“The Future of Learning Is Increasingly Free”
As the founder of Epic Group, a board member of Interactive University, an award-winning designer of e-learning tools and author of numerous articles on the topic, Donald Clark has “seen it all” in the field of online education and shares his observations frequently on his blog http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com. Clark will be one of the keynote speakers at OEB 2009. In the following interview, he shares his excitement about the latest open learning trends.
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Top Psychologist warns of the Dangers of the Social Web
An American psychologist, biologist and broadcaster, Dr Aric Sigman is also the author of the award-winning and controversial book Remotely Controlled: How television is damaging our lives and more recently, The Spoilt Generation: Why restoring authority will make our children and our society happier. Dr Sigman’s talk at the Houses of Parliament, as well as his latest articles on the negative effect of television and the social web have caused widespread public debate. Below Dr Sigman explains his views on the biological implications of internet usage.
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Research: Learning 2.0 in Europe
Has Web 2.0 arrived in today’s education institutions? Over the last years, social networking applications have seen an unprecedented uptake. A large share of Internet users are contributing to social networking and media sharing sites, especially young users. Blogs and wikis are used by people of all ages, supporting the collaborative creation and sharing of knowledge between young and old, students and experts. But what about organisations and educational institutions? On behalf of the European Commission, the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) is conducting a study on the impact of Web 2.0 innovations on education and training. Results will be presented at OEB 2008.
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What We Need is Top-End Content
While important, the bottom-up creation of content is not everything, says Clive Shepherd. The British e-learning expert and consultant fully supports the Web 2.0 principle but sees an important continuing role for top-quality, top-down content that complements user-generated content and 'rapid content' produced by subject experts. The complementary roles of centralised and democratised content is a topic he is highly interested in at the moment, and he will discuss the various aspects of this phenomenon - among others - at OEB 2008.
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A Networked Life – Ton Zijlstra on Social Networking
Ton Zijlstra describes himself as a networked individual in a networked world. With a background in electronic engineering and the philosophy of science, he has been working in knowledge management for ten years. He focuses on increasing people's ability to act through the effectivity of their knowledge work, learning and tools, previously for a consultancy firm in the Netherlands, and, since the end of 2007, as an independent consultant. At OEB 2008, he will join Clive Shepherd in a discussion on Generation Y.
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Getting Second Life Right – Explore Its Impact on Education at Online Educa Berlin
Using Second Life for educational purposes is one of most exciting trends in the field of technology-enhanced learning. But what is behind all the hype? What are the actual benefits of Second Life for learners as well as for trainers? Various sessions at Online Educa Berlin will explore the use of virtual worlds for educational purposes.
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What Happens if You Give a GPS and a PDA to a 'Grandpa'?
Manresa, a Catalonian city of about 75,000 inhabitants, makes use of a simple but convincing teaching principle. Since 2001, the City Council has provided an ICT training plan for the elderly that combines technologies like PDA, GPS, Google Earth, Google Maps and flickr. Because computer literacy seems to be one of the basic skills of young people, the organisers thought it would be a good idea to match different generations and change common roles: The students would be the teachers and the seniors would be the students! Project Manager Marta Serra will give some insights at OEB.
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Lifelong Learning – A Radical Communitarian Adventure
“We stand at the threshold of a new era in learning approaches and itineraries, where the greatest novelty of ICT resides in the full use of the 'C': C for community, communication and care,” says Professor Roberto Carneiro. A leading mastermind in the field of technology-enhanced lifelong learning, the former Portuguese Minister of Education is now professor at the Portuguese Catholic University. In an interview with OEB, Prof. Carneiro, a keynote speaker in the Lifelong Learning Plenary on Friday, November 29, explained what policy makers in Europe should do to establish a potent knowledge economy.
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Exploding the Internet
Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture, says the consequences of the new Internet age need to be managed. It can be assumed that his sharp attack on the anarchy he sees in the development of Web 2.0 will show no abatement at Online Educa 2007.
Andrew, however, has made it clear that he does not intend to use his Opening Plenary keynote address on Thursday, November 29, solely to attack Web 2.0 utopians. His main concern is to characterise some of his concepts for quality-driven Web development.
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