Formation Continue du Supérieur

What are learners’ beliefs and attitudes to social media in new EU countries? How do they use Internet and social media to learn languages, work, and perform their daily tasks?
A case study has been carried out in 3 new EU countries (Latvia, Poland and Romania) as part of the activities of the European network “Language learning and social media: 6 key dialogues”.
To help gain a better understanding of the potential of the social web for language pedagogy, the working group carried out a multi-level action including i) a cross-country field study, ii) a live streamed debate (now recorded for consultation), iii) a forum discussion, iv) training sessions for teachers and v) synthesis of results.
Firstly, a study entitled “Social media and language learning: beliefs, attitudes and uses in Latvia, Poland and Romania” was published online in five languages. It was developed on the basis of interviews conducted with people with varying degrees of computer use and familiarity with social media.
Secondly, a webinar (live streamed debate) was held in Riga in February 2011. It served as a platform for exchange around the evolution of practices in teaching and learning with social media.
Thirdly, a forum discussion, involving the expert speakers at the webinar, was an opportunity to expand the exchange between the public and to involve stakeholders who were unable to join the webinar. The originality of the forum discussion was its multilingual dimension: contributions were rich in English but also in Latvian, Polish and Romanian, enabling culturally-rooted discussions. It attracted more than 260 posts around 13 topics of discussion.
Fourthly, results were drawn up in the form of key points and recommendations, based on findings gathered through the study, the webinar and the forum discussion.
Training resources for teachers in English, Latvian, Polish and Romanian are available online, to support the training sessions that were organized in the three countries for language teachers with little or no ICT skills. The materials in the form of freely downloadable Pdf files cover topics such as the integration of digital resources and cloud technologies, the creation of digital presentations and online polls, and the use of digital interaction, mind mapping and social bookmarking tools.

Renewing vocational education and training to tackle skill mismatch: work-based learning and apprenticeship for all? Cedefop conference 12-13 June 2013, Thessaloniki.
Mismatch between skills people have and those wanted by the labour market is costly for economies and societies. Productivity is lowered and competitiveness lost. And unfilled vacancies coincide with high unemployment.
Information, such as Cedefop’s pan-European skill supply and demand forecasts can help education and training to reflect more closely labour market needs to provide skills in demand and reduce skill mismatch. But how can such information be used and improved to adapt education and training for the benefit of individuals, society and the economy?
Many of our skills are acquired at work, including use of the latest technologies and processes. Can different forms of apprenticeship and work-based learning help to address skill mismatch, particularly among young people who often lack work experience to complement their qualifications?
Cedefop has brought together policy-makers from the European Union, Business Europe, the ETUC, UNESCO, Germany, Greece and Ireland to discuss these issues.
Join the debate see the conference link at: http://events.cedefop.europa.eu/VET-conference-2013/en/.

Face à l'augmentation des classements internationaux, l'Association des universités européennes vient de publier une étude mitigée. Et ce, alors qu'une tentative européenne souhaite mettre en place son propre classement: l'U-Multirank. Une tentative décriée par la Coordination des universités de recherche intensive françaises (CURIF)…
Il n'est pas possible de comparer les universités suivant leur pays d'origine: voilà le point central défendu par les "anti-classements". Il est en effet bien difficile de confronter des établissements ayant une culture de l'enseignement différente. Ainsi, pour la CURIF (Coordination des universités de recherche intensive françaises), le projet européen U-Multirank, qui doit voir le jour l'an prochain, est voué à l'échec, puisqu'il repose sur les déclarations des universités qui, par nature, sont différentes les unes des autres. Cet organisme n'entend pas empêcher les classements "privés", mais ne souhaite pas voir de fonds publics alloués à des classements dans lesquels elle ne croit pas. Suite de l'article...

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and the Open University are conducting an international survey, as part of the project Open Resources: Influence on Learners and Educators (ORIOLE).
The ORIOLE Survey 2013 aims to collect and share data about how learning resources are used and sourced in higher education.
Available in English and Spanish, the online survey will remain open until May 30th and is targeted to anyone working directly in learning and teaching and those who support this work (Library, Instruction Design, Educational Technology, etc.)
Spread the word! £300 will be donated to Oxfam education programmes, with respondents choosing the specific initiatives to receive money.

By Jorge E. Borrero A. Escrito por: Marina Gorbis. Mariana Gorbis, resalta el potencial del conocimiento que nace a partir de los encuentros casuales, los MOOCs son el primer paso en una revolución no solo en la metodología de transmisión de conocimiento, sino en la gestación del mismo. La virtualidad además de ser un vehículo educativo más eficiente que cualquiera también permite capturar conocimiento espontáneo,  ya wedubox, permite a cualquier persona con acceso a un computador crear cursos con la misma calidad que la mejor universidad, sin limitaciones de longitud, o cantidad de contenido, las posibilidades son ilimitadas, pero vamos viendo cual sera el futuro de la educación, sin barreras geográficas, pero tampoco disciplinarias.
Los Cursos Abiertos Masivos en línea (MOOC’S) pueden ser la mejor manera de utilizar la Internet para expandir la educación a todos, pero puede que no se este pensando en grande. La tecnología puede convertir nuestras vidas en verdaderas experiencias de aprendizaje. Read more...

Los dos últimos años han sido de revelación y descubrimiento en e-learning, hemos visto iniciativas como Udacity, Coursera, Wedubox y Khan Academy, en períodos muy cortos de tiempo alcanzar volúmenes increíbles de interesados y suscriptores; por otro lado escuchamos voces de las más respetadas en la comunidad académica haciendo eco de este tsunami, y elevando la creciente preocupación de las universidades sobre cómo abordar esta nueva tendencia y sobrevivir una cada vez mas inminente interrupción a la actividad educativa, tal como las que sacudieron a la industria musical y la editorial.
Hasta ahora el común denominador de las iniciativas más exitosas es: una cantidad enorme de tráfico, suscriptores y alumnos, pero ni un centavo de ingresos, muchas obtienen su financiación de donaciones ó fondos de capital con apuestas claras a la innovación, pero sin un camino definido sobre cómo será su retorno y eventual recuperación de su capital invertido. Read more...

By Enrique Sánchez Acosta. Resumen
Desde que en el año 2008 Dave Cormier y Bryan Alexander acuñaron el término MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) no han parado de surgir noticias cada vez más relevantes sobre estos cursos, hasta el punto que el propio presidente de la Universidad de Stanford John Hennessy lo denominase Tsunami, con estas palabras: “El tsunami está llegando”, y así fué. (ver Ilustración 1)
Universidades de todo el mundo comenzaron a crear sus propios MOOC, agrupándose después en diferentes plataformas que hoy en día no son ninguna novedad para todo aquel relacionado con la educación online, algunas de las más relevantes son:
    * Udacity
    * Coursera: Universidad de Stanford (plataforma Course2go)
    * Plataforma EdX: MIT
    * Proyecto Course-builder: Google Inc.
    * Miriada X: Telefónica, UniMOOC, Grupo Santander, y varias universidades españolas.
    * COMA: Uned
    * Wedubox
Es muy probable que este nuevo modelo educativo abanderado por las universidades más prestigiosas del mundo como Stanford, Harvard o MIT corresponda a una estrategia para fomentar un sistema educativo allí donde las universidades del llamado primer mundo no están llegando actualmente. No hay que olvidar que la “burbuja universitaria” no afectará a los países del tercer mundo y allí no podemos llevar nuestras lujosas universidades pero sí su prestigio, recursos y la supuesta calidad de sus servicios.
Las universidades tratan de ampliar sus fronteras en todo el mundo gracias a los MOOC. Sin embargo, aunque todo el mundo se está haciendo preguntas como ¿Cuáles son las ventajas y desventajas de los MOOC? ¿Como podemos hacer frente a las certificaciones? ¿Cómo podemos sacar un rendimiento monetario a este tipo de cursos?, etc. Lo más importante es conocer por qué surge este nuevo modelo de educación y cuáles son los resultados tras este tsunami inicial, ¿Hemos aprendido algo? Read more...

The "MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?" seminar took place 18-19 March, 2013 at the University of Pennsylvania and was broadcast live online.
Hosted by OCLC Research, one of the world's leading centres devoted exclusively to the challenges facing libraries and archives, and University of Pennsylvania Libraries, the event featured thoughtful and provocative presentations about how libraries are already getting involved with MOOCs, and engaged attendees in discussions about strategic opportunities and challenges going forward.
OCLC Research Senior Program Officer Merrilee Proffitt organised the event and has posted a series of six blog posts that recap presentation highlights and summarise its outcomes. These blog posts include:

• MOOCs and Libraries: Introduction
• MOOCs and Libraries: Copyright, Licensing, Open Access
• MOOCs and Libraries: Production and Pedagogy
• MOOCs and Libraries: New Opportunities for Librarians
• MOOCs and Libraries: Who Are the Masses? A View of the Audience
• MOOCs and Libraries: Next Steps?

In addition, videos of the sessions, links to the presenters' slides and the next steps document are available at the MOOCs and Libraries event page.

On 15 February 2013, the EU's education ministers discussed Erasmus for All, the reformed student exchange programme, and the contribution of education to creating jobs and growth.
Erasmus for All is a proposal for an integrated programme in the areas of education, training, youth and sport for 2014-2020. It brings together in a single programme activities previously covered by a number of separate programmes (including the Lifelong Learning Programme, Erasmus Mundus and Youth in Action) and also includes activities in a new area of European competence: sport. Read more...

The report “Report on using information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education for persons with disabilities”, published in 2012, is the outgrowth of a joint initiative by UNESCO and the Trust for the Americas, non-profit organization cooperating with the Organization of American States (OAS).
The joint project consisted of a significant study, country by country in South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, elucidating achievements and shortfalls, while demonstrating that democratizing free access to ICTs for persons with disabilities in the field of education is an attainable goal. The overall goal of the study is to provide recommendations to improve information policies, strategies for using ICTs to educate persons with disabilities and incorporate issues related to disability. Read more...