Formation Continue du Supérieur

Campus du CMA- Première session « L’ingénierie internationale de la formation et des apprentissages tout au long de la vie », jeudi 25 et vendredi 26 avril 2013, 9h30-12h30 et 14h-17h, à Paris.
Le Comité mondial pour les apprentissages tout au long de la vie (CMA) ouvre un Campus à l’intention des acteurs de l’éducation et de la formation souhaitant se développer à l’international. Les opérateurs publics et privés doivent inscrire de plus en plus leurs projets dans un cadre européen et international. Toutes stratégies de développement international dans le secteur de l’éducation et de la formation, doivent être précédées d’une connaissance des contraintes juridiques, commerciales, culturelles. Le CMA a acquis une expertise reconnue par les grandes institutions internationales. Son expérience et son savoir faire constitueront une valeur ajoutée pour les acteurs engagés ou qui souhaitent s’engager dans une démarche internationale. BULLETIN D’INSCRIPTION. En savoir plus.
Objectif: Après une connaissance du paysage mondial du secteur de l’éducation, de la formation et des apprentissages tout au long de la vie, de ses contraintes juridiques, culturelles et commerciales, élaborer une stratégie de développement à l’international.
Bénéfices attendus: Soutien stratégique, Aide au développement international, Conseil pour la candidature aux appels d’offres, Aide à la décision et analyse des opportunités – Risques, Marketing – Valorisation et commercialisation de l’offre. Communication internationale pour le porteur de projet. Suivi personnalisé pendant trois mois.
Participants: Organismes et prestataires de formation souhaitant se développer durablement à l’international Pré-programme:
• Le paysage international de la formation et des apprentissages tout au long de la vie
• Témoignages d’organismes de formation présents à l’international et de commanditaires internationaux
• Établissement d’un diagnostic et élaboration d’une stratégie européenne et internationale
• Communiquer et promouvoir son projet.
Méthode pédagogique: La session sera constituée d’apports théoriques et pratiques en alternance avec des études de cas réels en petits groupes. Les échanges entre participants seront favorisés. Un dossier préparatoire sera fourni, en amont, à chaque participant.
Intervenants: Experts internationaux du CMA, Consultants internationaux et Opérateurs commerciaux.
Attestation: Une attestation de formation sera délivrée aux participants en fin de session
Suivi: Le CMA fournira une prestation de conseil personnalisé en ligne pour les participants, pendant trois mois. Ensuite, les participants seront regroupés au cours d’une réunion bilan-évaluation-conseil.
Prestation: L’acquittement du droit d’inscription donne accès à la totalité de la session, aux pauses et déjeuners, à une prestation de conseil, en ligne, pendant trois mois et à une réunion bilan-évaluation-conseil.

On 12-13 March, 2013 the Irish Presidency Conference was held in famous surroundings of Dublin Castle. The Conference was organized by the newly established Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) and gathered over 150 participants from 35 European and other regions’ countries. The main goal of the conference was to study how qualification frameworks and quality assurance arrangements can best work together at national and European levels facilitating the overall reformation of education.
The main priority of the Irish Presidency  of the Council of EU is the provision of high quality education and training for all Europe’s citizens which is essential if Europe is to tackle its unemployment crisis, strengthen its economic growth and create sustainable jobs. 
Two days of intensive discussions of a wide range of issues were followed by important conclusions. One of the conclusions emphasized the need for the European Commission, the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) Advisory Group and the BFUG to look at ways of facilitating greater  dialogue between the main actors  in  VET and  HE on the topic of quality and qualifications frameworks. Providers in both sectors were  urged to make their quality assurance arrangements  mutually intelligible, share good practice in implementation of learning outcomes. The participants expressed concern on the disconnection between what employers required as skills  for employees and the obtained qualifications. More information and the complete conclusions can be accessed from the QQI website at www.qqi.ie.

By Marybeth Gruenewald, Director of Global Initiatives and Senior Evaluator at Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE). We all know that without due diligence in fraud detection, we run the risk of  admitting a student with suspicious or incomplete documentation, or denying admission to a student who submits authentic, official credentials. As international admissions officers and academic credential evaluation professionals, we do not want to encourage fraud in our environment nor do we want to reward fraud. We must be fair, ethical, and practice good policies to prohibit the use of fraud.
Following the blog post by retired FBI Agent, Allen Ezell, on fraud prevention, this blog post takes a deeper look at the various stages of evaluating students’ credentials in the fight against fraud.
Gathering the ‘intel’
First we need to ask ourselves the question: Do we know all we can about educational systems around the world? What benchmark credential constitutes completion of secondary education in a country or how can a student enter into a second degree programme outside of our own institution? Do we know what official academic credentials look like from China or Brazil or Mozambique?  What is the official language in which the credential should appear? Take a look at your resources: are they comprehensive and up-to-date? Have you established your own network of colleagues around the world who can help you if questions arise and only a human resource can be of assistance? Today, more than ever, intelligence gathering is of most importance and whether your intelligence comes from a publication or an online database, be sure that the information is current.
Analysing the basic data
Our battle plan at this point is to look at the fundamentals: the completed and signed international admissions document and the educational history of your potential student. Does the biographical data of the student match what is stated in his or her documents? Many credentials will state a full date of birth, city of birth, and even parents’ names. Are there any unexplained gaps in the student’s educational history? Organise the academic credentials in chronological order. Does the student’s age at the time each degree/diploma was awarded correlate with what usually occurs in that system? Are any academic credentials missing from the admissions packet? If so, request them.
Let’s also take a look at the student’s institution of study and the basics of the credential before we go further. Is the name of the institution on the credential spelled correctly, using diacritical marks in the correct manner, or is the credential name misspelled? Is the institution name correct for the period of time in which the degree was awarded? Names of institutions of higher education change over time, for example many institutions in the former republics of the Soviet Union will have changed names. Chinese higher educational institutions can be stated in English in many different ways and those differences may be acceptable.
Watch for red flags!
Now we proceed into battle. Look for aspects of the documents that seem out of place, that are inaccurate, and that seem to pop out of the page right before your eyes. Use a lighted magnifying glass. Touch the document. Measure it. Here’s a short list of some documentation features that require inspection, measurement, study, and scrutiny:
    Paper size/colour/weight is correct for the country.
    Institutional seals/stamps are clear, crisp, and legible.
    Institutional logos are clean and correct for the time period.
    Signatures of institutional authorities do not look forced, unsteadied, nor copied and pasted.
    Credentials do not display misspelling, wrong course titles for the time period, smudges, white-outs, or erasures.
    Fonts, text layout, and symmetry of documents are correct for that institution’s credentials.
You should also be on the look out for the following:
    Do the grades seem too high?
    Is the educational terminology correct for the country concerned?
    Are there are dates or signatures on the documents?
    Are the credits/hours of study are too high/too low for that programme of study?
    Is there a lack of security features, such as embossed seals, foil printing, raised text, or holograms that should be the official document of that country?
Discovering a suspected fake academic credential
The red flags are waving brusquely; we suspect the academic credential may be fake. Now what? The verification process is not difficult: photocopy the credentials in question and send the copies to the appropriate office at the external institution. When composing your verification request, keep it short and simple. Use English as the primary language of the letter, or choose the country’s official language if that is possible for you and your staff. Assign a specific code to the letter and ask that the institution reply using that code. If you receive confirmation of a forged credential, your institution should have a policy in place to handle these types of fraud. If not, push to have that policy formulated on your campus. There are ethical and legal reasons to do so.
Making use of forensics
The best way to engage successfully and thoroughly in fraud detection is to make sure you have the correct resources for the mission ahead. Besides the pointers mentioned above, the published books and the online databases, there is another mechanism in fraud detection: forensics. This methodology goes even deeper into the aspect of credential fraud by examining the document at the printing process from start to finish. This investigation also uses forensic tools such as lighted magnifiers and jewellers’ loupes. The EAIE Professional Section Admissions Officers and Credential Evaluators (ACE) has hosted workshops and sessions on fraud detection including the use of forensics. There are other organisations who train in fraud detection as well. Educate yourselves, be aware, and be a sleuth. If it’s fun for Sherlock Holmes, it surely can be entertaining for us, as well as being the right thing to do.

Delegates at Changing the Learning Landscape events will have opportunities to bid for small grants for projects that lead to embedding learning technologies.
Changing the Learning Landscape (CLL) aims to bring about changes in approaches to technology in learning and teaching within higher education institutions.
As part of CLL, the HEA is running a number of free one-day CPD workshops to provide a practical introduction to the use of learning technologies for HE staff.
Up to £5,000 of funding will be available at each event. Individual attendees will be invited to bid for between £500 and £2,500 to help them fund small-scale projects to embed the use of technology within their institutions.
The workshops are running until 29 May 2013 at venues across the country. Some are designed to suit academic staff and some are aimed at staff with curriculum and teaching development and support roles. Themes of the events include social media, mobile learning and digital literacies.
CLL is a HEFCE funded project being run collaboratively between Jisc, the National Union of Students (NUS), the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and the HEA.
For more information please visit the CLL pages of the HEA website.

A language symposium organized within the Austrian-Hungarian educational project EDUCORB extended is taking place on April 11, 2013 in Lanzenkirchen, Lower-Austria.
“EDUCORB extended" builds upon the results of the previous project EDUCORB and aims to promote young people's cross-cultural communication skills in the region to increase their competitiveness in the common labour market.
After introducing the neighbouring languages, German and Hungarian, in pilot kindergartens the focus now lies in promoting the continuous acquisition of the foreign language from kindergarten to the last school year, the deepening of methodological innovation and cross-border cooperation between kindergartens and schools. An important factor for positive learning results is the motivation of the learners, which is promoted by personal contacts and practical experiences in the other country in the form of bilateral events, school projects and internships. Regular network meetings for kindergartens and schools and common language symposia provide a platform for shared ideas, methodological exchange and knowledge transfer. To ensure the quality of language, teaching training opportunities for language teachers are offered as well. A study accompanying the project evaluates its outcomes and provides sustainability.
Within the next months, various activities are planned: cross-border events for kindergartens and schools – intercultural project days for children and pupils; network events for pedagogues; internships in Hungary for Austrian trainees in tourism.
The next upcoming event is an international symposium: "Multilingualism as a resource" will be held on April 11, 2013 in Lanzenkirchen, Lower-Austria. The event provides an insight into the benefits of learning different languages at an early stage and shows how the neighbouring languages are implemented in practice. More on language symposium. More on EDUCORB extended.

You are a higher education institution and you want to participate in the new EU Programme for education, training, youth and sports 2014-2020?
Apply now for the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education, valid for the full duration of the new programme (2014-2020).
Do not miss the deadline of 15th May 2013 or you will not be able to receive funding in the first year of the programme (i.e. the academic year 2014/2015). All relevant information can be found at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/funding/2014/call_he_charter_en.php.
The 2014-2020 EU programme for education, training, youth and sport supports, among other policy objectives, the European modernisation and internationalisation agenda in higher education. The Programme will cover the period 2014-2020 and replaces seven existing programmes, including the Lifelong Learning programme (LLP) which will end with the academic year 2013-2014.
The Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) provides the general quality framework for European and international cooperation activities a higher education institution (HEI) may carry out within the Programme. The award of an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education is a pre-requisite for all HEIs located in an eligible country (the list is published in the call – see the link below) and willing to participate in learning mobility of individuals and/or cooperation for innovation and good practices under the Programme. For HEIs located in other countries, the ECHE is not required, and the quality framework will be established through inter-institutional agreements between HEIs. The Charter is awarded for the full duration of the Programme.

Moving to Europe temporarily is an opportunity embraced by over 200.000 students and researchers from outside the EU every year. However, far too many of them have to face unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. Current rules for obtaining a student visa or a residence permit are often complex and unclear; procedures can be lengthy and vary considerably across Member States and moving from one Member State to another can be very difficult or even impossible. This hampers the possibility to provide EU countries with a greater pool of talent and reduces the appeal of the EU as a world centre for excellence.
Today the Commission proposed to make it easier and more attractive for non-EU national students, researchers and other groups to enter and stay in the EU for periods exceeding three months. New legislation will set clearer time limits for national authorities to decide on applications, provide for more opportunities to access the labour market during their stays and facilitate intra-EU movement.
"Coming to the EU for research or study is far more difficult than it should be. We have to remove these obstacles to make the EU more open to talents. Such mobility benefits the EU and our economy through the circulation of knowledge and ideas." said EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström.
"Knowledge is power, as the saying goes: it is vital that we attract the brightest and best researchers and students because they contribute to a successful knowledge economy in the EU. Our aim through the Marie Curie Actions and new Erasmus for All programme is to make Europe the destination of choice for higher education, research and innovation," said Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
Experience with the implementation of current legislation has shown that Member States were not able to fully address the difficulties that applicants face when wanting to come to the EU to study or conduct research. The Commission is now proposing to set clearer, more consistent and transparent rules across the EU. The two current Directives on Students and Researchers will be modified and replaced by a single new Directive, which will improve:

• Procedural guarantees, in particular through a 60-day time limit for Member States' authorities to decide on an application for a visa or residence permit, which will make the application process more straightforward and transparent.

• Intra-EU mobility and transfer of skills and knowledge. Simpler and more flexible rules will increase the possibility for researchers, students and remunerated trainees to move within the EU, which is particularly important for students and researchers enrolled in joint programmes. Family members of researchers will also be granted certain mobility rights.

• Access to the labour market. During their studies, students will be allowed to work for a minimum of 20 hours per week so that they can support themselves adequately and contribute economically. Researchers and students will also be able to remain for a period of 12 months under certain conditions on the territory after finalisation of their studies/research to identify job opportunities or set up a business. This will not amount to an automatic right to work, as granting a work permit remains a national responsibility.

• The overall protection of additional groups of non-EU nationals, such as au pairs, school pupils and remunerated trainees, who are not covered by the existing EU legislation.

Read the full press release "Making the EU more attractive for foreign students and researchers".

XBlock, made by edX.org, is for building courseware. It will soon be implemented in the edX LMS, but the pre-alpha XBlock API is currently available so that potential users can make suggestions for changes.
EdX courseware is built out of components that are combined hierarchically. These include components like the video player, LON-CAPA problems, as well as compound components like learning sequences. The second-generation API for these components is called XBlocks, which are in a prototype stage and yet to be developed into an industry standard.
How does this differ from existing industry standards like Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) and SCORM? On a high level, XBlocks is a Python language-level API, and it provides sensible defaults for things like storing data. XBlocks could be wrapped up in LTI, and one could make an LTI XBlock. The core reason to write an XBlock is that it is deployable. You can give us the code to an XBlock, and we can embed it in edX courseware. LTI would require you to give us a virtual machine image which ran it.

The seminar ‘Validation of Non-Formal and Informal Learning’ will take place on the 9th and 10th of April, 2013 in Mechelen, Belgium, and is open to 120 participants.
The event is hosted by the European Commission and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), in association with the Irish Presidency of the European Union.
European countries are increasingly recognising the need to acknowledge the types of learning that take place outside formal training institutions. There are still obstacles, however, to implementing policy objectives and practical solutions for validating the learning that happens in the workplace, at home, or in leisure activities.
This ‘Validation of Non-Formal and Informal Learning’ seminar will convene 120 participants interested in and involved with the challenges and solutions this topic presents.
Registration is currently open. For more information, please contact koen.nomden@ec.europa.eu.

This article was originally published on the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Volume 14, Issue, 1.
Remix is touted as one of the most important practices within the field of open educational resources (OER). But remixing is still not mainstream practice in education and the barriers and limitations to remix are not well known. In this article we discuss the design and development of a print and web-based booklet created to introduce the topic of OER to schoolteachers. The guide, the first of its kind available in Portuguese, was created through the remix and translation of existing resources available in English. Choosing design-as-remix raised a series of concerns related to licensing, attribution, context, and technical standards. In this article we review the concerns related to culture and inequity within the OER movement, followed by the design choices and procedures, and finally the implications of these issues for the open educational resources movement. Download: OpenEducationalResourcesAmiel.