Participatory assessment workshops in Berlin April 20, 2012
Posted by MargitG in : Ongoing Work , comments closedThe first workshops in a row of interactive activities to evaluate the CE Knowledge Platform for an Ageing Society http://www.ce-ageing.eu took place in Berlin on the 16th of April 2012. These assessment workshops are designed to allow project partners benefitting from preliminary findings and getting feedback from other partners to their implementation activities, but also stimulating ideas and exchanging activities. During the workshop the moderators guided the participants through a critical reflection and discussion on pilot activities, using the technique of visualization to structure the discussion and illustrate the outcomes from the pilots via artefacts. The resulting maps (complemented by workshop participants) visualise the pilot activities and their conditions and impacts. They provide an overview about the status quo of project activities as a good basis for further additions and comparisons at later stages of the project. Further participatory assessment workshops will follow.
ilse Marschalek, Teresa Holocher-Ertl
Go-myLife presented at good practice fair March 23, 2012
Posted by MargitG in : Ongoing Work , add a commentMagª. Maria Schwarz-Wölzl was invited to present the Go-myLife project at the Central European Good Practice Fair: Promoting active ageing at local level. The Fair is an official event of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations 2012.
http://q-ageing.eu/confprog.html
Mature-project.eu Website – “very good”
Posted by MargitG in : Ongoing Work , add a commentThe pilot project *mature@eu* – Supporting Employers In Recruiting And Selecting Mature Aged Persons – responds to the low level of labour market participation of elderly employees in most of the European member states in general and to the existing structural barriers to be found in enterprises recruitment policies in particular.
Its website – containing a toolbox for HR staff with 411 documents in 15 languages – was rated by the editorial staff of trainer link as “very good” and is seen as one of the best addresses in this field. TheBulletin is published as a supplement in the March issue of the magazine “managerSeminare” and achieves – with a circulation of 23,000 – 42,000 readers, primarily managers, HR managers, trainers and interested persons in further training.
http://www.mature-project.eu/toolbox/
Go-myLife: Participatory involvement of older people in technology development – a good practice example by ZSI
Posted by MargitG in : Ongoing Work , add a commentGo-myLife aims to improve the quality of life for older people through the use of online social networks combined with mobile technologies.
In order to develop this innovative technology adapted to real user needs, older people have been involved in the project from the very beginning in the form of participatory end-user workshops organised by ZSI.
But eliciting requirements from older people who have limited experience with ICT usage regarding innovative products that do not yet exist is a challenging process. Older people may feel reluctant to talk about their personal problems (e.g. social isolation), and they do not have the experience to enable them to specify the technical functionalities that would help meet those needs. In tackling these challenges, ZSI carefully elaborated and pre-tested a workshop concept, which includes a portfolio of innovative research methods.
Seven end-user workshops were conducted, involving 23 participants in Austria and the UK, successfully applying interactive methodology tailored to the specific end user group.
How innovative and appropriate the implemented methodologies of the workshop are showed the last project review by the European commission. The review report highlighted the systematic and high quality theoretical work underlying the methodological approach and the well-designed workshops with high achievements. In general “the end-user and demand driven innovation has been rather remarkable” therefore the EC highly recommended publishing the methodology and the results of the end-user study.
Methodology: http://gomylife-project.eu/index.php?q=filedepot_download/31/9
Results from the Workshops: http://gomylife-project.eu/index.php?q=filedepot_download/31/11
Pictures from the Workshop: http://gomylife-project.eu/content/end-users
Second Call for Scientific Contributions to EC-TEL 2012 February 29, 2012
Posted by Barbara Kieslinger in : Announcements,Calls for contribution,Events , comments closed18-21 September 2012, Saarbrücken, Germany
The European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL) is a unique opportunity for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to address current challenges and advances in the field. Through EC-TEL, established and emerging researchers as well as practitioners, entrepreneurs, and technology developers explore new collaborations, strengthen networks, and compliment their core experience.
Promoting and developing 21st Century Learning for 21st Century Skills that meet contemporary needs and challenges is a key priority within the European Union and constituent countries. Crucial questions need to be addressed, such as:
* How can schools prepare young people for the technology-rich workplace of the future?
* How can we use technology to promote informal and independent learning outside traditional educational settings?
* How can we use next generation social and mobile technologies to promote informal and responsive learning?
This focus on skills, practice and impact is reflected in EC-TEL itself. EC-TEL 2012 is, for the first time, specifically appealing to Technology Enhanced Learning innovators, creative practitioners and other representatives from e-learning more generally. Extended demonstrations of prototypes and ‘TEL in action’ will spark discussions between different but complimentary groups, and be animated and disseminated through live internet radio broadcasts.
EC-TEL 2012 will examine and improve the transitions between research, practice and industry.
We invite contributions for demonstrations, workshops and project meetings as well as academic research papers. A doctoral consortium will also be organized concurrently with the workshops. See the extended call for papers for more details:
http://www.ec-tel.eu/call-for-papers
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IMPORTANT DATES
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Paper, short paper, poster, & demonstration submission: 02 April 2012
Paper, short paper, poster, & demonstration notification: 04 June 2012
Camera-ready versions: 02 July 2012
Room reservation for project meetings deadline: 15 June 2012
Workshop proposals: 02 April 2012
Workshop notification: 30 April 2012
Workshops: 18-19 September 2011
Conference: 20-21 September 2011
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SUBMISSION FORMATS
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Submissions will be handled through EasyChair
(http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ectel2012). All papers
will be reviewed through a non-blind review process. Accepted papers
will be published in the conference proceedings. Proceedings will be
published by Springer within their “Lecture Notes in Computer Science”
series which is ranked in the ISI Web of Knowledge. The use of
supplied template is
mandatory:http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-7-72376-0
• Full Papers: max. 14 pages, published in proceedings
• Short Papers and Demonstrations: max. 6 pages, published in proceeding
• Posters: max. 4 pages, 1 page summary published in proceedings
• Workshop proposals: max. 4 pages, not published in proceedings
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DEMONSTRATIONS
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A demonstration is your chance to fully engage EC-TEL attendees at a
personal level by letting them see, touch, squeeze, or hear your
visions for the future of TEL, or demonstrate highly interactive ‘TEL
in Action’ (e.g. through videos or real-time learning experiences). We
expect that your Demonstration will be a reliably running prototype of
your vision that is ready to be tried out, questioned and interacted
with.
You need to submit a concise description of your prototype, clearly
showing how your technological innovation realises a clear learning
innovation. This needs to be in a paper that is a maximum of 6 pages
that will be published in the EC-TEL 2012 proceedings if accepted.
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POSTERS
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Posters report on significant work in progress. Please submit a paper
up to a maximum of 4 pages describing your work and the results that
you plan to achieve until September 2012. A 1-page summary of this
will then be published within the EC-TEL proceedings.
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WORKSHOPS
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EC-TEL 2012 offers the opportunity to host several workshops. Parties
interested in organizing a workshop are asked to submit a proposal of
max. 4 pages outlining the theme of the workshop, workshop format,
expected participants and domains addressed, dissemination activities,
programme committee, and organizational requirements. Proposals should
be submitted via the EasyChair system of EC-TEL.
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PROJECT MEETINGS
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In addition to the regular sessions and workshops, EC-TEL offers a
unique opportunity for European Projects in TEL to held face-to-face
meetings. Please contact the local organization chair at your earliest
convenience to book meeting rooms.
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DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM
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The doctoral consortium will offer Ph.D. students the opportunity to
present, discuss, and receive feedback on their research in an
interdisciplinary and international atmosphere. Prominent professors
and researchers in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning will
provide feedback to the selected papers and participate actively and
contribute to the discussions. The Doctoral Consortium will take place
immediately before the EC-TEL 2012 conference. For details please
refer to http://ec-tel.eu/submissions#dc
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CONFERENCE ORGANISATION
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General Chair: Carlos Delgado Kloos, cdk@it.uc3m.es
Program Chairs:
Stefanie Lindstaedt, slind@know-center.at and Andrew Ravenscroft,
a.ravenscroft@uel.ac.uk
Industry Session Chair: Volker Zimmermann, volker.zimmermann@im-c.de
Workshop Chair: Tobias Ley, tobias.ley@tlu.ee
Poster and Demonstration Chair: Davinia Hernández-Leo, davinia.hernandez@upf.edu
Doctoral Consortium Chairs:
Katherine Maillet, Katherine.Maillet@it-sudparis.eu and Mario Allegra,
mario.allegra@itd.cnr.it
Dissemination Chair: Sergey Sosnovsky, sosnovsky@gmail.com
Local Organization Chair: Christoph Igel, christoph.igel@celtech.de
OST’12: Open and Social Technologies for Networked Learning February 28, 2012
Posted by Sebastian Fiedler in : Calls for contribution , comments closedOST ’12 Open and Social Technologies for Networked Learning
30.July – 3.August 2012
Tallinn University, Tallinn, EstoniaConference Sponsored by IFIP WG 3.4
In 2011, Tallinn (Estonia) is the European Cultural Capital. In 2012, Tallinn will host an IFIP open conference on “Open and Social Technologies for Networked Learning”. Sponsored by IFIP Working Group 3.4 (Professional Education), the conference is jointly organized by Tallinn University and University of Tampere (Finland).
Confirmed keynotes by Stefanie Lindstaedt (Graz University ofTechnology, Austria) and Jari Multisilta (University of Helsinki, Finland).
Open and Social Technologies play an increasingly important role in many educational settings. Social technologies are naturally entering primary, secondary and higher education where they blur the boundaries between formal and informal learning. Social technologies also enter the workplaces where they connect learners and bridge the boundaries between individual learning and organizational knowledge processes. Not only do these technologies connect learners independent of place and time, they have also been found to exert emergent properties. For example, wikis or social tagging environments are increasingly used for collaborative knowledge construction where new knowledge emerges from a large scale interaction of individuals. These properties and their impact on individual, group and organizational learning have only started to be researched…
[via Email]
Submission deadline has been extended to March 12, 2012.
Joint European Summer School on Technology Enhanced Learning 2012 February 26, 2012
Posted by Barbara Kieslinger in : Announcements,Calls for contribution,Events , comments closedThe final announcement of the Call for Participation for PhD Students, Lectures, Workshops is out:
Estoril, Portugal May 20 – 26, 2012
Deadline for Applications: March 1st, 2012
more information on the website:
The summer school aims to encourage participants to adopt a critical stance in thinking about the role of technologies in providing opportunities for learners and the potential of these opportunities in terms of learning.
The summer school provides a stimulating learning environment where participants get opportunities to: develop their research skills; increase their knowledge base; collaborate with others in their own and complementary research areas; engage in debate; have access to experts in the field; present and discuss their own work.
The programme will include sessions from a broad range of domains which contribute to advancing the field of Technology Enhanced Learning. Practical and methodological workshops will offer opportunities for doctoral candidates to develop their personal research. TEL research projects are encouraged to provide students with a perspective of the state-of-the-art research under study in their working groups.
Call for PhD Student Participation
Applications should be submitted online before Thursday, March 1st, 2012. The application form is available at the Summer School web site (www.JTELSummerSchool.eu) and can be submitted as PDF or ZIP file via EasyChair.
Applicants requiring financial support for participation or travel should explicitly mention it in their motivation letter, briefly explaining their circumstances. It is expected that applicants working on research projects which are able to fund them will not apply for financial support. To ensure a high ratio between tutors and students the school will be limited to 60 PhD students.
In order to increase social contacts among the summer school participants, the programme includes several social events. A variety of sport activities will also be offered to the summer school participants.
Support
This year the JTEL Summer School will benefit from special funding from the STELLAR Network of Excellence in Technology Enhanced Learning and the European Association of Technology Enhanced Learning.
Venue Description
The Summer School will take place in Estoril, Portugal. Situated on the coast, half-hour by train from Lisbon, Estoril has a wonderful climate and a superb natural environment, known as the Portuguese Riviera. Estoril’s rich cultural heritage reflects its royal, historic past. Exploring the region will make you feel like you are living in another time which belongs to another world.
The Estoril Coast also caters to today’s world, integrating its “glamour”, delicacy and royalty into a wide range of activities. Surfers will find the best waves at Carcavelos Beach and Guincho Beach is very popular for wind and kite surfing.
Nowhere else in the world can such changes of scenery and such contrasting atmospheres be experienced in such a small area as the Estoril Coast which offers a concentration of different experiences.
Accommodation and Social Events
Accommodation and summer school facilities will be made available at Hotel Vila Galé Estoril, (http://www.vilagale.pt/pages/hoteis/?hotel=12) located right along Estoril cost, two minutes away from the sea and overlooking the charming Tamariz Beach.
PhD students are asked to share double rooms with other peers.
Cost of Summer School
The cost for PhD students is Euro 570 (including accommodation – 7 nights in double rooms, meals and excursions). JTEL has secured funding for about 40 PhD student grants to cover summer school accommodation, catering, and events. Please indicate if you are applying for a scholarship in your application. Some selected students with grants may be able to benefit from funding to cover travel expenses to Estoril as well.
Calendar
March 1st, 2012: Deadline for submitting applications to the Summer School
April 1st, 2012: Notification of acceptance
May 1st, 2012: Pre-Summer School videoconferences begin
May 21, 2012: Summer School begins
Call for Lectures and Workshops
If you would like to offer a lecture or workshop at the summer school we invite you to submit a short abstract (max 250 words) describing your contribution, which should demonstrate how your presentation will benefit the PhD candidates attending the summer school (mainly early to mid-stage). We encourage interactive sessions rather than lecture-style presentations, and your abstract could include details about how you plan to engage the PhD candidates. Lectures are typically no longer than 30 minutes and workshops are usually 90 minutes or longer. Lectures should provide students with insight into the state-of-the-art in one aspect of TEL or methodologies for conducting research in TEL. Workshops should provide hands-on opportunities to work with new technologies or develop research techniques.
Please submit your proposal to Easy Chair and be sure to tick the correct box: lecture or workshop proposal: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=jtelss2012.
PhD students applying to participate in the summer school are also invited to propose workshops.
If your preliminary proposal is selected, you will be requested to provide a full proposal on EasyChair (i.e. an extended abstract and a detailed planning of activities with the PhD candidates). Please note that speakers and workshop organizers are expected to cover the costs of their trip and accommodation (typically through the TEL projects they are belonging to).
This year, as scientific output of the summer school, we will publish the collection of the extended abstracts for presentations and workshops. We will provide further guidance concerning these extended abstracts but the idea is that they should emphasise the current challenges you are tackling and how they relate to the state-of-the-art in your area.
ZSI with nanochannels at the Guardian February 10, 2012
Posted by MargitG in : Ongoing Work , comments closedZSI, partner in the nanochannels project (http://www.nanochannels.eu/) implemented interactive assessment methods to evaluate readers’ opinions. The ZSI team conducted a workshop with randomly selected Guardian readers from 18 to 72 years to assess the latest supplement on nanotechnologies. Participatory methods were applied to find out opinions on content, structure, illustration and relevance of the 4 pages supplement. The workshop provided feedback to the Guardian but also stimulated a discussion on nanotechnologies, considering main concerns and expectations. Open questions will be taken into account within the next Guardian supplement to be published in April.
ZSI also conducted an ad hoc evaluation of the live round table debate on nano medicine (http://www.guardian.co.uk/nanotechnology-world/how-nanotechnology-is-prolonging-life-live-debate) to get immediate feedback from the audience who had come to discuss with minister David Willets and the other panellists.
i-know 2012 Conference CfP January 25, 2012
Posted by Barbara Kieslinger in : Announcements,Calls for contribution,Events , comments closedi-know 2012 Conference recently opened its Call for papers:
http://i-know.tugraz.at/i-science/call-for-papers
The main topics are: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Technologies, Knowledge Context, Knowledge Evolution und Knowledge Discovery
This conference, which takes place once a year in the Austrian city of Graz is a great place to present and discuss latest scientific findings as well as to exchange more practical experience (e.g. in the industrial track).
Scientists Meet Teachers: A Participatory Design Workshop December 8, 2011
Posted by Barbara Kieslinger in : Ongoing Work , comments closed
Last weekend five teachers from across Europe met a group of scientists who want to open their labs for schools and offer new and exciting ways to experience science teaching at the ZSI premises in Vienna, Austria.
It is the vision of the GLOBAL excursion project that students and teachers explore science in the future in virtual excursions where they can interact with scientific infrastructure, material and data as well as the scientists themselves. To make these virtual excursions an exciting and realistic learning experience the developers need a lot of knowledge on educational practice in schools.
Thus, the first encounter of scientists and teachers was a great learning experience for all, where pedagogical requirements, technological boundaries and motivational barriers were elaborated in a very interactive way. At the end of the second day, the meeting room was full with posters, flip charts and post-its and participants were exhausted, but also very content with the results and the process of approximation.
The successfully established contact between scientists and teachers will continue during the next two years and will hopefully result in exciting and innovative science teaching.
EU Project on Emotional Literacy and teaching seeks for Research Tenders November 22, 2011
Posted by Margit Hofer in : Ongoing Work , comments closedResearchers are invited to express their interest to undertake research on our EU funded project. Project ELIA involves partners from the UK, Switzerland, Portugal and Austria. It trains teachers in EL to better manage the classroom and support young people in Vocational Education & Training.
Researchers do not need to have a background in EL, but they need strong research and report writing skills and a background in education or social science.
The researcher will be involved in analysing, interpreting and writing up qualitative data.
The research work would be undertaken on a part-time basis. The maximum contract fee is €25,000 (to include expenses) over an 18 months period, starting in Jan/February 2012. An interview will be required. For further information : www.s-o-l.ch. Closing date 31.12.11
EDEN 2012 conference – June 6-9, 2012 – Porto, Portugal November 19, 2011
Posted by Sebastian Fiedler in : Calls for contribution , comments closedThe Annual Conference will approach the key questions of learning methodology and technology focusing on the “Open learning generations”, the contexts of socially significant target groups: junior and senior e-learners..We will explore their learning cultures, technology use patterns, and discuss new approaches in pedagogy and andragogy that respond to them.
The changing technology dimension: development of networking tools, new platforms and standards and interoperability questions will also be addressed from the perspective of different groups of users.
Pragmatic observers may state meanwhile that there is not that much novelty in new generations applying different tools and approaches with the changing social and technology conditions. Thus there is thus space for interpretation by the established distance learning professionals to consider the diverse practice and experience with young and adult learners in the open learning arena.[via EDEN conference website]
The deadline for the submission of contributions is February 10, 2012.
GLOBAL excursion kick off meeting in Vienna November 15, 2011
Posted by Margit Hofer in : Announcements,Ongoing Work,Presentations and publications , comments closedFrom the 15-16 of September 2011, the GLOBAL excursion project had its kick-off meeting in Vienna, Austria, hosted by the main coordinator ZSI.
The agenda covered not only the getting to know each other of all the partners, but also presentations of the Infrastructur provider as well as to create a common understanding and vision of the project, its objectives and aims. The connections between the six different workpackages and the management issues were the core element of this kick off meeting, especially for the first months in the project.
ELIA – Emotional Literacy in Action
Posted by Margit Hofer in : Announcements , comments closedWith 1st of October a new Project (under Technology and Knowledge) has started under the Life Long Learning Programme.
The objective of this project is to provide supported training to VET teachers in Emotional Literacy (EL) so that they can better manage their relationships with students, colleagues and other stakeholders, thereby improving classroom behaviour, motivation, academic performance, soft skills competence and long-term employability, and decreasing drop out and exclusion.
Following objectives are aimed for:
1) To train and support teachers in building constructive communication, interaction and relationship with their learners through an emotionally literate and culturally competent approach.
2) To increase young people’s engagement in learning, their motivation and to raise achievement. To help all young people be inspired and reach their potential
3) To contribute to the EU ‘s aim of reducing early school leaving to below 10% by the end of the decade
An innovative toolkit, that has been successfully integrated already in other countries, goes beyond teaching methodologies to provide effective solutions that facilitate learning, improve behaviour and raise attainment by helping teachers to develop effective communication skills with students and encourages a reflective approach to their teaching.
ICL 2012 conference – 26 to 28 September, 2012 – Villach, Austria November 11, 2011
Posted by Sebastian Fiedler in : Calls for contribution , comments closedThis interdisciplinary conference aims to focus on the exchange of relevant trends and research results as well as the presentation of practical experiences gained while developing and testing elements of interactive collaborative learning. Therefore pilot projects, applications and products will also be welcome…
Deadline for submissions is April 23, 2012.