 |
|
|||
|
|
News and Background Information on the Conference | |||
|
 Access to the educational system needs to be made easier and more attractive, if participation in higher education throughout Europe should rise considerably, claims Ben Janssen, Secretary to the Dutch National Initiative “Long Live Learning!” At Online Educa Berlin 2007, Ben will discuss “The Role of Technology in Supporting Cradle-to-Grave Learning” in his keynote speech.  Environment protection and conservation is a global matter. However, knowledge management in this area is still in its infancy when it comes to internationally standardised learning opportunites. In collaboration with the e-learning consultancy common sense, the United Nations Environment Programme developed and implemented MENTOR, a web-based learning platform. Arndt Bubenzer from common sense provides insight into the concept and practical use of MENTOR in the field of environmental education.  Eedo Knowledgeware is a rapidly growing learning software supplier. They provide flexible solutions for global organisations and companies worldwide to manage knowledge transfer across their organisations. Eedo representatives will feature with two recent case studies in this year’s Online Educa Berlin programme. We have asked John Hudson, Eedo Knowledgeware President and CEO, what current trends he sees in corporate training.  Combining work and family is one of the biggest challenges of our time and not only for an “e-worker” like Patricia Ceysens, Flemish Minister for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade, Belgium. The challenges can be met with the efficient use of technologies, says Ceysens, who will hold a keynote in the Opening Plenary of this year’s Online Educa Berlin. Governments and political leaders like herself are challenged to lay the groundwork for ICT literacy and quality education…  For Welten, market leader in offering interim professionals for banks and insurance companies in the Netherlands, traditional in-service training - although highly valued - appeared not to be enough to provide optimal service. To foster knowledge sharing and ubiquitous learning the company decided to build its own Wiki. Welten was supported in this project by Online Training Experts from Andriessen en Partners. Paul Westeneng will talk about the Wiki Welten at Online Educa Berlin...  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.  Helping teachers to become democratic leaders with a strong presence in the classroom - whether physical or virtual - is the main aim of Ingemar Svensson, project manager at the Swedish Agency for Flexible Learning. He will give further insight into the work of his institution in the session “Teacher Training and the Use of ICT” on Thursday, November 29.  Exploring the unmapped terrain between human and machine learning has been the main interest of Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University in the UK. He is also Chief Scientist Emeritus with NIIT Limited, India, one of the largest private educational institutions in the world. Sugata Mitra has become internationally known for his “Hole in the Wall” experiment, which he started in New Delhi in 1999. Prof. Sugata Mitra will be a keynote speaker at Online Educa Berlin 2007 in Berlin. The OEB Press Team asked him about his current investigations. |
|||
