Formation Continue du Supérieur

"La educación permanente: aprendizaje formal, informal y no formal", el Tema 8 del Encuentro Internacional de Educación, se cierra con un evento presencial y grandes invitados en el Espacio Fundación Telefónica.
9 de julio de 2013. A partir de las 16 h. (hasta 19 h.) - Auditorio Espacio Fundación Telefónica C/ Gran Vía (acceso por C/ Fuencarral, nº 3) - Madrid. Inscríbete aquí | Consulta el programa
El evento de cierre del Tema 8 será una tarde de conversación y experiencias en torno a la educación permanente, con fragmentos de las ponencias de Stephen Downes y Juan Domingo Farnós desde Caracas, y un debate en el que participan:
• Silvia Torralba: Diseñadora, educadora, cuentacuentos y madre. Después de 20 años en publicidad, lo dejó para ser cuentacuentos, gracias a su hija. Es cofundadora de Asociación Akuarela, una organización sin ánimo de lucro, de artistas y de profesionales de la educación que llevan a cabo proyectos relacionados con la infancia, tanto en España como en Brasil. Es autora de cuentos y guiones de obras de teatro infantil.
• Álvaro Cerame del Campo: Estudiante de Medicina. Representante estudiantil en la Universidad de Alcalá, es el Coordinador de la División de Formación del Consejo Estatal de Estudiantes de Medicina. Formador de la International Federation of Medical Students Associations.
• Uriel Francisco Romero Redondo: Cofundador y director ejecutivo de la Organization for Development and Research of Education (ODRE).
• Anna Forés: Doctora en Filosofía y Ciencias de la Educación y Licenciada en Pedagogía por la Universidad de Barcelona. Experta en temas como educación social, resiliencia, didáctica y e-learning. Actualmente es vicedecana de doctorado de la Facultad de Pedagogía de la UB y coordinadora de la universidad de la experiencia "Educació i Societat".
Habrá más sorpresas interesantes y, si no puedes estar en Madrid, el evento se retransmitirá en vivo a través de la web. Evento gratuito. Accede a la inscripción a través de este formulario. El 9 de julio, ¡súmate al debate!

By Cathy Davidson. In 2009, when I was researching and writing the "How We Measure" chapter of Now You See It, I could offer a critique of the current system of standardized, summative, end-of-grade testing, but had little to offer that addressed the key positive contributions of standardized testing:  its ability to be graded by machine (or by humans with a template) and provide the basis for comparisons of outcomes across disparate institutions. Originally pioneered in a doctoral dissertation at Kansas State Teacher's College by Frederick Kelly in 1914, the item-response test was adopted widely and almost immediately because of these two features.
Many esteemed critics over the years have pointed out that multiple-choice tests are a poor instrument for motivating learning, for  instilling an appreciation for complexity, or for accurately testing what one actually learned. They encourage “teaching to the test” and “learning to the test,” especially in our post-2002 No Child Left Behind world where public school teachers can be penalized and schools closed if kids don’t do well on such tests.  However, until another system addresses the key attributes of standardization and automation, school life will continue to be governed, preschool to professional school, by EOGs, SATs, ACTs, GREs, LSATs, M-CATs and the like. Read more...

By Raffaela Kihrer. EAEA GRUNDTVIG AWARD 2013. EAEA hands out the yearly EAEA Grundtvig Award to a successful European learning partnership. This year´s theme for the award was "Active citizenship and transnational solidarity - Adult Education as a tool against nationalism, chauvinism and xenophobia"...
A participant of a seminar organised by Belieforama - A panoramic approach to issues of religion and belief project put it in simple words for what the project stood for: to offer an educational intervention and prevention of a growing social conflict concerning issues of religious diversity. Read more...

By Aura Vuorenrinne. The member states of the European Union, European Commission and European Parliament have finally reached the agreement on the new programme for education, youth and sport. For adult educators Erasmus+ does not seem that bad after all.
Erasmus+, previously known as Erasmus for All or YES Europe combines the Lifelong Learning Programme, international cooperation programmes (e.g. Erasmus Mundus) and Youth in Action. Additionally, Erasmus+ includes sports.
Adult educators can now let out a sigh of relief.
- There have been significant improvements to the original plan of the Commission and I think adult education community can be very happy about that, says Gina Ebner, the Secretary-General of the EAEA. Read more...

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...