SVEA Final Conference "Next Generation Learning - How to Integrate Social Media in Vocational and Adult Training"

On the 23rd November 2011 the Next Generation Learning Conference, Brussels, Belgium, will offer a unique opportunity to discuss the benefits arising from the growing use of social media in vocational and adult training.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Delicious, blogs and wikis are already common tools used socially to exchange knowledge and information throughout the online global community. But how can we integrate such tools in our training environments to offer a compelling training experience within the vocational and adult training field? And how can those instruments be used to improve the organisational development of a training institution?
Through the participation of international experts, researchers and stakeholders, the Next Generation Learning Conference will provide some answers to these questions and will present a range of suggestions for trainers to maximise the benefits resulting from the adoption of social media in their area of vocational education.
Keynote speakers, Professor Gráinne Conole and Ms. Helen Keegan, recognised internationally for their expertise in online learning, will introduce recent developments and trends in the field and draw conclusions about “the Future of Learning”. Dr. Lieve Van den Brande will highlight the most recent plans of the European Commission on e-education.
Furthermore, there will be two parallel workshops that will explore the key issues and benefits of using social media in both teaching and learning and in the management of training institutions:
The first workshop will target the management of training institutions and will show, though practical examples, how organisational processes in training institutions can be optimized through the use of social media. The second workshop will be tailored around the needs of trainers and will highlight the opportunities and benefits connected to the use of web 2.0 in training, while at the same time underlining the resistance that needs to be overcome to guarantee a successful and productive use of those tools for learning purposes.
The Next Generation Learning Conference is the final event of the EU funded SVEA project and is open to all learning practitioners, trainers, curriculum designers, directors and managers of training institutions. A provisional program can be found here. More detailed information will become available in the coming weeks. Online registration is open till 16 November 2011.