Universities UK has published a new report which examines the impact of significant changes that have taken place in UK higher education since 2011.
These include the introduction of new fee levels in 2012-2013 and changes to the funding of undergraduate students, as well as immigration reforms that have affected the UK's universities.
The report, entitled “The funding environment for universities: an assessment” looks at the implications of these developments for the future funding and financial sustainability of UK universities.
Download the full report here.

The Egracons (European Grade Conversion System) project aims to facilitate exchange mobility by working out a conversion system based on ECTS grade conversion tables as used in the ECTS Users’ Guide.
The project, which is cofunded by the EC, aims to “create tools to enable an accurate interpretation of marks (or grades) given abroad and a fair and manageable conversion of these marks to a local mark in the home institution”.
As part of the project, the organisers are carrying out a survey of higher education institutions in Europe. The survey is open to staff with authority on grade conversions and recognition at the institutional, faculty or departmental level within HEIs. The information gathered from the answers will be used “to draw up both institutional and country reports for the whole of Europe and work out the final specifications for the Egracons online tool for grading conversion”.
The survey is available online and the deadline is 1 August 2013. More information about the project, comprised of a consortium of partners from across Europe, is available here.

Edcanvas is a free online tool for teachers to create and deliver lessons digitally, a tool for pulling together slides of text and images and embedded Youtube clips into a unique url to create a multimedia lesson. It is also a valuable tool for students to create presentations or projects.
The drag-and-drop interface of Edcanvas allows teachers and students to search easily for internet resources, curate, organise and share content all in one place.
Teachers can setup classes and give students a code to join the class. Educators are also able to see and share student-made canvases.
Click here to see a 38 seconds tutorial on how to create an online lesson in Edcanvas.

Los temas principales del 6º Congreso Internacional de Educación Abierta y Tecnología son: los MOOC o Cursos Masivos Abiertos Online, los PLE o Entornos de Aprendizaje Personal y los LMS o plataformas de eLearning (Sistemas de Administración del Aprendizaje).
Si está interesado en alguno de estos temas de vanguardia en el campo de la Educación, no dude en asistir a Ikasnabar 2013. El Congreso tendrá lugar en el centro de convenciones de Zalla, uno de los pueblos más representativos de la Sociedad del Conocimiento en Europa. El Congreso está organizado por investigadores de la Universidad del País Vasco (EHU). Dirección general del Congreso: Gorka J. Palazio. Dirección del programa: Inmaculada Maiz y Carlos Castaño (EHU).

"A Guide to Quality in Online Learning” is designed to provide insight into opportunities presented by online learning. Structured in the form of 16 frequently asked questions, the publication launched in June 2013 summarizes the key quality issues in online education in a concise and accessible manner.
Edited by renowned higher education experts Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić and Sir John Daniel and authored by Neil Butcher and Merridy Wilson-Strydom, this newly published guide from Academic Partnerships is available to download for free in both English and Chinese.
The guide an additional reading list focused on quality benchmarks and international best practices.
Website: Academic Partnerships.

For many people with mental illness and learning disabilities, working and gaining professional fulfilment is only a dream. Apart from the usual problems with finding a job, they face additional barriers: they often lack social skills necessary to work in a team. A methodology of experiential learning has been developed during the three years SUVOT project, co-funded by the European Commission, Life-long Learning Programme, Leonardo da Vinci subprogramme.  A one year vocational course in cooking has been designed taking into account the special needs of the trainees. Apart from cooking sessions planned twice a week, once a week participants attend simulation methodology training – role-playing and theatre exercises helping them to acquire personal and social skills needed at work.
For many people with disabilities working and gaining professional fulfilment is only a dream, as apart from the usual problems with finding a job, they face additional barriers: not only physical and technical, but most often social. People with mental and cognitive disabilities are most affected by prejudices and social stigma – surveys reveal a 3 to 5 times higher unemployment rate amongst individuals with mental illness although the majority of them are able and willing to work. “Nobody is to be discriminated because of his or her disability!” This is one of the central statements anchored in the European legislation and leads to many measures that try to ensure that handicapped people have the same options and choices as non-handicapped people. A big issue is the accessibility to any area of life. People with disabilities have special rights - starting from early intervention up to rehabilitation care at any age. Although there are clear guidelines, and the law is well-intentioned regarding handicapped people, the reality often looks different. People are refused for flimsy reasons and have trouble finding a job, despite their high qualifications. Many don´t even try to enter employment, but live on the support of the state, which isn´t satisfying. Yet, even if potential employers are open-minded, many people with mental or learning disabilities lack the necessary social skills to get and maintain a job, especially in today’s competitive market. Read more...

Chamilo is an open source e-learning and collaboration platform. The project is lead by a legal non-profit association founded in Belgium in 2010.
Chamilo is currently used by more than 6,000,000 teachers and students around the world. Governments, private companies, public and private universities, NGOs and other types of organisations are using this free software suite to manage from simple live training to full distant learning, certification centres, e-courses and staff selection.

Eduonline is a platform developed by the University of Alicante (Spain) that provides university teachers a series of tools to develop and manage online courses and lessons.
The objective of Eduonline is to serve the university community in general and provide a virtual space to develop many of the activities that are done physically at the campuses.
The platform aims to incorporate Internet into teaching practices and university research. Teachers can design and manage an online course using a simple web interface which allows creating and changing in just a few steps any content.
Eduonline is designed to optimize the integration of teaching in accordance with the European ECTS credits.

At some point in their career almost all teachers will have a student whose native language is not English. Engaging with English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, also called English Language Learners (ELLs), should be an enriching experience for the teacher, the language student and the rest of the class, and the experts behind the Motivating ESL Learners blog have put together a set of 10 tips for teachers to keep on motivating learners and elevating the educational and cultural environment for everyone involved:
   1. Create a cultural dialogue
   2. Engage with your students’ special occasions and interests
   3. Use scaffolding techniques to help students accomplish tasks
   4. Maximize inter-student interaction
   5. Correct errors with compassion
   6. Speak clearly
   7. Use hands-on and project-based activities
   8. Be adaptable, but maintain high expectations
   9. Encourage students to speak in their native language
  10. Seek resources

The latest issue of Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature on technology in language education features an article by invited author Dr. Steven L. Thorne and an interview with the well-known expert in the field, Dr. Greg Kessler. The growing importance of technology in education is almost a cliché in today’s society. Still, the use of technology for language teaching is not as widespread as it could be hoped, although there are multiple examples of innovative practices that can be found. The question of integrating technology as part and parcel of teaching practice is a source of inspiration for this year’s annual monographic volume, edited by Victoria Antoniadou, a doctoral student at the Department of Language and Literature and Social Science Education, Faculty of Education (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). The special editor has brought  together world renowned experts, along with emergent researchers to provide readers with inspiring and thought-provoking articles that dealwith this intriguing area of study. Read more...