Formation Continue du Supérieur

Patrick McAndrew, professor at the UK’s Open University and author of the article “Learning from Open Design: Running a Learning Design MOOC”, published in the latest issue of eLearning Papers, talks to us about his experience with Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
Strongly involved in Open Education (OE) for the last 10 years, professor McAndrew believes MOOCs “are only a part of what's happening” in this field and there are still “lots of interesting developments to see”. He also points out that universities are currently feeling the pressure “to change”, but there is no doubt that they are also being “innovators”, trying to find new ways to “help learners and engage with people.”
Regarding the OLDS-MOOC (Open Learning Design Studio-MOOC) project which he introduces in his paper published in eLearning Papers 33, professor McAndrew says it has been a “rather stressful” but “rather exciting” nine-week rich experience, and invites the OE community to explore the material used to run this initiative, available online under a Creative Commons license.

The World Information Society Day, also known as Internet Day, is observed every year on 17 May since 2006. The main objective of the day is to raise global awareness of the possibilities offered by new technologies and promote widespread Internet access, reducing the digital gap.
This year, the day will be celebrated throughout Spain with conferences, training sessions, competitions, online games and many other activities.
Universities will invite middle and high school students to virtually visit their premises and ask questions about their academic future.
The main event of the day will be held in the Spanish Senate in Madrid, where a high level panel debate will discuss about sustainable creativity and several awards will be handed.
All activities will be promoted and commented in Twitter with the hashtag #DiadeInternet.

Learning outside schools, universities and vocational training establishments  – both non-formal and informal learning – needs to be made visible, appropriately valued in society, and granted recognition and parity with formal learning outcomes. Two important milestones in this process are the 2009 European guidelines on validating non-formal and informal learning and the European Council Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning of 20 December 2012. In addition, the European Inventory on the validation of non-formal and informal learning charts progress in individual countries.
On 9 and 10 April, a seminar was organised by the European Commission, together with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) and in association with the Irish Presidency of the European Union with the aim of gathering inputs to support the first review of the 2009 European guidelines which is planned for Spring 2014. The themes addressed in the form of workshops at the seminar provided invaluable inputs for implementing UNESCO’s own Guidelines on the Recognition, Validation and Accreditation (RVA) of the Outcomes from Non-formal and Informal Learning (UIL, 2012). UIL will continue its cooperation with CEDEFOP in future,  particularly in regard to UIL’s forthcoming online RVA Observatory on recognition practices world-wide. PowerPoint presentations from the workshops:
Workshop one – Access and Use of Validation.
Workshop two – Professionalism of Practitioners.
Workshop three – Assessment and Methods.
Workshop four – Quality Assurance.
Plenary recommendations (pdf).

At its 19th session in 1976, the UNESCO general conference adopted a Recommendation on the Development of Adult Education, based on an impetus from the third International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA III). This Recommendation continues to form UNESCO’s most important set of standards on adult education for member states.
Visionary in its broad set of objectives and adoption of a rights-based approach to adult learning, the original 1976 document nevertheless requires an update to more accurately reflect developments in the discourse of adult education and its relationship to literacy as a continuum and to lifelong learning, among other topics. In July 2012, an expert group met at UIL to discuss necessary revisions to the Recommendations, which was followed by an online consultation with over 300 participants from more than 30 countries.
The revision process has continued in April with a meeting of the UNESCO Executive Board to discuss proposed amendments. UIL will continue to coordinate the revision process, with an expected outcome expected to be adopted by UNESCO's General Conference in Autumn 2015.

Over the past year, the UIL Taskforce for the establishment of the International Platform for Learning Cities (IPLC) has strived to develop a set of Key Features of Learning Cities (Features) as a self-assessment tool and ‘to-do list’ for cities wishing to promote lifelong learning.
UIL was invited to attend the final Xploit conference on 11 and 12 April in Girona, Spain to present the IPLC Features and to receive feedback from participants. Xploit is sponsored by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the Education and Culture Director-General of the European Commission. It explores how European project and funding resources might be more efficiently applied in Member States and communities for community learning.
UIL Programme Specialist Peter Roslander presented the draft set of the features at the conference and received many useful comments. It was suggested that the features must be simple and should build on a basic set of existing data, which would be applicable in all development contexts. Furthermore, the features should measure change; i.e., Features should be process-oriented rather than result-oriented. Based on the suggestions at the conference, the UIL task force will further fine-tune the Features.

D’après le « jaune budgétaire » Formation professionnelle 2013 (publié en octobre 2012) annexant le projet de loi de finances, le chiffre d’affaires réalisé par les organismes dispensateurs de formation professionnelle continue en 2010, qu’il s’agisse de leur activité principale ou d’une activité secondaire, a progressé à un rythme soutenu (+9,9%). 55 301 organismes ont dégagé un chiffre d’affaires de 13 milliards d’euros en formant 22,6 millions de stagiaires (+4,7%) et dispensant au total 1 211 millions d’heures (+0,2%). Au total, en 2010, 601 000 personnes sans emploi sont entrées en formation.
Ceux dont l’activité principale est l’enseignement ou la formation soit 16 731 prestataires de formation continue ont réalisé un chiffre d’affaires de 7,9 milliards d’euros. Leur nombre s’est accru de 8,3 % et leur chiffre d’affaires a progressé de 10,3%.
Les demandeurs d’emplois …
Dans le contexte économique actuel, le Président de la République a demandé au gouvernement de réformer d’ici la fin de l’année 2013 le secteur de la formation professionnelle avec pour objectif de réorienter les fonds vers la formation des demandeurs d’emplois.
Un marché ouvert …
A ce jour, le marché de la formation professionnelle est ouvert et non « protégé ». Ce qui veut dire qu’aucun contrôle qualitatif n’est mené par les pouvoirs publics … le marché se chargeant de permettre aux organismes efficients de subsister et aux autres de disparaitre …
Comme un serpent de mer, l’idée de mettre des conditions à l’exercice de ce métier revient de manière récurrente et certains acteurs comme les OCPA, les Régions … mettent en place de manière désordonnée des conditions aux organismes de formations pour le financement des actions. Source: jaune budgétaire Formation professionnelle 2013. Suite de l'article...

University-Business Cooperation: Strategic partnerships for Innovation and Growth. From Dialogue to Partnership. Fifth University Business Forum, Brussels, Belgium (4-5 June 2013)
The Fifth University Business Forum will take place at the Sheraton Hotel Rogier, Brussels, Belgium from 4 to 5 June, 2013. This Forum aims to provide a platform on European level for stakeholders from the worlds of business and academia; a space for dialogue, exchange of experiences and mutual learning where common concerns and objectives can be addressed and cooperation and knowledge exchange are encouraged. The Forum features high-level plenary sessions with representatives from business and higher education, and provides for four themed streams with respectively two workshops each. EUA President, Professor Maria Helena Nazaré, is due to represent EUA during the Round Table on 4 June.
Registration closes on 24 May, please visit the European Commission or event website for more details.
Programme
University-Business Cooperation – Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is important for the added value it can bring and its potential impact at a number of levels; individual, institutional, economic and, more broadly, social. Higher education institutions are ideally placed to encourage and develop entrepreneurial skills and attitudes; not only in their students but across their institutions. This also implies a closer relationship with the business and employment sector; being aware of and responding to existing needs, whilst encouraging innovative approaches and mind-sets that bring an added value to employers.
WORKSHOP 1.1: Entrepreneurial Universities in Practice - a guiding framework for self-improvement
The Commission and the OECD joined forces to develop an online tool for universities interested in measuring their performance as entrepreneurial institutions across a number of different areas and competences. This is not a benchmarking tool but a means for self-evaluation via a series of questions on matters such as; governance & leadership, internationalisation, and entrepreneurship development in teaching and learning, amongst others. The tool serves as a guiding framework, generating results based on the answers given indicating the university's current position as well as providing recommendations and examples of how to improve and develop their entrepreneurial capabilities.
WORKSHOP 1.2: Bringing Ideas to Market and Society
Providing an environment that both facilitates and supports start-ups and spin-offs is one important characteristic of entrepreneurial universities. In this session we will look at some concrete examples of universities that are supporting the creation of start-ups and spin-offs and how they encourage, and engage, their staff and students in this process. Universities provide companies, public administrations and professionals, with an opportunity to draw on their knowledge, competence and research capabilities. In turn, this contributes to the innovation and competitiveness of the businesses and institutions involved and has a ripple effect within society.
WORKSHOP 2.1 Delivering results: Assessing the outcomes of educational cooperation
This session will address the rationale behind University-Business Cooperation and the expected results and impacts, from the perspective of both businesses and universities. The emphasis will be on educational areas of cooperation beyond the domain of research & development (R&D). The session will also discuss practical examples and challenges when it comes to measuring impact. The results of an on-going study contracted by the Commission will be used to discuss the motivation behind University-Business Cooperation using examples such as; joint skills strategies, curriculum design and delivery, business driven alliances, entrepreneurial initiatives, and so on.
WORKSHOP 2.2: Partnering for Change
This session will look at how working in partnership can lead to institutional and behavioural change in higher education institutions and companies. Starting from some concrete cases that will demonstrate how such change was introduced in the respective organisations, addressing questions like: what were the challenges to face, how were they overcome, what are the results, the session will aim to identify some key criteria that are required to make such change successful.
WORKSHOP 3.1: Design – a vital part of innovation
Design is one of Europe's great strengths and, in these tough times it can play a key role in boosting innovation, competitiveness and growth in the European economy. This session will present and discuss the value of integrating design elements into higher education curricula, beyond traditional art-related courses, and how this can enrich the student learning experience; providing an added dimension that contributes to a more creative and open minded skill set.
WORKSHOP 3.2: New profiles for new needs
The session will address a dynamic relationship: changes in the economy and society are sparking demand for new job profiles, skills and abilities, making the role of higher education in preparing graduates for the needs of the job market more important than ever. This session will involve relevant stakeholders, such as human resources managers, and present initiatives addressed at developing new job profiles. The session will focus on practical examples and the question of how university-business cooperation can help meet the challenge faced by the human resources of the future.
WORKSHOP 4.1: Partnerships in Action
Established in 2011, Knowledge Alliances were designed to bridge the gap between higher education and business. Knowledge Alliances are structured partnerships that bring together higher education and business on a common project tackling common challenges. The strength of this approach is the quality and commitment of the partnership and the value of true knowledge exchange and the trust this generate between the two sectors for mutually beneficial and innovative outcomes. These projects can cover any given sector and topic. In this session, business and academic representatives from the first three pilot projects – ending summer 2013 – will discuss how they developed innovative approaches to education, learning, entrepreneurship and knowledge exchange and what challenges and outcomes have resulted from their collaboration. Stakeholders and those interested in taking part in future Knowledge Alliances are invited to share their experiences and to take part in the discussion.
WORKSHOP 4.2: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) – Challenges and opportunites
MOOCs have received a lot of attention lately and are increasingly the subject of interest and discussion from a growing number of higher education institutions across the globe. However, the development of MOOCs is a multi-faceted issue that calls for analysis from multiple perspectives (users, platforms, companies, HEI etc.) This session will bring together some key players from Europe and the United States involved in the development of MOOCS and provide an invaluable opportunity for open and frank debate as to the potential advantages, disadvantages and challenges that MOOCs represent.
This Forum provides a platform on European level for stakeholders from the worlds of business and academia; a space for dialogue, exchange of experiences and mutual learning where common concerns and objectives can be addressed and cooperation and knowledge exchange are encouraged. This Fifth edition of the Forum builds on the achievements and knowledge gained in previous years and its main focus is on the transition from policy and theory, to implementation and practice.
The Forum features high-level plenary sessions with representatives from Business and Higher Education, and provides for four themed streams with respectively two workshops each. The parallel streams will present and discuss issues related to entrepreneurship; to change and impact; to people and innovation. The fourth stream will look at the Knowledge Alliances and at the challenges brought up by the Massive Open Online Courses.
University-business dialogue and co-operation
Both higher education institutions and businesses benefit from working together; cooperation encourages the transfer and sharing of knowledge, helps to create long-term partnerships and opportunities whilst boosting students' future employment prospects. If Europe wants to lead by example in the fields of innovation and enterprise it must improve the dialogue between the Education sector and the market-place. The key to this is cooperation between Higher Education and business in order to shape the curricula and skills required for success.
There are many examples of successful co-operation between academia and industry throughout Europe. However, the level of co-operation varies considerably between different countries, universities and academic disciplines.
News & Events
* Registration is now open for the Fifth University-Business Forum, 4th-5th of June at the Sheraton Hotel Rogier, Brussels. Follow this link to register: http://ubforum2013.teamwork.fr/  password: NPEC.
* Click here for the Fifth University-Business Forum programme
* A self-assessment tool for entrepreneurial universities is currently being developed. If you would like to try out the prototype please click here. Bear in mind this is a work in progress, the final version will be launched later this year.
Knowledge Alliances
A new project to develop cross-European partnerships and create new multi-disciplinary curricula to promote entrepreneurship within education as well as developing other transferrable skills that will meet the needs of the job market and develop Europe's greatest resource; its human capital. For more information visit our dedicated webpage.
University - Business Forum
Since 2008, the annual University-Business Forum brings higher education institutions, companies, business associations, intermediaries and public authorities together; providing them with a space in which to interact, exchange information on good practice, discuss common problems and build closer working relationships in an effort to modernise higher education with a view to meeting the real-world needs of the European job-market.
As well as the annual Forum in Brussels, U-BC is involved in regular thematic forums across Europe that address key themes at a more regional level.
For any comments or questions on the platform's work, please contact University-Business-Cooperation@ec.europa.eu.
See also on the blog MEPs call for closer ties between universities and industry, University – Business Cooperation.

With the assistance of an expert Advisory Committee and support from our sponsoring partners, British Council, the European Commission, NAFSA and EAIE, the IAU has now launched the survey which will collect institutional data on the state of higher education internationalization worldwide. 9,000 universities and other higher education institutions have been sent an electronic invitation to take part in the survey by completing an online questionnaire. The initial deadline for completing the questionnaire is June 30 and each institution can chose to complete the survey in English, French of Spanish. All respondents who complete the questionnaire fully will receive a copy of the Executive Summary of the 4th Global Survey Report which will be prepared by IAU in 2014.
The invitations have been sent to the Heads of HEIs and/or to the individuals responsible for International Relations/Office. IAU aims to double its sample size in this 4rth edition of the Survey and so, everyone’s help is needed. Please ensure that your institution is completing the questionnaire and if you have doubts or wish to receive more information, please contact the IAU at: iau@iau-aiu.net.
More information on the 3rd Global Survey Report published by IAU in 2010 is available here.

La formation des Hommes relève d'une démarche individuelle, mais aussi, dans nombre de cas, d'une approche institutionnelle, portée par le projet de l'entreprise elle-même.
La formation continue universitaire apporte son concours à la stratégie de formation de l'entreprise en construisant, avec elle, des réponses sur-mesure (facilitées, le cas échéant, par des accords nationaux avec les branches ou les groupes).
L’entreprise trouve, dans cette relation, une complémentarité entre les compétences disciplinaires développées par les structures universitaires, y compris la valorisation de la recherche, et les potentiels d’ingénierie de formation, regroupés au sein du service de formation continue universitaire.
L'expérience montre toute la richesse de ces apprentissages mutuels, induits par la proximité entre travail et formation, dès lors que l'on veut promouvoir ensemble le travail apprenant au sein d'organisations qualifiantes.La relation entre l’entreprise et l’université peut donc être structurée autour des différentes missions de l’université, tant sur le plan de la formation, que de la recherche ou du transfert de technologie.
Partenariat VAE: Développer l’emploi et les compétences dans le Spectacle vivant.
La Branche professionnelle du Spectacle Vivant est confrontée à un contexte social et économique difficile : offres d’emploi inférieures à une demande en constante augmentation, développement de l’emploi non permanent à employeurs multiples, fragilisation budgétaire des entreprises, mutations technologiques et réglementaires.
Pour faire face à ces difficultés, elle a signé un accord cadre national ADEC (actions de développement de l’emploi et des compétences) avec l’Etat en 2009 qui consiste en un plan d’actions concret visant à sécuriser les parcours professionnels.
La VAE est un des outils pour la gestion des carrières, notamment dans un esprit de prévention de ces aléas économiques. L’AFDAS, Organisme Paritaire Collecteur Agréé pour les professions des Arts et Spectacles, a constaté qu’un nombre important de certifications concernées par les demandes de VAE dans le Spectacle Vivant relève de l’enseignement supérieur. Aussi, en 2009, l’AFDAS et la CDSFCU ont signé une convention pour la mise en place d’un processus d’accompagnement de la VAE dans le Spectacle Vivant. L’objet de cette action est la réalisation, par la CDSFCU, d’un dispositif expérimental à l’échelle nationale de mise en place de la VAE sur des certifications relevant de l’enseignement supérieur, au bénéfice des professionnels de la branche.
Le travail mené par l’AFDAS et la FCU, en lien avec la Branche Professionnelle du SV consiste à:
    * Bâtir une ingénierie pour accompagner les délégations régionales de l’AFDAS dans la mise en place effective sur leurs territoires de la VAE en lien avec le réseau universitaire local,
    * Former dans chaque région un correspondant pour les certifications de l’enseignement supérieur en charge des salariés du spectacle vivant et qui sera l’interlocuteur privilégié de l’ADAS,
    * Concevoir un KIT VAE mis à disposition des salariés du spectacle vivant et qui leur servira d’outil d’accompagnement méthodologique pour la mise en œuvre et la concrétisation de leur démarche de VAE.
Dans le cadre de ce projet, l’AFDAS conduit actuellement avec la FCU une action expérimentale de mise en place de la VAE dans deux régions : l’Alsace et le Languedoc Roussillon, en faisant le choix de se positionner sur des universités pouvant offrir au moins une licence professionnelle et un master).
Un dépliant de communication sur cette action élaboré par l’AFDAS et la FCU a été largement diffusé au niveau national dans plus de 16000 entreprises du Spectacle Vivant.
Les Universités de Mulhouse (Haute Alsace) et Montpellier 3 (Paul Valéry) ont pu ainsi proposer trois licences professionnelles: « gestion et pilotage de projets », « administration et gestion des entreprises culturelles », « administrateur culturel », un master  « Direction artistique de projets culturels ».
L’Université de Strasbourg a rejoint le projet en mars 2011 et a pu proposer deux Masters: « conception de projets artistiques, spectacle vivant » et « politique et gestion de la culture ».
Vos correspondantes FCU:
- Fabienne HIEN, Responsable VAE, Université de Lille 3,
- Patricia LE NOTRE, Responsable VAE, Université de Paris 13.
Dépliant AFDAS.

La force d’un grand réseau, partenaire du monde économique.
Le réseau de la formation continue universitaire est, depuis des décennies, le partenaire attentif des changements de notre environnement socio-économique. Nos établissements, en formant plus de 300 000 stagiaires chaque année, sont devenus des acteurs majeurs du secteur.
À l’interface entre l'entreprise et les potentiels de recherche et d'enseignement, ils apportent une contribution majeure à l’innovation et à la maîtrise des changements.
Une stratégie de réseau
Une des forces majeures de la formation continue universitaire est d'être à la fois proche de vous, au travers des établissements d'enseignement supérieur, et organisée en réseau, mutualisant et décuplant ainsi ses capacités d'impact, tant sur le plan régional, national qu’international.
Les relations constantes entre universités permettent un enrichissement mutuel et la construction d’offres de formation faisant appel aux meilleurs spécialistes de chaque discipline.
L’utilisation sans cesse croissante de l’enseignement médiatisé à distance facilite ces opérations en réseau. 
Les réunions de travail organisées par le réseau, ses colloques annuels, ses contributions aux grands débats nationaux sont autant d'occasions de faire vivre ce réseau, de dynamiser l’offre de formation et de services de manière harmonieuse et solidaire.
La formation continue universitaire ne prétend pas détenir la vérité et ne croit pas aux recettes miracles, persuadée qu'elle est d'avoir -avec d'autres - à inventer le futur.