel at their best, might be dance, physical, creativity.... this push for positive stimulae is important for their brain as children have different preferences (or their brains have).
Provide children with camera's, internet, media tools...

Critical though of myself: lack of infrastructure will result in a sustained digital divide with low resource areas and/or groups.

Are we able to prove that media stimulus will result in an improved child development?
We do not have the data to found this, but we can set out some guidelines.
Growing importance of social skills. And making them open to democratical, critical analysis to be ready for this world. Lifelong learning is a need, but does education taking care of this need? Are schools redesigned to allow them to provide lifelong learning?

Join #UNESCO for the first symposium on #mlearning in Paris

Last week I got a kind invitation of Steve Vosloo to join the first symposium on mobile learning which is organized at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France on 15 - 16 December 2011 (near the Eifeltower, so great venue). The event is set-up in collaboration with Nokia.

To facilitate the discussion, discovery and experimentation of creative ideas about how to use mobile technologies to transform educational processes and outcomes, all of mLearning specialists are invited to gather there and let your voices be heard.

Officials of Ministries of Education, international experts and practitioners in mobile learning, as well as representatives from major partners are invited to share innovative solutions of learning with, and through, mobile technologies to accelerate the achievement of Education For All (EFA) goals and improve the quality of education.

The programme can be found here. The symposium follows a mLearning expert meeting that runs from 12-15 December and which is part of the mobile learning week.

The main objectives of the Symposium are to:

• Share the main findings of the regional reviews of mobile learning in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America, with specific focuses on the policies that promote mobile learning as well as the effective ways in which mobile technologies can be utilised for teacher support and professional development.
• Share the latest developments of mobile technologies and their implications for education, and envision innovative ways in which mobile technologies can be used to enhance the quality of education and transform learning processes.

You can register online to the event on the UNESCO ICT in Education Website. The organizers indicate that following your registration you will receive a confirmation email with your invitation letter attached.

Should you have any questions or requests, please contact Mr. Jongwon Seo at j.seo@unesco.org.

Please note that registration closes on 28 November 2011. Unfortunately UNESCO cannot provide travel assistance to the event.

And for those of us with great ideas, the Education For All challenges are still open, so get your ideas in! The next challenge to take part in is the one on Life Skills and Lifelong Learning which will be launched on the 12 December 2011.

5 Calls for #papers, presentations or/and proposals for #mlearning and #eLearning

If anyone is organizing a conference, workshop... feel free to send it to me @ignatia I will gladly add it to the next call for papers post.

EdMedia conference organized by the Association for Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
Where: Denver, Colorado, USA
When: 25 – 29 June 2012
Deadline for submission: 12 December 2011
More information: http://aace.org/conf/edmedia
Short description: This annual international conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion and exchange of information on the research, development, and applications on all topics related to multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications/distance education. EdMedia attracts more than 1,500 leaders in the field from over 70 countries. We invite you to attend EdMedia and submit proposals for papers, panels, roundtables, tutorials, workshops, posters/demonstrations, corporate showcases/demos, and discussions

eLearning Africa 2012
Where: Benin, Africa, at the Palais des Congès de Cotonou
When: 23 – 25 May 2012
Deadline for submission: 9 January 2012
More information: http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_cfp.php
Short description: Meeting the networking needs of the pan-African eLearning and distance education sector, the annual eLearning Africa conference is the key networking venue for practitioners and professionals from Africa and all over the world. eLearning Africa is the premier gathering place for all experts and stakeholders engaged or interested in ICT-based education, training and development on the African continent. Everyone concerned with eLearning in Africa is welcome to share and learn.

Special Journal issue on Social Networking and Mobile Learning
Name of Journal: British Journal of Educational Technology
Editors: Guest editors: Norbert Pachler (Institute of Education, University of London), Maria Ranieri (Department of Education, University of Florence), John Cook (London Metropolitan University) and Stefania Manca (Institute for Educational Technology, National Research Council of Italy).
Deadline for submission: 9 January 2012 (published July 2012)
More information: http://tinyurl.com/6924r52
Short description:
The aim of this Special Issue is to explore educational and socio-cultural perspectives on the use of the increasing convergence of mobile devices and digital media for social networking in formal and informal contexts of learning.
We invite papers that address the following issues:
• Theoretical analysis of and perspectives on user agency and practices in mobile networked environments;
• Exploring individual practices and community spaces in mobile networked learning;
• New approaches to the design of and research into experiences that incorporate mobile media as personal and social learning tools;
• Methodological models and tools to assess learning in formal and informal contexts through mobile networked environments;
• Learning through a mobile networked environment at the interface of formal and informal contexts in K-12 education;
• Learner practices and perceptions of mobile social networks as contexts for learning in higher education;
• Effects of mobile networked communities on learning by adults in informal contexts and for professional development.


Conference on open education: ECER 2012
Subject: the need for educational research to champion Freedom, Education and Development for All
Just for all the gender enthusiasts in learning: Rosi Braidotti is one of the keynote speakers.
Where: Cádiz, Spain, Europe
When: 17 – 21 September 2012
Deadline for submission: 1 February 2012
More information: http://www.eera.de/ecer2012/programme/conference-theme/
Short description: EERA, European Educational Research Association and the University of Cadiz, Spain, invite Educational Researchers to participate in and to submit proposals for the European Conference on Educational Research 2012.
The conference theme "The Need for Educational Research to Champion Freedom, Education and Development for All" will provide a focus for the keynote addresses and for other invited events. It may also be taken as a reference within the conference sessions organised by the EERA networks. However, proposals for contributions are welcome from all fields of educational research. Participants are invited to hand in up to two abstracts for papers, posters, workshops, round tables and symposia. All proposals must be handed in electronically via the online submission form. PhD students and emerging researchers are especially invited to participate in the Emerging Researchers’ Conference by submitting proposals to the Emerging Researchers’ Group.
The ECER is the annual conference held by the European Educational Research Association (EERA). It welcomes close to 2.000 scholars each year, representing views and research traditions from all parts of Europe and also attracts researchers from other parts of the world

Global TIME 2012: Online conference on Technology, Innovation, Media and Education Where: … online
When: 7 – 9 February 2012
Deadline for submission: 5 December 2011
More information: http://www.aace/org/conf/gtime
Short description: (well, this is one of the shortest and vaguest descriptions I must say)
• gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world's educators.
• provide a platform for the world's best visionaries, thinkers, teachers, researchers, and developers.
• discuss, examine and disseminate the best ideas from and for the global community.
• worked together as a global force to change, improve, and create a better future for education.
• It's about TIME ... Global TIME (Technology, Innovation, Media and Education)

The picture shows the manuscript of Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road', which he typed on one big scroll that he put through his typewriter. The picture was taken by Steve Rhodes.

Sweeping away the #occupy movement, is like sweeping away #critical #education

The Occupy movement has gotten yet another blow yesterday as the campsite on Liberty Square (Zucotti Park in New York) was 'cleaned up', simply because they have a critical, minority opinion which is in favor of most of us. Peaceful occupation on ideological grounds is a worthy cause, so why is it that in many cases it is a risky business? I feel that crushing freedom of opinion is actually a very practical example of suffocating critical thinking and true education overall. Crushing freedom of opinion does not coincidentally happen at the same moment in which most countries decide to cut down on education or welfare to get them out of an economic crisis. Educated citizens will question regulations and policies, and powers that be do not like to be questioned no matter what era, what region.

Being critical is a human asset which lifts all of us
Being critical, demanding transparency of policy makers and the powers that be is a very democratic action. Strange enough, it is also mainstream corporate action, for transparency allows for improved business action. So why are demands for financial transparency that affects citizens then crushed by people in power positions? For it is simply a sound policy action. Unfortunately the action is undertaken by non-policy people (or mostly).

Being critical, engaging in discussion to enable mutual growth and free speech is at the basis of us human beings, it is also at the core of education. It demands looking into current situations, analyzing it for its strengths and weaknesses and coming to conclusions on which you or we want to act. To me it is the basis of any critical learning of any movement to strengthen our evolution towards becoming more human. Crushing down on a small group of people, simply because they use their voice to get their opinions out in the open, is a brutal yet very open act of censorship and of what some powerful people feel should be numbed. How can transparency and human, peaceful action ever be a bad thing? And what if even believers of economic power structures propose themselves to give back to the country in order to give back to the people (e.g. Warren Buffett asking for higher taxation of the rich)?

Where do we go? Where can I grow?
In ‘grapes of wrath’ the Oscar winning 1940’s movie directed by John Ford in which a Midwestern family seeks fortune in California amidst the depression there is still an illusion of the new frontier, the new world. But even then it was clear that it was only an illusion. 70 years onward, amidst another economic crisis that is affecting the tired, the poor and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free … there is no longer a lamp beside the golden door.

Where do we go? Where can I go? There is no longer ‘the Western frontier’, no longer the land of the free no matter where we look, it is not in the America's, it is not in Europe... It feels as though when I really want to be free, the only frontier left, is my own inner voice, my inner space in which I can ask ourselves: who am I, what do I do in these changing times?

Enable, promote, follow open education to enhance critical thinking
To get an action plan going, there is only one option: to learn. And to be able (financially, socially) to engage in education that will allow ideas to emerge to better the world around us – all of us. For as an educated citizen, I will be able to engage, to put my two cents into causes that I belief in. Hence there is only one option: promoting, following, building critical education, education open to all. In order to lift us towards a more human world where citizens from all regions can live a happy life in their own country, region, part of the world.