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Best of EDEN 2018 (Click here to see the articles)
EDEN is delighted to present the 2018 Volume of the Best of EDEN series.
The book consists of selected papers of the EDEN Annual conference hosted by the University of Genova in June 2018 and those of the Research Workshop organized in co-operation with the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Barcelona in October. The papers were selected in process of the competition for the “Best Research Paper” of the conferences, which is a tradition at the EDEN Events. The selection process takes place in collaboration with the Ulrich Bernath Foundation for Research in Open and Distance Learning. In 2018, the 10th Anniversary of this movement has been celebrated.
Starting from its origins, an important duty of EDEN has been to exchange academic and professional experience, to promote navigation on the rapidly evolving scene. Research in open, distance and e-learning is indispensable for development, decision-making and for improving quality of services.
High quality research into open learning provides important information to enhance learning with technologies, improving the learner’s experience, to assist effective decision-making, and helps to ensure the viability of products and services.
An important innovation in the approach to the Research Workshop has been the PhD Student Symposium with the participation of 30 young scholars. The Symposium, led by a panel of international experts on e-learning, has been designed to foster the exchange of experiences and knowledge among doctoral students doing research in the area, while providing a discussion forum for the advancement of doctoral research.
The demand for people with new, enhanced skills is growing. The volume of information produced and shared in all fields is overwhelming. Building the data economy became part of the EU Digital Single Market. Pressure is on all players of the online education community to keep up with new learning solutions, and better supply the skills currently demanded by growing economies. Digital credentials and open badges are the new currencies which are beginning to transform the economic models in education. Social and economic tensions continue to raise the issues of scalability, the micro-credentialling of education, training and skill development processes.
Micro, meso and macro aspects provide an interesting range of lenses for considering the problem. Navigating these dimensions are the reshaping of digital pedagogy and online instructional design; the social elements including digital societal mechanisms and the position of the individual in our new era. Social and socio-economic context is more important than ever. Society itself can be understood as a learning environment, with questions of learners’ connection with the community and the empowerment of the practitioners.
In the networked society, digital technology has changed many aspects of day-to-day life. Long-standing societal, business and institutional systems have either lost their relevance or have transformed beyond recognition. In education we observe emerging and declining paradigms, changing expectations from society, new and emerging types of learning experience and often operating in unsteady environments. The powerful combination of the ’information age’ and the consequent disruption has taken a fantastical leap into aggregating, curating and co-producing outside the boundaries of formal learning.
Dr András Szűcs Secretary General, EDEN |
Airina Volungeviciene EDEN President |
Professor Josep M. Duart Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) |
Budapest – Oldenburg, December 2019
EDEN contributes to the EU's civil society cooperation in education and training