The European Commission in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic and the Masaryk University in Brno organized a thematic forum on "From the Crisis to Recovery - the Role of Higher Education Institutions and Business Co-operation" in Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic, on 2nd – 3rd February 2010. This forum is part of the University-Business Dialogue initiative launched by the European Commission to improve the cooperation between Higher Education and Business and to provide on European level a platform for a lasting dialogue between the relevant stakeholders.

ERASMUS COORDINATOR MEETING 2010

1-2 February 2010, Brussels

Erasmus projects selected for Community funding, presentation of projects, exchange of good practices, challenges in project management. EADTU among Good Practice examples with Cross Border Virtual Entrepreneurship (CBVE), see the EACEA Trends presentation  

More information here. 

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Cross Border Virtual Entrepreneurship (CBVE)

European Funded Research on Flexible Modality Entrepreneurship Education and Training

Cornelis Adrianus (Kees-Jan) van Dorp (Eds.)

Learn how to flexibilise education and training

ISBN: 978-90-79730-03-2

© 2009, European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU)

		Front Cover
		Project Information
		Abstract
		Table of Contents
		Sample Page

Dorp, C.A. van (Eds). Cross Border Virtual Entrepreneurship (CBVE): European Funded Research on Flexible Modality Entrepreneurship Education and Training. By: Dorp, C.A. van, Virkus, S., Egaña y Espinosa de los Monteros. A.H. de, Baan, M. K., Sepe, R., A., Jasinska, M., and A. Wodecki. Co-funded by the Erasmus programme, University-Entreprise Cooperation (Lifelong Learning). European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), Heerlen, the Netherlands, September 2009. ISBN 978 90 79730 03 2.

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EADTU speaking at this year's ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN Conference Session with Strategic Challenges for Open and Distance Learning Institutions in the Post-2010 Decade, by Kees-Jan van Dorp, EADTU, The Netherlands

The associated session "Strategic Challenges for Public Spending in the Post-2010 Decade" (FIN62) is now online and can be viewed at http://www.online-educa.com/programme_detail.php?id=f5

Chaired by: Lieve Van den Brande from the European Commission (Belgium)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45603201@N03/4186801815/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45603201@N03/4186801881/

On 23-25 September last, the International 2009 ICL Conference on Interactive Computer Aided Learning, took place in Villach (Austria). This exiting conference exchanged relevant trends and research results as well as practical experiences in the field. Renowned keynotes from all continents as well as interactive audience-panel sessions, made the conference an event not to miss out on. Be sure to mark your calendar for ICL’s next conference: ICL2010 will be held from Sept 29 to Oct 01, 2010. Information on Conference proceedings 2009, shortly online here: http://www.icl-conference.org/archive.htm

Since more and more organisations operate internationally, the pressure on education professionals increases to arrange work placements introducing students to an (international) working environment. EU-VIP enhances the quality, efficiency and impact of international work placements by focusing  on how to organise these placements, thereby boosting interaction between HEIs and enterprises using the advantages of the newest technologies.

EU-VIP provides the necessary (technical, pedagogical, organisational) models and services for (1) virtual mobility activities to prepare and follow-up students who go physically abroad for a placement, (2) fully virtual placements, from selection, preparation, execution to follow-up.

The HEIs involved have established links with companies, ensuring available work placements to set up pilots to test out the different models. End-users (students, teachers and company representatives) are trained in the use of new technologies for organising  (virtual) work placements. They are also brought together at regular meetings to identify (dis)advantages of the models, critical success factors, quality indicators, evaluation criteria. A guidebook (online and printed) collects all results and provides concrete, validated procedures, guidelines and recommendations. All training materials are published online so they can be used independently by other interested HEIs and companies who wish to engage in (virtual) work placements. Virtual mobility activities, to prepare those who go physically abroad for a work placement, result in a more fit-for-purpose matching of students and companies. Virtual follow-up systems enable more knowledge exchange between the HEIs, companies and students on tutoring issues, tasks, student performance. Fully virtual placements allow more students who for some reason cannot go abroad to benefit from an international experience, learn a foreign language and acquire intercultural communication skills in a business context.

European partners: 

P1           Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

P2           EuroPACE ivzw

P3           Teknillinen korkeakoulu

P4           Erhversakademiet Lillebaelt

P5           EFMD

P6           European Association of Distance Teaching Universities

P7           FernUniversität in Hagen

P8           Katholieke Hogeschool Leuven

P9           Laurea Ammattikorkeakoulu

P10        Zachodniopomorska Szkoła Biznesu

P11        Turun yliopisto

P12        ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITA’ DI BOLOGNA

P13        Università degli Studi di Padova

P14        Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

P15        Coimbra Group

P16        Board of European Students of Technology

* Lifelong Learning Programme, ERASMUS Co-operation between Universities and Enterprises)

Innovative OER in European HE

Abstract

The Bologna process beyond 2010 has to focus on the supply of enhanced educational opportunities and the quality of teaching and learning in the Area of HE. The EAHE will get more in depth by creating  open and flexible teaching and learning spaces in all domains, for all ages and all over Europe. The Open Educational Resource (OER) movement, initiated by MIT only some years ago and now expanding globally,  is enabling the best products of universities to be made available to all capable of learning at the tertiary level, whether they have yet to enter higher education or  wish to continue their study beyond graduation. The new Bologna must embrace the core of traditional university-centered education and the far larger penumbra of university-generated learning opportunities, of which OER’s are one. The OER movement has come to Europe only recently, but with a different approach, in the Open Courseware Consortium referred to as the second generation of OER. Frontrunner is  OpenLearn of the British Open University. OpenEr of the Dutch OU has followed and next the EADTU MORIL project (Multilingual Open Resources for Independent Learning). It is the roll-out of a concept with learning modules (not just content) in three tracks: (1) access to open courses, (2) access to courses through free registration for services like assessment of competencies and learning communities and (3) access to intensive tutoring, examinations and certification. MORIL: Multilingual Open Resources for Independent Learning, has spurred awareness about OER among ten Open and Distance Teaching Universities (ODTUs) within the EADTU membership. Start up activities within MORIL have been executed with OUUK,OUNL, Spain, Aberta (Universia), Nettuno, Anadolu. A strong conceptual basis for OER in Europe is created with links to social learning and constructive learning with peers. This approach is respected in the world (OCW Consortium, UNESCO). At the other hand, large differences are observed between the frontrunners (OU UK, OU NL, MORIL) and the other European universities. A lot has to be realized in line with  the innovation cycle in successive phases of  awareness raising, strategy building - institutional frameworks, pedagogic models, business cooperation, and  pilot experiments. All individual efforts the EADTU members are to be consolidated under one prospective portal pointing to member OER repositories. This European project is to valorise the members' best practices concerning the development of OERs: pilot studies will be conducted into areas where OER functionalities can be achieved. This European project distinguishes (a selection of) five "study" workpackages: 1. OER widening participation (best practice test beds), 2. OER multi campus (associations' stakeholder sessions), 3. OER internationalisation (manuals),  4. Quality in OER (criteria for OER), 5. European OER portal (accessible open courses).  The total of all workpackages will generate a composite manual, a handbook, on how to deal with OER. The project is composed of an: (1) Observatory: all the Open and Distance Teaching Universities, for development questions, monitoring and guiding the activities of the pilots; (2) A core group (of the observatory): OUNL, OUUK and FernUni for performing editorials of the composite manual, the handbook on dealing with OER; (3) Workpackage leaders: running and writing the five workpackage results, for providing chapter reports to the final manual on: 1. OER widening participation (OUUK), 2. OER multi campus (KU Leuven association), 3. OER internationalisation (OUNL),  4. Quality in OER (EADTU), 5. European OER portal (EADTU). As with the concern of Lisbon, educators will have also to  play a new role in the education and training of 25+, since the demographic change  will reshape a demand for complex skills for many more people (New skills for  new jobs, Anticipating and matching labour market and skills needed, 2008). 

ICL KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Kees-Jan van Dorp, Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), Research Director

"Adding Value to Open and Distance Education in the Post-2010 Decade"

The end of the decade is approaching. Europe's universities are getting ready to materialise their strategies for post-2010. How well equipped are today's universities for tomorrow's demands? In face of enormous socio-economic and demographic challenges, Europe requires more advanced educational performance, which better contributes to innovation, competitiveness and economic growth. Educational systems and associated business models must be agile enough to respond to, and survive, the changing external factors. Universities are faced with high demand from STEM occupations, against lagging student numbers and unpleasant changes in national funding schemes. Ascertaining ones role and place within the knowledge society is pivotal not only for conventional (research-based) universities, but also for open and distance teaching universities (education-based). Whereas traditional universities commence strategies on serving the lifelong learner, open and distance teaching universities learn that sole education delivery without acts of innovation and entrepreneurship is draining. To be ready for the next decade, universities must search to create added value and accordingly innovate their business models. The year 2009, proclaimed to be the year of creativity and innovation by the European Commission, should lead the exploration of new entrepreneurial possibilities. In this conference address, the open and distance teaching universities in particular, are assessed on their potential to innovate beyond flexible education: generating new modes of academic and commercial entrepreneurship including the launch of new generation (networked) business incubation. It is evident that universities cannot do without creativity and innovation: it is the engine of (long-term) prosperity not only for universities, but for enterprises, economy and society as a whole.