On 23 September the European Commission published a European Research Area (ERA) “progress report”. The report follows the EC’s 2012 Communication “A Reinforced European Research Area Partnership for Excellence and Growth” which states that the Commission would develop an ERA monitoring mechanism to monitor ERA policy reforms and their implementation, to provide transparency to Council, the European Parliament and the scientific community.
The ERA Progress Report takes account of activities being undertaken by EUA and other European Stakeholder organisations in the framework of the voluntary Memoranda of Understanding and Joint Statement on the ERA signed with the European Commission.
In July 2012, EUA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Commission DG Research and Innovation, and a Joint Statement with the Commission and four other European stakeholder organisations (EARTO, LERU, NordForsk and Science Europe), committing the signatories to working in partnership towards achieving the ERA goals. Actions taken by EUA in the context of the MoU concern topics where universities’ own initiatives are already helping to overcome the identified barriers and bottlenecks to achieving the ERA, and where EUA has been working with its membership to promote wider “take-up” and development of good practices already in place.
The ERA progress report and accompanying facts and figures can be downloaded here.
PQC project: Universities and quality assurance agencies come together to discuss quality culture
EUA and ENQA, together with other project partners, recently (11-13 September) organised a workshop for staff both from EUA member universities and quality assurance agencies to explore the role QA agencies could or should play in promoting quality culture within higher education institutions.
The workshop was a follow-up to trainings organised earlier in this year for the staff of EUA member universities. More...
New EUA survey focuses on mapping institutional practices related to e-learning
EUA this week launches a new online survey that aims to map capacities for e-learning at European universities and assess their perceptions regarding its general impact on learning and teaching.
EUA invites both its member universities and other European higher education institutions to take part in this survey, the second half of which is dedicated to the topic of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), given that relatively little information exists on their growth at the European level.
The results of the survey will be published by EUA and used to devise measures for supporting and providing networking opportunities for higher education institutions committed to or interested in the topic. Importantly, the information gathered will also be used to inform European higher education policy debates.
The survey can be accessed here until 31 October.
Canada needs an online education strategy
I’ve been asked several times in the past few months, why I started the Wide World Ed initiative. I started it because I have deeply held personal values about global education, and a strong passion for empowered, collaborative research. I have observed, with great interest, the formation and evolution of edX, Coursera and Udacity in the U.S., as well as Australia’s Open2Study, and the UK’s FutureLearn. I have come to believe that Canada needs its own space. More...
La croissance verte, quels enjeux pour la formation tout au long de la vie
Le Salon de la Croissance Verte et des Eco-Industries ouvrira ses portes les 12 et 13 octobre prochains. Il est composé de 9 villages dont le Village Formation.Il proposera de l’information sur toutes les possibilités de formation dans le domaine de la croissance verte et du développement durable.
Cet espace co-animé par la Région Poitou-Charentes et l’ARFTLV réunit des professionnels de la formation initiale et continue, de l’orientation (AFPA, ARFTLV, CIO, Greta, CESI, CNAM, ONISEP, IFREE, Université de La Rochelle, Réseau des IUT, Région Poitou-Charentes, Lycée maritime, Lycée de la mer, l’Enilia et le Lycée Raoul Mortier).
Les visiteurs, jeunes ou adultes, en recherche d’une formation du CAP à Bac+5 en lien avec le développement durable pourront y trouver les réponses à leurs questions, quels que soient les secteurs (agro-alimentaire, bâtiment, métiers de l’eau et de l’énergie, gestion des déchets, tourisme…).
A noter, deux temps forts le samedi 13 octobre:
• Grand quizz spécial jeunes tout au long du samedi, tirage à 17h pour gagner des tablettes tactiles. Une question par village.
• De 15h00 à 16h30, une conférence sur le thème: « La croissance verte, quels enjeux pour la formation tout au long de la vie ? ». Elle sera dirigée par George ASSERAF (président de la Commission Nationale de la Certification Professionnelle et expert sur le thème des métiers « verts »), suivie par une table ronde sur les thèmes de la formation et des métiers de la croissance verte au niveau régional.
Sur ce thème, consulter le site de l'ARFTLV ou le rapport de G. Asseraf : "Informer et orienter "vert" et certifier les compétences "vertes".
Plus d'informations sur le salon: http://salon.croissanceverte.poitou-charentes.fr.
Η Έκθεση Πράσινη Ανάπτυξη και οικολογικές βιομηχανίες θα ανοίξει τις πόρτες του στις 12 και 13 Οκτωβρίου. Αποτελείται από εννέα χωριά, συμπεριλαμβανομένης της εκπαίδευσης Village. Θα παρέχει πληροφορίες για όλες τις ευκαιρίες κατάρτισης στον τομέα της πράσινης ανάπτυξης και της βιώσιμης ανάπτυξης.
Αυτός ο χώρος συν-φιλοξενείται από το Πουατού-Σαρέντ και ARFTLV συναντά επαγγελματική εκπαίδευση και κατάρτιση, τον προσανατολισμό (AFPA, ARFTLV, CIO, Greta, CESI, CNAM, ONISEP IFREE, Πανεπιστήμιο της La Rochelle , Δίκτυο IUT, Πουατού-Σαρέντ, θαλάσσια Σχολείο, Γυμνάσιο της θάλασσας, και το Lycée ENILIA Ραούλ Mortier). Περισσότερα...
Free online learning venture to go live next week
Massey will offer expertise in three of its core disciplines of Agriculture, Emergency Management and Māori Studies when its first open online courses go live next week.
The University has teamed up with the free online learning platform Open2Study, led by Open Universities Australia (OUA), to offer a suite of online courses.
The venture will be formally launched at a function in the Museum Building of Massey’s Wellington campus from 5.30pm on Monday October 7.
The director of Massey’s National Centre for Teaching and Learning, Professor Mark Brown, says the University’s adoption of Massive Open Online Courses, known as MOOCs, is a “logical extension” of its distance learning programmes and evidence of Massey’s commitment to innovation in teaching and learning. More...
MOOCs take off in Rwanda: Accreditation, sustainability and quality issues
I am happy to be back to blogosphere, after months of silence, and excited to see that MOOCs are now taking off in Rwanda. I have been following closely the MOOC initiative by Generation Rwanda and its Kepler initiative (Leber 2013, Bartholet 2013 and O’Neil 2013). These articles received many comment, but I would like to add my contribution as a Rwandan, and a MOOC researcher. For those who have not yet come across my profile, I am researching Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Open Educational Resources (OER) for Widening Participation in Rwandan Higher Education. My research interest is not accidental. It was inspired by learning experience, face-to-face, on radio and online. A bit of my educational background is covered in my earlier blog entry. My professional profile can be found here. This blog post is the first of several entries written as response to issues raised by O’Neil’s article and the comments it triggered. It addresses accreditation, sustainability and quality of conventional higher education in Rwanda. More...
A brief overview of the InLOC Model
InLOC provides a model for the information defining both intended Learning outcomes and Work competences (LOCs). That information is important to personal, professional and vocational development, human resources and employee performance management, training and education, whether in the workplace or in school, vocational or higher education.
InLOC helps with the management and exchange of learning outcome and competence information, by defining common characteristics of learning outcomes and competences and modelling them in formats that can be shared.
InLOC models two main kinds of entities:
- a concept of a learning outcome or competence (LOC), taken separately from other ones, is modelled as a LOCdefinition;
- a structure (e.g. document) that contains several LOCs (learning outcomes and/or competences) is modelled as a LOCstructure. More...
Open access: du rêve au cauchemar? L'avis de J-C Guédon
Par Sylvestre Huet. Ce matin, la revue Science révèle que plus de 150 revues en open access (accès libre), sur 304 sollicitées, ont accepté un faux article scientifique concocté par un journaliste. Je relate dans cette note (Open access: du rêve au cauchemar ) cette histoire qui met en cause, a minima, les revues électroniques reposant sur le paiement par l'auteur massivement créées ces dernières années. Un problème sérieux pour la qualité du système scientifique mondial et la confiance en la science. L'article de Science est ici.Pour aller plus loin, voici une interview de Jean-Claude Guédon, historien et sociologue des sciences à l’Université de Montréal , qui fut l’un des signataires de la Déclaration de Budapest, en février 2002, souvent considérée comme l’origine du mouvement en faveur de l’open access des publications scientifiques. Il réagit à la publication par Science d’une enquête montrant les dérives d’une partie de ces revues. Suite...
Open access: du rêve au cauchemar
Par Sylvestre Huet. Ce matin, la revue Science a publié une petite bombe qui va exploser dans de très nombreux laboratoires de recherche. L'un de ses journalistes, John Bohannon a concocté un faux article de recherche pharmacologique, signé d'un chercheur baptisé Ocorrafoo Cobange, d'un laboratoire du Wassee Institute of Medicine, censé se trouver à Asmara, la capitale de l'Erythrée. Il est vrai que la ville d'Asmara existe. En revanche, ni l'institut, ni le chercheur n'existent. L'article comportait des erreurs d'un niveau détectable par un étudiant de biologie, et de nombreux «chiffons rouges», relate Bohannon, comme une claire incompatibilité entre la première légende de graphique proclamant la découverte d'un effet anti-cancer de la molécule testée... alors que le tableau de données montre clairement l'inverse.Pourtant, le Journal of Natural Pharmaceuticals a accepté de publier cet étrange article. Une revue indexée sur plusieurs bases de journaux scientifiques dont... google scholar. Et surtout, 157 des 304 revues contactées ont accepté la publication d'une version quasi identique de l'article original, avec des noms et des institutions scientifiques tout aussi fausses, générées par un programme informatique. Suite...