As e-learning technologies continue to rapidly evolve, institutions worldwide are faced with the challenge of how to manage content efficiently. One proven solution is EQUELLA, a digital repository that houses all your resources in one place.

Organisations from all sectors are working with EQUELLA to develop tailored digital repository systems which meet the needs of all its users.
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Students in Finland used virtual reality to walk inside the double helix of a DNA molecule. Pasi Vilpas, a biology teacher at the The Sotunki Distance Learning Centre in Vantaa, invited his pupils to enter the three-dimensional online virtual world of Second Life and walk and fly inside the crucial molecule.

In real life, DNA is threaded so finely that it can only be seen with an electron microscope. By using avatars, the digital players or characters of Second Life, students can explore the human genome by ‘flying’ into an apparently vast DNA molecule and ‘walking’ along a human gene. Pasi’s latest online virtual biological world will be showcased at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2011.
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What stimulates technological innovation?  The Canadian journalist Peter Nowak argues that most of the advances in technology that we enjoy today can be traced back to the industries that cater for our most basic instincts: military, porn, andfast food. The microwave oven, for example, is an adaptation of the radar developed for detecting bombers during World War II.

In this podcast interview with Dom Graveson, Peter Nowak shares some of the “I did not know that” moments he provides in his book "Sex, Bombs and Burgers".  And he explains how technology is driving the demand for 'entrepreneurial learning', the topic of his keynote speech at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2011.
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Online Educa Berlin and Towards Maturity have launched a new study that investigates technology-enhanced learning in organisations across Europe.
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elearningeuropa.info, the European reference portal for education and technology, launched its new user-centric platform in May 2011. New features include participatory tools such as blogs and communities as well as a video library.
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Out of a 2010 snow bound Online Educa Berlin, the hot topic of ‘learning cultures’ emerged and in 2011, this theme will be placed centre stage. Gone is the time for debating how learning cultures might change and why. Recognizing that we are now in an era of 21st Century learning should enable us to focus on how these new learning cultures can be effectively exploited and how formal educational structures, and those who work within them, can be helped to navigate their way towards full engagement.
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Snow and icy temperatures characterised the 16th ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN - but it still managed to spark an even hotter exchange of ideas indoors. A new paradigm of learning emerged during the sessions attended by a record number of 2197 participants from 108 countries: Leaders in business, education and research were urged to fundamentally change the learning culture of their organisations. It was felt that only an open climate that nurtures learning will enable companies, schools or institutions of higher education to adapt to the ever increasing dynamics of competitive global markets. New media and technologies will help to democratise and accelerate this process.
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Senior business managers don’t want learning. They want results. Business EDUCA explored ways of getting results through collaborative intelligence and learning. Organisations have changed their perspectives to use technology for learning. Some important perspectives emerged...
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As Wikileaks continued to release yet more confidential US Embassy cables, participants in ‘Security and Defence Learning 2010’ and a special plenary session of OEB were convinced that information and information systems will be the most important battlefields of the future.
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Game-based learning and virtual worlds were hot topics at OEB 2010. Rooms were packed with conference visitors. It was standing room only. The programme section covered 3D virtual world simulations at multinational businesses like IBM and Volvo and virtual police force training in Germany. There were simulations for students of law, economics, literary history and even wine management as well as serious games for secondary schools or for the disadvantaged.
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Nearly two hundred teachers and head teachers defied the cold and snow on December 1st, to gather in the Grand Pavilion of the InterContinental Hotel in Berlin and hear about rich learning environments.
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Whenever we ask participants at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN what made them attend the conference and what they like best about it, one of the most popular answers is ‘networking'.

Special interest lunches, speed networking or the Thursday Nightlife Party – this year’s OEB once more provides plenty of opportunities to expand your knowledge, exchange thoughts on inspiring sessions and make new contacts! Some people have even met their life partners here. Find out what could be in store for you.
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A delegation of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research as well as representatives from Cap Digital and the Caisse des Dépôts Group will be attending ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN next week. Key stakeholders in the area of education and ICT in France will contribute to a workshop on “E-Learning and Higher Education in France” on Friday chaired by Philippe Mero, CEO of Education Impact, an international Fellowship of Education Experts.
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How can audio podcasts help to improve the communicative and oral competence of students in multicultural and plurilingual settings? At the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, a team of experts carried out an investigation into ICTs in the classroom, involving teachers from elementary, primary, secondary and higher education. The aim was to design a typology of activities suitable for all educational levels. In this interview, OEB podcaster Dom Graveson talks to Mar Camacho from the project team about the challenges involved.
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The Technical University Dortmund is designing an e-learning programme for young people that works equally well for apprentices with disabilities. The plan will bring e-learning to apprentices with visual, cognitive, motor and auditory disabilities and others in vocational training in the transport and warehousing sectors of German industry. Barrier-free training will comply with German and international laws and standards. Björn Fisseler, TU Dortmund's project coordinator for ELoQ – the E-Learning-based Logistics Qualification, will explain at OEB how the team are handling this challenging project.
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ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN, the international hub for exchanging ideas and experiences on ICT supported education & training, is expecting over 2000 participants from a record number of nearly 100 countries. No other conference in this field covers such a wide spectrum. The wide range of topics for 2010 includes ICT education initiatives in the Middle East, developments in the “young e-learning countries” of Central and Eastern Europe and e-learning activities to improve teaching and learning in Africa.
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Five hundred medical students at Leeds University School of Medicine will be equipped with iPhones so that their skills can be assessed online. The large-scale project is one of several ePortfolio initiatives being presented at OEB 2010 by delegates from Germany, Italy, Finland and the United Kingdom.
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Helen Keegan, Senior Lecturer in Interactive Media at Salford University in England will report to OEB on how she teaches new media to her students using the mobile phones in their pockets to make short films. Accustomed to classic video-sharing web sites like YouTube, students collaborated to explore mobile film making and demonstrate their digital literacy.
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More than eighty-eight thousand employees work for E.ON, one of the world's largest investor-owned international power and gas companies, headquartered in Duesseldorf, Germany. For several years now, employees in various parts of the world have had access to virtual learning: Extensive content is available for self-study. How do staff take advantage of this material? Which topics are important enough to motivate employees to learn on their own? At OEB, Elisabeth Jaegle from E.ON will present the key findings of a recent study into the “soft factors” of e-learning in the workplace.
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Thomson Reuters is, by the company’s own definition, “the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals”. It was created when the Canadian Thomson Corporation purchased the news agency Reuters in 2008. In this environment, information and learning are in constant and rapid flux. Accordingly, the company has launched a major change programme for its training department now known as the Thomson Reuters Knowledge Network. “Learning at the speed of need” is the order of the day. OEB has asked ‘Knowledge Network Ambassador’ Joe Pokropski, Managing Director at Thomson Reuters Markets Division and keynote speaker at OEB, to explain the new concept.
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Lieutenant Tuck Pendleton, played heroically by Dennis Quaid in Joe Dante’s 1987 sci-fi blockbuster “Innerspace”, pilots a miniaturised team in an unforgettable adventure inside a human body. Two decades later, Jan Gejel of the Aarhus Social and Health Care College presents at OEB the BODYexplorer, a new web-based learning game for disadvantaged citizens that takes its players inside a human body to see for themselves the damage done by drug abuse, fast food, idleness and alcohol.
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High impact employee learning today is no longer determined by the availability of content – in fact, there is even too much content around. Instead it is defined by the “learning culture” of the organisation: the way managers and executives facilitate and support continuous learning. This is one of the findings that Josh Bersin, CEO and President of the research and advisory services of Bersin & Associates, will elaborate on in his keynote speech at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2010. In this interview, he talks to OEB podcaster Dom Graveson about management practices that create a culture of learning and high performance.
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Need to know how to engage students with your mobile strategy? Join Aaron Wasserman of Blackboard Mobile in one of the Friday plenary sessions at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2010, where he will focus on leading universities working on the edge of the mobile revolution and addressing the expectations that today’s students have. Aaron will highlight how a variety of universities all over the world are using mobile technologies to drive student engagement, enrolment and retention, getting better results from teaching and learning. Is he qualified to talk about this? We think so! As one of the Managing Partners of Terriblyclever Design the students (graduated 2010) who worked with Stanford University to build iStanford, a set of iPhone applications to support campus life, Aaron was instrumental in the creation of the iPhone and mobile Web applications for education that now form the basis of Blackboard’s new solution Blackboard Mobile.
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“The Daily What News” is Scotland’s – and the world’s - first online news service for schools. It is based on a daily live story output, around which students aged nine to sixteen, teachers and parents interact as part of the curriculum. Launched this autumn, the service represents one of the toughest content production challenges in online education. At OEB, the Editorial Director of the service, Stephen Haggard, will lead a hands-on Learning Café in which all the participants will do live co-creation of the actual articles and classroom materials that will be served the next day to Scotland’s schools. Here he describes the challenges.
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How can teachers tell in real-time how well their students follow and understand what they are being taught? The EduMECCA research team, a multinational EU-funded Lifelong Learning-ICT project, has developed a new open, web-based student response system for iPod Touch, iPhone and PC. Originally designed for vocational education of welders and welding engineers in Norway, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Sweden, the project has been extended – for example into high schools and higher education courses at the Sør-Trøndelag University College in Trondheim, Norway. At ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN, Gabrielle Hansen-Nygard and John Birger Stav of the College will present examples of the practical use of the student response system. Here, Lars Erik Skjærseth reports on how the students in Trondheim use the methodology in their maths lessons.
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Learning technology can make a significant difference in academic education, according to Dr Adrian Sannier, Vice President of Product at Pearson eCollege. At the University of Alabama, for example, success rates in maths have skyrocketed since they introduced “MyMathLab”, a series of interactive online courses: Previously, half their students failed, whereas now the pass rate is above 70 percent. In his keynote speech at OEB, Adrian Sannier will illustrate ways of harnessing the potential of ICT in academic education. One of the key factors is the idea of teaching and learning as a team sport.
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Creating content collaboratively is a crucial part of innovative learning. It offers significant opportunities for bringing together experts from various backgrounds in different geographical locations to exchange and create knowledge which can then be passed on to others. But what are the best ways to ensure that open content production works in practice? The Finnish national project “AVO” (Open Networks for Learning) asked a group of peers from educational institutions, businesses and public libraries to develop a guide on how to create Wikis (collaborative websites) for teaching and content production. Additionally, a face-to-face study circle plus an online Wikiversity course on how to compose open educational resources were offered. One of the lessons learned was that the creation process can produce high-quality results - but it requires strong coordination. At OEB, Project Manager Tiina Front-Tammivirta will give an insight into the challenges of open peer production – and how to meet them.
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Spies, rebel insurgents and war criminals have been discovered hacking into the sensitive databases of the world's humanitarian relief agencies. Geoffrey Okoa, Chief IT Security Officer of the World Food Programme, with personal experience of cyber attacks in Africa, will warn delegates at Security and Defence Learning, the international forum on security training at OEB 2010, which will take place in Berlin on December 1, that computer security for aid workers is a matter of life and death.
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Oxfam GB works in over 60 countries worldwide, tackling urgent humanitarian response and long term community development. Its geographic, operational and thematic scope means that the organisation deals with a true “alphabet soup” of government and institutional donors - EC, ECHO, WFP, UNDP, UNICEF, OCHA, OFDA, DFID, FCO, CIDA and SIDA, to name a few. The task is to deliver programmes for the donors while complying with complex grant rules under cost pressure. At OEB 2010, Cynan Houghton of Oxfam will illustrate how global online training has made a big difference.
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The two leading business consultants Jay Cross and Harold Jarche recently met up in Berlin, the vibrant and ever-changing hometown of Online Educa, but not just for the usual sightseeing. Accompanied by a video camera, they used this unique setting to discuss the crucial changes and latest trends in the world of corporate learning and training. Their conversation starts at the Berlin Stock Exchange, addressing the network era, and then moves on to the remains of the Berlin wall, where they discuss the need for freedom in training. Insights into “Personal Knowledge Management” are the focus of the conversation at the Berlin Pergamon Museum, which houses a world-renowned collection of ancient treasures. But Jay and Harold soon find themselves back in the future, at the modern Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz, where they explain the exciting concept behind their “unbook” entitled Working Smarter Fieldbook.
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Telefónica o2 Germany has tested virtual classroom sessions in its blended learning concept for sales and consulting staff. At ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2010, the company’s e-learning specialist Dr Gwendolin Rugen will share her experience.
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“I have never seen such powerful visualisation of a learning goal,” says Bert De Coutere, Business Area Manager at IBM Learning Development Europe, talking about one of the central elements in the brand new leadership training module. Participants will include emerging managers from around the world who want to learn how to leverage the potential of their teams without incurring huge travel expenses. In the 3D world of Second Life, they experience social challenges - as a female leader managing an all-male team, a gay consultant in a global role or a wheelchair-bound employee seeking a position as a sales rep. In the virtual world, participants are able to break down symbolic barriers. At OEB, Bert De Coutere will demonstrate the unparalleled immersive experience of the medium, and how it can act as a strong memory builder.
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Outstanding contributions by teachers, educational practitioners, game developers and producers to the quality of game-based learning will be recognised under the ENGAGE project at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2010.
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Back in 1992 the Boeing scientists Tom Caudell and David Mizell coined the phrase Augmented Reality to describe how aircraft assemblers in Seattle were given head-mounted displays that showed them photographic images of their work enriched with layers of technical information. Now Inge de Waard, e-learning coordinator and researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, will report to the ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN conference in December on how her team trialled Augmented Reality in tropical medicine. De Waard, a pioneer of e-learning projects in South Asia, Africa and Latin America, forecasts that “AR will reach us, and change all of us, within five years”.
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Electronic books are expected to replace traditional textbooks in universities in two to three years' time, according to the New Media Consortium's authoritative Horizon Report, a comprehensive annual study of developments in e-learning. At ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2010, Larry Johnson, CEO of the New Media Consortium, will discuss the very latest findings of the Horizon Report 2011, before the official release in January. The annual report is based on the views of hundreds of technology experts in education, museums, business and creative industries. Here, Larry Johnson takes a broader look at the technological trends in this field.
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Talal Abu-Ghazaleh is an extraordinary man, who has built a career as one of the Arab World’s most successful entrepreneurs in the face of adversity and despite overwhelming odds. Since 2009, he has been Chairman of UN GAID (the UN Global Alliance on ICT for Development), and he is passionate about his role in helping the world to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh will be a keynote speaker at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2010. He spoke to Harold Elletson about his life and ambitions.
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Skills are moving up the business agenda - business leaders across Europe flag that building skills and retaining knowledge is a critical component to business success over the next 10 years. But the squeeze is on. Employers of all sizes and in all sectors are demanding more for less from their learning and development: more results, more quality, more speed, more volume and more responsiveness, but with less time, fewer resources and less inconvenience. As a result, an increasing number are turning to technology to help them. Here, Laura Overton, managing director of the London-based learning technology analysts, Towards Maturity, elaborates on recent research into the impact of learning technologies at the workplace.
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The market for English Language Teaching aids is huge and growing rapidly. There are around one billion learners and eleven million teachers of English today. However, with the introduction of smart phones, ebook readers and tablet computer devices such as the iPad, learners’ expectations about how they access and use learning content have changed. But recent research by Caroline Moore, a digital language learning expert based in London, shows that the publishing sector has not implemented innovations accordingly. The traditional printed coursebook model could be outdated very quickly, Moore warns. Here, she gives an outlook on her OEB 2010 presentation on how content producers should investigate the needs of learners, teachers and institutions, consider the latest thinking in language learning methodology and develop new products and business models.
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For the first of this year's ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN podcasts we meet the British social and educational technologist Josie Fraser who will deliver a keynote speech in Friday’s plenary session.

In this interview, Josie tells us about her current work as ‘ICT Strategy Lead’ for one of England’s biggest and most cosmopolitan cities. She explores the connection of virtual communities to the real world and shares the sessions she is looking forward to at this year's OEB.
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In health care, adequate training of professional staff can literally be a matter of life and death. Students in this sector not only have to absorb extensive amounts of knowledge but they also need to be able to put theoretical knowledge into practice – quickly and correctly. At the University of Derby, UK, a team of lecturers and e-learning developers have used the small iPod Nano model to enhance the training of health care professionals and at the same time enable them to review important resources just when they need it most - within the work environment. At OEB, the team will share their experiences drawn from a study involving eighty students and nine hospitals within the British East Midlands.
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With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, such as user-created content or social networks, approaches to learning have changed radically – but methods of assessment have not. Today’s learners pick up information in online communities from their peers. They are encouraged to collaborate, share knowledge and work in teams but, rather than assessing these skills, most institutions still focus on what students memorise for traditional exams. At OEB 2010, two sessions organised by the European Commission will elaborate on more up-to-date assessment projects, giving participants the opportunity to discuss the potential of new technologies in this field.
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“The interruption of visual laziness” is how Marco Ricco describes the art work he produces in the city of Rome, Italy. “I want to communicate peacefully with the people of my community,” he says, as he explains the motive behind the colorful paitings that he draws on walls, old doors or other left-overs from urban community life. Young people from secondary schools in Europe can try out forms of street art in a virtual environment through ST.ART, a European project that brings street art into a virtual simulation. The initiators will present ST.ART at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN.
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“Learning must have personal meaning and it should be fun”, says Esko Lius, project coordinator of “New Ways of Experiential Learning in Virtual Learning Environments" at the Sotunki Distance Learning Centre in Finland. His institution has developed several learning modules in Second Life, such as biology, geography and literature. Moving classes to SL makes distance learning more attractive, more social and finally more effective, Lius is convinced. At ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN, the Finnish researcher will present a virtual learning path literary history.
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“Most organisations don’t understand the magnitude of change that e-learning is,” says Lance Dublin, the renowned US management consultant who draws on 30 years of experience in adult education, training and change management. Dublin has worked across a wide range of industries including financial services and insurance, technology and information services, pharmaceutical and health care, oil and gas, chemical, communications, hospitality and food services, and both the government and non-governmental agencies. At OEB, Dublin will host two pre-conference workshops exploring what is crucial to make new learning technologies work. Here, he points out common problems when introducing e-learning and explains how “third dimension learning” helped global companies, such as Google and Qualcomm, to solve their business problems.
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Leading experts from the worlds of security, defence and emergency services will ask participants at this year’s Security and Defence Learning conference at OEB to consider some fundamental questions about the nature of modern security and the training necessary to ensure it. How will conflicts in the future affect learning? What is the nature of modern conflict and how should we train for it? What should be the role of learning in conflict prevention, peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction?
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The digital education market is seeing dramatic changes, says Elmar Husmann, Public Policy Advisor at the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG). Social networks, increasing accessibility, as well as the advent of new devices, such as the iPad, will transform the market radically. But in order to leverage the potential of this industry, some of the ‘rules of the game’ will have to be aligned with European standards, Husmann argues. He will host a pre-conference workshop at OEB, entitled “The European Digital Education Agenda”. Here, he explains why regulation is the key to this process.
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One of the most charismatic research scientists of our time will be the inspiration at this year’s SCHOOL FORUM. For the first time, Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology and instigator of the famous “Hole in the Wall” experiment on self-organised learning in the slums of India, will deliver a keynote speech to teachers and principals in Germany. His “hands-off” method will be explained along with the “hands-on” approach of Russell Stannard, whose online videos on the use of Web 2.0 tools in teaching have helped to instruct educators all over the world.
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School curricula will soon become obsolete, says Charles Leadbeater, a leading expert on innovation and strategy and a keynote speaker at OEB 2010. He advocates “disruptive innovation” and radical transformation. In the digital age, students should be seen as “users” of education rather than “recipients” and teachers should, therefore, focus on skills, motivation and peer-to-peer learning, rather than on detailed educational programmes. The author and strategic adviser to corporations and governments is a senior associate of the London think tank Demos, where he explores the dynamics of innovation in various parts of the world. His most recent work includes a report on “Learning from the Extremes,” which highlights new approaches to learning in slums, favelas and other challenging living conditions, providing insights into how the developed world should reform its education systems.
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A call for papers has been issued for Security and Defence Learning 2010, the forum for discussion of key issues in technology-assisted learning for defence, security and emergency services. This year's event, will once again be hosted by The New Security Foundation and follows last year's successful and enjoyable conference. As an official pre-conference forum of ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN, it will be held in the InterContinental Hotel on December 1st.
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How does he manage all this? Bert de Coutere is not only responsible for the development of comprehensive e-learning games and applications; he also regularly attends and contributes to international and national conferences such as OEB, where he chaired the Battle of the Bloggers session in 2009. And beyond this, the highly engaged IBM Learning Development Europe Business Area Manager recently authored and published a book entitled Homo Competens. Let's Talk About Competent People in the Network Age, which is causing a sensation in the e-learning arena. Here he talks about what is needed to become a 'HoCo'.
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What a spectacle! The ONLINE EDUCA Debate was the setting for a clash between two intransigent and unapologetic opponents when the biologist-cum-psychologist, Dr Aric Sigman, went head to head with the unswerving champion of e-learning, Donald Clark, who was as entertaining as ever. The two were both “up for it”, well-researched, combative and determined to land a punch. Sigman’s negative view of the “anti-social web” was seconded by controversial right-wing British newspaper columnist, Bruce Anderson, whereas the Silicon Valley consultant and advocate of technology, Jerry Michalski, deftly supported Clark’s position. A post-debate vote was as close as a vote can get – another compliment to the main protagonists, who stoked up emotions, polarised opinion and did not give an inch.
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Neuroscientists are progressing rapidly in their research into areas highly relevant to education. Educators are eager to learn about their discoveries. Numerous teachers already use “brain-based” programmes in order to enhance learning. But can neuroscience really help to improve teaching? Experts at OEB 2009 called for caution.
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The philosophy at the Institute for Work Based Learning (IWBL) at the Middlesex University is not ’What can you do for us?’, but rather ‘What can we do for you?’ The Institute offers a myriad of highly customisable programmes specifically designed to provide opportunities for full-time workers who seek to build on their existing professional skills while developing new ones, in order to further their careers.
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Who is able to reflect the atmosphere, the hottest topics and the final outcome of a conference better than the participants themselves? We invited participants to share their personal OEB stories. From the feeling of being the very last presenter, to becoming aware of new responsibilities, to being blown away by overwhelming feedback, read on to get personal views on the largest e-learning conference in the world and discover the manifold opportunities OEB has to offer.
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The philosophy at the Institute for Work Based Learning (IWBL) at the Middlesex University is not ’What can you do for us?’, but rather ‘What can we do for you?’ The Institute offers a myriad of highly customisable programmes specifically designed to provide opportunities for full-time workers who seek to build on their existing professional skills while developing new ones, in order to further their careers.
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Building sustainable “strategic competence” into the DNA of a firm is what corporate learning should pursue, says strategy consultant Prof Roland Deiser. In his latest book Designing the Smart Organization: How Breakthrough Corporate Learning Initiatives Drive Strategic Change and Innovation, he describes how large-scale participatory learning can be put into practice by giving numerous examples from leading companies and organisations. ELIG has invited the renowned learning expert to contribute to its workshop on Wednesday, December 2nd at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN.
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ACS International Schools serve international and local communities from three sites in Greater London: Cobham, Egham and Hillingdon. The schools are co-educational and offer day and boarding education to pupils aged two to eighteen. They educate a multinational student body in accordance with American and internationally recognised educational principles and practices, such as the International Baccalaureate. ACS started the search for an online language-learning environment that would be accessible to pupils from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, as well as catering to different learning styles and ability levels. In 2006, the school’s management chose the Rosetta Stone Classroom language learning programme to integrate its large population of international students into the school environment.
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Starting university can be a daunting experience for new students. The first few days will provide many new experiences and raise a whole range of emotional responses – from excitement and anticipation to homesickness and loneliness. To help new undergraduates find their way, Gilly Salmon and Palitha Edirisingha, both professors of e-learning at the University of Leicester, launched a podcasting project in 2006. The project, entitled “Informal Mobile Podcasting And Learning Adaptation for Transition (IMPALA4T)”, developed a model for capturing undergraduates’ informal knowledge and experience (‘hot knowledge’) for podcasts. Now they present the results of their research.
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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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Every year, OEB provides a platform for a plethora of opinions on education and learning from speakers and participants, who engage in heated discussions on where we stand and what lies ahead. OEB introduced the “Battle of the Bloggers” last year as a forum for discussion of key issues raised at the conference. It continues this year and is an open summit of e-learning opinion leaders and experts. This highly interactive session not only provides a sophisticated overview of current controversies but also invites attendees to speak their mind and share their thoughts with the panel. Expect an intensive but open debate: Push your point of view; comment on other opinions; point to interesting research; get inspired – be part of the “Battle of the Bloggers”, one of OEB’s most vibrant sessions!
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Generations of medical students have prepared themselves for exams by reading mountains of books in dim light, accompanied by impersonal lectures and teaching done at patients’ bedsides. But the medical education landscape is changing rapidly as online and digital training devices are becoming increasingly popular. The advantages are clear: Students want to learn any place and anytime, which is only possible with highly flexible e-learning tools. At OEB 2009, the Dutch organisations SURFnet and Kennisnet will present two mobile-learning projects carried out in the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) using eBook readers and PDAs. Two further language and spatial mobile-learning projects will also be the subject of discussion. The audience is invited to react to statements about mobile learning through a mobile quiz.
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A large number of students study abroad in order to acquire international experience and increase their attractiveness for international companies. For example, in Europe the number of students studying abroad reached 515,400 in 2006, an increase of 57 per cent in eight years (EUROSTAT). When the students start their studies in a foreign country, they have to get to know the culture and educational context of the institute at which they will be studying. More and more academic institutions are assisting in the process of “acculturating” of foreign students by offering getting-acquainted courses, summer courses or preparatory courses. At OEB, Ria Jacobi from the Netherlands’ Leiden University will present a nationwide e-learning programme for international students.
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Dramatic actions such as saving workers from a blazing oil rig are all in a day’s work for Gilly Salmon. Only they take place online – in the virtual environment of ‘Second Life’. As a Professor of E-Learning and Learning Technologies at the University of Leicester in the UK, Salmon and her team create “academic learning futures“. In several talks and workshops at OEB, Salmon will discuss the latest trends in working with a new generation of learners, as well as how to vision future scenarios for higher education.
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A good balance between self-reliance and guidance; a strong emphasis on real life tasks, as well as peer-to-peer advisory meetings and a refined tracking system: these are the main columns of the large scale training module set up in Italy by the National Agency for the Support of School Autonomy in order to enhance teachers‘ ICT skills. Since 2001 the agency has managed to serve approximately 1,000,000 students with its platform ‘PuntoEdu’ and a comprehensive e-tutor system. OEB asked project managers Elena Mosa and Giusy Cannella to describe the logistical and didactical challenges that accompany such an enormous project.
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The use of applications such as Google Maps, Google Earth, and some of the applications for iPhone-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is commonplace nowadays. Nevertheless, the science of geomatics, a combination of geography and informatics, is still widely unknown, especially among young adults. For future developments, new minds are desperately needed. Dr Sylvie Daniel and Dr Thomas Michael Power at Laval University and Rob Harrap at Queen’s University in Canada, together with a dozen other colleagues, have set up GeoEduc3D, an international project whose primary goal is to raise awareness of geomatics among high school students. It involves the development of compelling computer games based on GIS technologies.
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Recorded in the run-up to OEB 2009 and during the conference itself, the podcasts will introduce you to some of this year’s speakers and allow you to hear from the experts themselves.

Subscribe to this podcast series and automatically receive the latest episodes.

Podcast 4 - Interview with Gilly Salmon: This podcast features keynote speaker Gilly Salmon from the University of Leicester, UK, highlighting the importance of envisaging the future direction of learning.
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An event that is both fun and practical, PechaKucha originated in Tokyo in 2003 as an innovative way for young designers to meet, network and show their work in public. It has developed into a massive celebration, with sessions taking place all over the world, inspiring creativity worldwide. This year, PechaKucha premieres at OEB.
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The European Learning Industry Group (ELIG) brings the debate on the role of knowledge and learning solutions in ensuring sustainable economic recovery to ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN in the form of a pre-conference workshop: "Moving beyond the Crisis Powered by Knowledge and Learning Solutions – What Is the NEXT Practice?”. This will be held on December 2nd, 2009 between 14:00 and 18:00.
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How can one reduce induction time and substantially lower attrition rates for new recruits? Home entertainment giant Sky found answers to these questions in its new e-learning programme "Get Up to Speed". The customised, on-the-job training portal, designed by Brightwave, helps new recruits to quickly orientate themselves in their still-unfamiliar working environment, thus leading to estimated annual savings of about £700,000. Kenny Henderson, Sky's Head of Talent Development Operations, will present the tool at OEB.
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Repercussions of the recent downturn in the financial sector have been felt heavily in the business world, but anyone with even a modicum of entrepreneurial acumen knows that out of something bad, something good can come. The current climate presents an opportunity to revamp corporate learning and training, swapping traditional and outdated strategies for fresh and innovative ones. What do work-based learning, cloud learning and blended learning entail, and how can they be adapted to suit different business structures? What benefits do open learning and distance learning offer businesses, and how can they be efficiently embedded? At this year’s ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN, questions such as these will be the focus of numerous sessions from expert-led discussions through to real-life case studies, providing a comprehensive theoretical and practical overview of the possibilities.
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The fight against illegal drugs is a high priority for governments and citizens of the EU. The frontline of this campaign involves officers of the EU Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD), who use intelligence, analysis, investigative and legal skills in their efforts to prevent the traffic in illegal drugs from violating EU borders. Caspian Learning has developed training simulations for custom officers that are now being deployed in 27 EU countries.
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Traditional language training at the workplace is “expensive and ineffective,” says Timothy Phillips, Managing Director of the Cologne-based company SKYLIGHT GmbH. Together with Henkel, the manufacturer of home-care brands and cosmetics with 52,000 employees worldwide, SKYLIGHT has developed a new blended methodology that makes language learning directly relevant to the business. At OEB, both companies will present the “Scenario Management System” before its official launch in January 2010.
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Businesses are facing many challenges in these times of economic uncertainty, when training budgets are tight and performance is increasingly crucial. How can ICT strategies be designed and implemented in order to enhance workplace performance without breaking the bank? Tarkan Maner, President and CEO of Wyse Technology Inc., discusses the nature of thin computing and his belief that it presents a highly customisable and cost-effective solution with significant advantages for the corporate sector.  
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The University of Vienna, the oldest university in the German-speaking world and one of the largest in Central Europe, has selected Fronter to provide its central Learning Management System (LMS). Fronter was chosen to replace the former provider after an extensive tender process and intensive testing. Since March 2009, Fronter has been functioning as the University’s e-learning platform. At OEB, Annabell Lorenz from the University of Vienna will talk about the challenges that came with such a large-scale implementation and give insights into how the changeover process took place.
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Computers and the Internet have arrived in European schools. Virtually all primary schools use computers for learning purposes, and some have even started to move away from dedicated computer labs to the use in class. But what motivates teachers to use technology in the classroom? Does it really affect children's learning? What are outstanding best practices? STEPS, a comparative study into the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary schools in the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, was undertaken to scrutinise the pedagogical use of technology in the classroom and its impact on learning.

Results will be presented – for the first time – at this year's OEB. The study is one of the activities encouraged by the European Commission as part of its Lifelong Learning Programme (LLL). In a full-day workshop and a conference session, Commission representatives will give an overview of the EC's key activities related to ICT for learning.
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Some of the biggest "names" in security training will be in Berlin on December 2nd for this year’s Security and Defence Learning, the annual forum at which the worlds of security and technology-assisted learning meet.
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France is a country known for its savoir-vivre, cuisine and couture – but what about e-learning and related IT innovations? At the “French Pavilion” and in a session dedicated to French e-learning providers and experts, OEB participants will have the opportunity to see original inventions such as the robot Nao, and learn about the latest e-learning trends in France.
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Sport plays a crucial social role in the integration of young people into society and now it is increasingly being used as an incentive to increase motivation for learning and training. At OEB, four fascinating e-learning projects that revolve around the world of sports will be presented. The first involves football stadiums, which serve as authentic working worlds to grab pupils’ attention and provide them with orientation for their own career choices. The second is Playing for Success, a UK project that successfully attracts young people by offering the opportunity to learn in sports venues rather than in the classroom. Next is the PC learning game Champions for South Africa, in which pupils experience the “Rainbow Nation” during the upcoming World Cup from the perspective of street kids. And finally, participants will be able to discover how video annotations improve the training of table tennis coaches and referees.
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Even Homer Simpson can help to make technology more accessible. At least, that is the view of one of the keynote speakers at this year’s OEB. ”I have always worked towards empowering people to speak for themselves“ says Dr Lizbeth Goodman, Chair of Creative Technology Innovation at the University of East London and Director of Research for Futurelab Education. And even Homer Simpson, the crude and boorish character from TV’s ‘The Simpsons’, can be put to good use by lending his voice to someone who otherwise could not speak.
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Transforming “Flatland” into an immersive 3D Learning World is the mission of Tony O´Driscoll, virtual worlds expert and Professor of the Practice at Duke University´s Fuqua School of Business. He is profoundly convinced that the demands of globalisation and a new working world with anytime, anyplace work also need an anytime, anyplace educational parallel.
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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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In 2005, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) piloted a bespoke ePortfolio to support the training of 410 of the country’s junior doctors. Following its successful introduction, the system has rapidly grown and now supports over 35,000 trainees in medicine and the health professions across the UK. Since its inception, the ePortfolio has helped assure and improve the quality of medical education and training, which is vital for the trainees, their supervisors, and, ultimately, for the patients. At OEB 2009, NES ePortfolio Project manager Alex Haig will share the lessons he learned during the process of moving from a small-scale pilot to nationwide implementation.
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Recorded in the run-up to OEB 2009 and during the conference itself, the podcasts will introduce you to some of this year’s speakers and allow you to hear from the experts themselves.

Subscribe to this podcast series and automatically receive the latest episodes.

Podcast 1 - Interview with Jerry Michalski: The OEB keynote speaker talks about online communities and the social web, and their effect on the relationship between companies and consumers.
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Senior figures from the Swiss Police, Interpol, the Scottish Police, NATO and the UK Emergency Planning College will join other world’s leading experts of security training in Berlin on December 2nd for this year’s Security and Defence Learning Forum 2009, the fifth International Conference on Technology Assisted Learning for Security, Defence and Emergency Services.
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British academic Russell Stannard, an expert on ICT and language teaching, has produced an extensive range of online videos that demonstrate how to apply technology in teaching. He began by making screen casts with Camtasia of himself using a variety of the most common Web 2.0 tools. These videos became so popular that he launched them on his domain www.teachertrainingvideos.com. Stannard’s videos have proved to be not only very popular with teachers, but have also had an impact on the number of students applying for his courses.
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As a country dominated by space and renowned for its self-sufficiency, distance education has been part of Australia’s educational landscape for a long time. But does it necessarily mean that the nation is also at the forefront of e-learning development? Marc Niemes, founding president of the eLearning Industry Association of Victoria, talks about where Australia and other countries stand in the field of e-learning today, as well as trends in ICT.
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Sixteen years old and having failed at school, Zenna Atkins launched her first social enterprise. She aspired to help people who appeared to share her fate: a dismal future due to a lack of academic qualifications. Today she leads the UK’s school inspection, Ofsted, successfully runs her own company, and is engaged in a wide range of social welfare activities. Read on to discover what Zenna Atkins thinks about the current and future state of the education system and her views on how technology and e-learning can play a role in making things better.
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Is education – in a more classical sense, or “Bildung”, as the Germans say, – in danger of falling by the wayside in the digital age? Or is it possible to provide a personal learning environment that really serves a holistic, individual and lifelong learning experience? What could be done to encourage students to reflect on their own online-learning process? Frances Bell, Griff Richards and Per Skafte Hansen explore these questions from very different angles in the “Thinking About Learning” session at OEB 2009.
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California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has launched an initiative to ban textbooks from high school classrooms and replace them with digital material. Traditional books are too expensive, antiquated and so heavy that the former bodybuilder and actor (‘The Terminator’) joked in June that he “could use them for biceps curls”. His state initiative is the first of its kind in the US, but it highlights the trend for more and more US schools and universities to go online, according to Dr Bob Barrett, a professor at the School of Business at the American Public University. He will give a presentation at the OEB 2009.
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World-class experts will outline their ideas on the current state and future of e-learning in plenaries at OEB. Their presentations promise to be inspiring, provocative and full of food for thought. At the premiere of the "ONLINE EDUCA Debate", speakers will examine the pros and cons of new technologies and the social web - join us and vote for the most convincing case!
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As Head of E-Learning and Knowledge Management at the German supermarket chain real,- SB-Warenhaus GmbH, Olaf Bursian is responsible for implementing an e-learning project for 50,000 employees in more than 280 locations. In a pre-conference workshop, Bursian will share his experiences, present best practice cases and show how the difficulties of implementing e-learning in retail can be overcome.
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Martin Dougiamas, best known for being “the guy who started Moodle”, understands better than most the challenges and opportunities associated with distance learning. Growing up in the remote Australian desert meant that Martin was educated via “The School of the Air”, being guided by a teacher 600 miles away. Nowadays, such learning is not unusual and Moodle is one of the latest software platforms that encourages self-learning and online community-learning. Dougiamas will participate in a pre-conference workshop and deliver a keynote speech at OEB 2009. In the following interview, he talks about the expansion and future of Moodle.
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New Security Learning, a new magazine for trainers and planners in security, defence and emergency services will be launched later this year. It will be distributed to key decision-makers and planners in many different countries and selected articles will also be available online.
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Building the school of the future: With the new School Forum – the Berlin Forum on Technology and Learning Trends for Schools, OEB aims to create a central meeting point for teachers and headteachers interested in qualified and exciting e-learning projects. By gaining insights from renowned experts, as well as inspiring and sharing knowledge with each other, educators can broaden their horizons and explore new ways of successfully employing e-learning in the classroom. Many hands-on activities will help them to personally explore “how it really works”. OEB project leader Annemieke Akkermans says that “with the new School Forum which offers intense and attractive training possibilities for teachers, OEB wants to reach out to those responsible for our children's education.”
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Reflecting and emphasising the theme of OEB 2009, this year’s conference will see the introduction of three exciting and fresh formats. The new elements are designed to enhance knowledge transfer between experts and participants, as well as to promote collaborative learning.
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It was in 1959 when Peter F. Drucker, the “man who invented management”, coined the term “knowledge worker” in his groundbreaking publication Landmarks of Tomorrow. OEB is delighted to be a partner of the Peter Drucker Society of Austria and proud to announce that on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Drucker’s birth, a high-class international panel made up of the world’s leading management thinkers, practitioners and executives will convene in Vienna to review Drucker’s ideas. Several OEB stakeholders, such as the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and Emerald Group Publishing Limited, will help this landmark event to become a catalyst for innovative approaches to learning, training and management ethics.
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“Share, learn and grow” is the motto that drives her forward, says Laura Overton, Managing Director at Towards Maturity and our latest member of the ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN Steering Committee. In her work, Overton applies her motto daily: The main task of her London-based not-for-profit organisation is to share successful implementations of e-learning at work. And in doing so, it helps companies grow “into maturity”.
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“The other 21st century learners” was an issue discussed in a session about Baby Boomers at OEB 2008 – it was considered a “natural” addition to the Generation Y focus of this year’s conference. Many diverse aspects were touched upon by the presenters, ranging from learning-needs assessments for seniors to intergenerational aspects of learning to potential improvement of workers aged over 45.
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