Future Directions for Higher Education in Wales
Future Directions Conference 2014 - Global Graduates: Enabling Flexible Learning
We are delighted to announce that the second Future Directions conference will take place on 2-3 April 2014. Bringing together individuals and groups engaged in enhancing the student learning experience, the conference will feature a series of keynote lectures, paper, poster and workshop sessions. More information will be available soon.
Future Directions encompasses the quality enhancement work being carried out in the Welsh HE sector, which aims to enhance specific areas of the student learning experience through encouraging academic and support staff and students collectively to share current good practice and to generate ideas and models for innovation in learning and teaching. The Future Directions work is planned and directed by the Future Directions Steering Group which is coordinated by the HEA. To find out who represents your institution or sector organisation, you can view the Steering Group membership list here.
The theme and work strands were showcased at the Inaugural Future Directions Conference – Graduates For Our Future on 26 April 2012 at Glyndŵr University.

iPads in Higher Education. 20-22 March 2014: IHE 2014, Paphos, Cyprus.
ihe 2014 is the world’s 1st international research conference about iPad use in Higher Education (HE). You are invited to join scholars, learning technologists and practitioners from across the globe to share insights into teaching practice and student learning in an interdisciplinary and collaborative interchange of experience. The conference seeks to provide a common forum for the varied forms of research on the use of iPads HE, and to explore innovative models of learning using the iPad.
The iPad computer tablet is described as a category-defining phenomenon, a game-changer and a transformative experience. Increasingly, many higher education (HE) institutions around the world are embedding the use of iPads in teaching and learning. Yet, despite the prevalence of the iPad in comparison to other tablets both in the market and in educational institutions, there is a noticeable shortage of research on the use of this tablet in HE.
The main aim of the 1st international conference is to encourage research, debate, reflection and exchange of ideas on the use of iPads in HE. The theme is broad to encourage contributions from a variety of disciplines and to bring together researchers and academics from a wide spectrum of HE fields and educational practices.
The full programme of the conference in pdf format (Changes are possible until the end of February 2014): ihe2014_programme_V01.

We welcome to all dignitaries, faculty and scholars from across the world to the ‘International Education Conference 2014’ organized by the Faculty of Education, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India in collaboration with UNESCO, New Delhi, India.
The theme of the conference is
'Education as a right across the levels: Challenges, Opportunities and Strategies'.
IEC 2014 is scheduled between March 10 - 11, 2014. The mission of the Conference is to guide the provision of education for all across all levels (primary, secondary and higher education) so that they are able to pursue knowledge and skills, manifest excellence in performance, defend democratic ideals irrespective of gender, religion, caste, creed, economic status or any other discriminatory characteristic.
Themes/Subthemes
In consonance with the conference theme topics include but are not limited to the following issues at different levels.
Elementary level
Status of elementary education : policy initiatives at national & global levels
Inclusion as a mandatory commitment.
Curriculum, text books, pedagogical practices, school ecology and assessment.
Innovations and success stories - case presentations.
Exploring alternative modes
Technology for leveraging RTE.
RTE : Legal discourses
Literacy as an empowering tool
Issues in implementation, regulation and accreditation
Secondary Level
Policy Initiatives across different countries.
Context sensitivity and Community Orientation in secondary school curriculum
Inclusion : Challenges and Possibilities.
The issue of Vocationalization at secondary level
Liberalization Privatization Globalization: Implications for secondary level
Role for Technology
Issues in universalization of secondary education
Wellness for all
Higher Education
Access and Participation Issues.
Unpacking the notions of ‘merit’, excellence and ‘quality’.
Public Private Partnerships: Concept and issues.
Egalitarian
Distance and open learning paradigm.
Intellectual property rights and open access sources
Teaching - learning considerations
Financial issues
Mechanisms for Quality assurance : Accreditation agencies, credit based semester system etc.
Emerging trends in higher education: Virtual, collaborative ventures etc.
Autonomy and Accountability
Life Long Learning
Building lifelong learning communities
Facilitating Inter cultural dialogues.
NGO initiatives
Technology as a learning tool.
Innovative Initiatives
Teacher Education
RTE as a challenge for Pre & In - service teacher preparation
Policy perspectives
Responsibility and accountability issues
Regional contexts in teacher education
Alternative models
Creative and innovative endeavours
Reality bites : reflections from the field
Technology: Issues of exclusion and inclusion

INTED2014, the 8th International Technology, Education and Development Conference will be held in Valencia (Spain), on the 10th, 11th and 12th of March, 2014. 
INTED2014 provides the ideal opportunity to present your projects and experiences. It is the perfect platform to discuss the latest developments in the field of Teaching and learning methodologies, educational projects and innovations and new technologies applied to Education and Research.

The scope of INTED2014 includes the following topics:

General Issues

• Education and Globalization
• Organizational, legal and financial issues
• Diversity issues and women and minorities in science and technology
• Barriers to Learning (e.g.: age, psychosocial factors, ethnicity…)
• Digital divide and acces to internet
• Impact of Education on Development
• Impact of Crisis on Education
• Ethical issues in Education
• Education in a multicultural society

Experiences in Education

• Enhancing learning and the undergraduate experience
• New projects and innovations
• Transferring disciplines
• Competence Evaluation
• Learning Experiences in Primary and Secondary School
• Pre-service teacher experiences
• Student Support in Education
• Lifelong Learning
• Vocational Training
• Science popularization and public outreach activities
• Inclusive Learning

New Trends in the Higher Education Area

• New challenges for the Higher Education Area
• ECTS experiences
• Erasmus experiences in the universities
• Student and staff mobility programmes
• The Bologna Declaration process
• Experiences in Joint degrees programmes

International Projects

• New experiences for the international cooperation
• Joint Education projects
• Joint Research projects
• Project outcomes and conclusions

Pedagogical & Didactical Innovations

• Learning and Teaching Methodologies
• Language Learning Innovations
• Tutoring and Coaching
• Transferable skills
• Evaluation and Assessment of Student Learning
• Collaborative and Problem-based Learning
• Flipped Learning
• Experiences in STEM Education
• Next Generation Classroom

Research in Education

• Educational Research Experiences
• Research on Technology in Education
• Links between Education and Research
• Research Methodologies
• Engineering Research Centres

Virtual Universities

• The internationalization of Universities
• Experiences in Virtual Universities
• Distance education
• Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC)

Technological Issues in Education

• e-Learning
• Mobile learning: Phones, Tablets…
• Apps for education
• Blended Learning
• Web classroom applications
• Online/Virtual Laboratories
• Classroom and Laboratory: Integration
• Managed Learning Environments (MLEs)
• Learning Management Systems (LMS)
• Technology-Enhanced Learning
• Industry and Business Innovation
• Identity Management
• Augmented Reality
• Cloud Computing
• ICT skills and competencies among teachers
• ICT enhanced language teaching and learning

Computer Supported Collaborative Work

• Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs)
• Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)
• Web 2.0 and Social Networking: Twitter, Blogs, Wikis...
• Social Media in Education
• Experiences in Web Technologies in Education
• Training the e-trainer

Educational Software and Serious Games

• Educational Software experiences
• Experiences in Educational/Serious Games
• 3D Applications and Virtual Reality
• Videos for Learning
• Gamification

Curriculum Design and Innovation

• New Experiences for Curriculum Design
• Strategies, Principles and Challenges
• Forecasting of labour market and skill needs in Europe
• Generic skills and their development
• One to One/Laptop Curriculum
• Personal Learning Environments

Quality assurance in Education

• Academic experiences and best practice contributions
• Accreditation /Assessment processes
• Quality standards at national and international level
• Learning analytics
• Virtual learning assessment
• Online Curses Accreditation

University-Industry Collaboration

• Work Employability
• Continuous Education
• Workplace Learning
• University/Industry Experiences
• Entrepreneurship Education

E-content Management and Development

• Knowledge Management experiences
• ePortfolios
• Intellectual Property Rights and Plagiarism
• User-Generated Content
• Digital Libraries and Repositories
• Open source and open content projects

Welcome to the official website of the 2014 2nd International Conference on Information and Education Technology (ICIET 2014). The conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia during January 2-3, 2014.
The aim objective of ICIET is to present the latest research and results of scientists related to Information and Education Technology  topics. This conference provides opportunities for the different areas delegates to exchange new ideas and application experiences face to face, to establish business or research relations and to find global partners for future collaboration. We hope that the conference results constituted significant contribution to the knowledge in these up to date scientific field.
ICIET 2014 is supposed to be the largest technical event on Information and Education Technology in Melbourne, Australia in 2014. The focus of the conference is to establish an effective platform for institutions and industries to share ideas and to present the works of scientists, engineers, educators and students from all over the world. The organizing committee of conference is pleased to invite prospective authors to submit their original manuscripts to ICIET 2014.
All papers, both invited and contributed, will be reviewed by two or three experts from the TC. After a careful reviewing process, all accepted paper will be published in international journal “International Journal of Information and Education Technology” [ISSN:2010-3689, IACSIT Press] “International Journal of Information and Education Technology” is indexed by Engineering & Technology Digital Library, Google Scholar, Crossref and ProQuest.
The full text is online available via platform http://www.etlibrary.org/ . IACSIT Press will provide online camera-ready paper submission system.

5th International Conference on E-Education, E-Business, E-Management and E-Learning- IC4E 2014, January 13-14, 2014, Strathcona Hotel, Toronto, Canada (Venue).
2014 5th International Conference on E-Education, E-Business, E-Management and E-Learning - IC4E 2014 is the premier forum for the presentation of new advances and research results in the fields of theoretical, experimental, and applied E-Education, E-Business, E-Management and E-Learning. The conference will bring together leading researchers, engineers and scientists in the domain of interest from around the world. Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:

How Educational Innovations Will Make—or Break— America’s Global Future, AAC&U Annual Meeting, January 22-25, 2014, Grand Hyatt Hotel / Washington, DC. Register Online.

A great democracy cannot be content to provide a horizon-expanding education for some and work skills, taught in isolation from the larger societal context, for everyone else. Yet this is what the postsecondary system, viewed as a whole, provides now. And this is what we must work together to change. . . . It should not be liberal education for some and narrow or illiberal education for others.

AAC&U Board of Directors 2010

Wednesday, January 22: Pre-Meeting Symposium
NEW DESIGNS FOR INTEGRATIVE LEARNING:
Curricular Pathways, Departments, and the Future of Arts and Sciences

Saturday, January 25: Fifth Annual E-Portfolio Forum
DEFINING PRACTICE AND A RESEARCH AGENDA

ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING

Quality and the Big Questions
In an era marked by interdependence, economic uncertainty, and disruptive innovation, the future is global and the challenges urgent. To flourish in such a future, students must acquire both broad knowledge and high level skills—essential capacities—to deal successfully with complex opportunities and unscripted problems.

These goals determine quality standards for higher education. How can we be sure that what we expect students to learn in college matches the essential capacities graduates will need to tackle the “big questions” of this generation and of a turbulent world? Are college degrees designed to provide students with many opportunities to practice and build these essential capacities? Students, parents, employers, faculty members and other stakeholders should reject as insufficient any claims of quality education that do not centrally include students’ active and deep effort on research, projects, creative work, collaborative assignments, and other practices that foster deep learning and high level skills. How do we ensure that, whatever their pathways through college, all students have continuous opportunities to apply their learning—with guidance from mentors—to significant problems and real-world challenges?

E-Quality and Innovation
Technology continues to transform all aspects of higher education. But in our fascination with the promise of technology, are we paying sufficient attention to the connection between innovation and educational quality? Are we prepared to ensure that technological innovations should expand rather than further limit student engagement in practices—such as research, field-based learning and creative projects--that build high level 21st century capacities? New evidence is published daily on “high impact practices” that help students both persist in college and achieve at higher levels. As a community how are we using this evidence to draw educationally productive innovations from the digital revolution?

Inequality and the Opportunity Gap
As employers are the first to attest, the outcomes basic to an excellent liberal education are urgently needed in the economy and the workplace. And liberal education is—literally—foundational to democratic vitality. Policy calls to move away from liberal education therefore represent a disinvestment in expanded opportunity, and a locking in of what is already a two-tiered higher education system. In the current climate, how do we resist overemphasis on educational initiatives that are designed primarily to prepare students for their first-job? Can we instead judge the value of innovations by how well they create long-term opportunity, strengthen students’ capacities, and reverse the most inequitable features of U.S. higher education? Can we work with employers, rather than around them, to strengthen the rigor, relevance and inclusiveness of a 21st century liberal education?

For More Information about the Annual Meeting

Please contact meetings@aacu.org or call AAC&U at (202) 387-3760.

CHEA 2014 Annual Conference, January 27 (evening) - January 29.
Capital Hilton Hotel - Washington, DC. Click Here for a Registration Form and Hotel Reservation Information
Innovation, Disruption and the Status Quo: What Do We Want for Accreditation?.
PLENARY SESSION I: Opening Session Issues and Challenges for International Quality Assurance
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
1. The Role of the Liberal Arts in Quality Assurance of Undergraduate Education
At a time when broad-based general education is being questioned by employers, parents and public officials, how do we make a new case for the central role of the liberal arts in assuring high quality in undergraduate education? The Council of Independent Colleges, the national organization for approximately 700 nonprofit, private colleges and universities, has recently launched a public information campaign taking on this important challenge.
2. Can Accreditation Keep Pace with Change?
Accreditation has evolved effectively to address many of the emerging challenges in higher education. However, as the rate and range of change continue to accelerate, can accreditation as currently structured continue to respond to—or even anticipate—the transformation that may be taking place? What are some things that might be done to ensure the continued currency of accreditation—regional, programmatic, national?
3. The Delphi Project on Faculty and Student Success and the Role of Accreditation
As the numbers of contingent faculty, whether full-time or part-time, continue to grow, what is the impact on student success? What role does accreditation play to assure quality in this changing environment?
4. The Challenges of Quality Assurance in Taiwan What are the key features of quality assurance in Taiwan?
What challenges have been addressed and what are future challenges?
5. Accreditation Issues for Competency-Based Education Programs
Competency-Based Education (CBE) is growing in popularity nationally. Western Governors University, a fully CBE institution, is currently partnering with 11 community colleges as they develop their own CBE programs. This session will review WGU’s journey and accommodations to fit into accrediting frameworks designed for a different paradigm, plus the issues arising for the community college partners.
6. Where Do Information Technology and Quality Assurance Meet?
What changes in accreditation practice have resulted from major changes in technology during the past decade? How are accrediting organizations managing these changes?
7. Faculty and Accreditation
What are faculty perceptions of accreditation? How might faculty gain from working with accrediting organizations to address the growing federal oversight?
8. International Accreditation and Student Learning Results in Mongolia
How are higher education and quality assurance in Mongolia working to improve student learning outcomes? What role has Peregrine Academic Services played?

6th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, February 5-7, 2014. The Inn at Virginia Tech and the Skelton Conference Center, 901 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
The 6th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy is focused on higher education teaching excellence and the scholarship of teaching and learning. The conference showcases the best pedagogical practice and research in higher education today. Sessions address disciplinary and interdisciplinary instructional strategies, outcomes, and research. Ultimately, the conference is an opportunity to demonstrate effective instructional practice and disseminate the latest research aimed at improving the quality of higher education.

Faculty are, on a daily basis and in very unassuming ways, demonstrating a renewed energy and focus toward the scholarship of teaching and learning. This is further evidenced by our attention to academic assessment, the integration of technology and learning, and even in the change in our teaching lexicon as we incorporate active engagement and reflective practices into instruction to encourage authentic learning. Join us as we showcase and share our collective growth, innovation, and achievement in teaching and learning.

The Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy is focused on showcasing the best pedagogical research and practice in higher education today. Sessions will address disciplinary, and inter-disciplinary challenges facing teachers and students in higher education and will disseminate the latest research aimed at improving the quality of undergraduate and graduate education.

CHEA 2014 Annual Conference, January 27 (evening) - January 29.
Capital Hilton Hotel - Washington, DC. Click Here for a Registration Form and Hotel Reservation Information
Innovation, Disruption and the Status Quo: What Do We Want for Accreditation?.
PLENARY SESSION I: Opening Session Issues and Challenges for International Quality Assurance
What are the most significant issues for international quality review and countries working together to enhance higher education, quality and service to students?
PLENARY SESSION II The Changing Federal Government Role in Accreditation
The federal government’s focus on accreditation and academic quality has expanded considerably during the past several years. What will be its future role and how will this affect accreditation?
PLENARY III: LUNCHEON SESSION Higher Education Reauthorization, Accreditation and Congress
What are congressional leaders expecting to achieve through the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act? What are the implications for accreditation?
PLENARY SESSION IV Education Without College: What Is It? Is It Desirable? Can It Last?
What does it mean for students to undertake higher education, but outside a college or university? What are the implications for higher education, students and society?
PLENARY SESSION V Accreditation and Its Critics: What Do They Say and What Do We Do?
What are the major criticisms of accreditation? What is the evidence to support such concerns? How does accreditation respond?
PLENARY SESSION VI: CLOSING SESSION Do We Need a New Approach to Quality and Does This Include Accreditation?
What if, instead of seeking to modify existing federal law and regulation regarding accreditation, there were efforts to begin afresh, rethinking the accreditation-federal government relationship and the role of federal recognition? What would be most important?
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 510 • Washington, DC 20036
(TEL) 202-955-6126 • (FAX) 202-955-6129 • chea@chea.org.