I Like to Learn… I Learn to Learn… eLene2learn
3rd Newsletter – Growing and Spreading
During the first half of its lifetime, the eLene2learn project has successfully built an active social/professional network of teachers, pupils, students, researchers and decision makers representing countries from across the EU. This multi-stakeholder community has been exchanging and discussing their experiences and experimental or already successfully implemented practices since the early stages of the project, exploring and promoting the contribution of ICT and digital media in supporting the development of learning to learn competencies in lifelong learning transitions (moving from secondary school to university, entering employment, moving back into training or education to re-skill or upgrade competencies).
‘How to’ guides
Through 32 national Focus Group activities organised in 8 countries and two international hybrid workshops (combined with online webinars) held in Porto in June 2012 and Leuven in October 2012, the partnership managed to collect many interesting practices, tools and methodologies in the application of ICT to develop learning to learn competencies. A total of 43 cases from different countries were described in detail and entered into the so-called “How to” guide for teachers in Secondary and Higher Education. From these cases they can learn how to integrate various ICT tools into their teaching with very concrete examples of activities for their pupils/students, which will support learning to learn competencies.
The “How to” guide is available both as pdf document (to download) and in online version on the eLene2learn portal. A navigation menu allows the users to browse the cases per competencies and tag clouds make it easy to see what kind of resources users can find there. The project hopes to collect more interesting cases during the next couple of months, so the current database is only a starting point: please let us know if you would like your case to be added to the collection.
Welcome to the world of different educational tools
In the frames of a well structured and coordinated collaboration the eLene2learn partners are doing their best to increase the diversity and strengthen the value and applicability of their implementation cases to the other countries involved. To highlight one specific example, this year our Greek partner, Ellinogermaniki Agogi (EA) decided to forget for a while the traditional and conventional way of teaching and learning and use different educational tools such as social media or digital ones. Let us ask you the questions they asked themselves before having come to this decision.
- Have you ever thought of helping younger students reach the point of being a post proficiency student?
- Have you ever thought of creating a blog where many useful pieces of advice regarding learning could be uploaded?
- Can you imagine yourself being able to create confidence and independence to younger students?
- Would you be able and willing to create a blog area to host videos, activities, links, solutions to problems arising during the learning process?
- Can you see yourself being able to create a sense of peer support?
- Can videos, games and activities become part and parcel of our learning process?
EA came up with nice ideas and decided to create a blog and a group in Scoop.com, which tools/solutions address both students and their teachers. They are still working on new ideas and have a long way to go but teachers and students alike feel that ICT tools are there to stay as integral part of learning and teaching.
Don’t miss our third workshop in June 2013!
 By now already 2 successful eLene2learn hybrid workshops have been organised (the first one in the frame of the EDEN 2012 Annual Conference, the second in Leuven at the 7th EDEN Research Workshop), so we have sufficient experience and a returning participant base to deliver another interactive workshop not only useful and inspirational for our stakeholders but also engaging and fun.
On the 15th of June at 9:15AM CET (in Session G4) we will bring together, once again, some of the conference delegates attending the EDEN 2013 Annual Conference in Oslo and a group of online participants and involve them in a lively guided discussion. To warm up and break the ice, the project approach and its results will be presented, including national pilot implementations with direct contributions of teachers. After the implementation presentations smaller working groups of the participants will select 2 or 3 tool (from videos, Scoop.it, Google Docs, Del.icio.us and blogs) that they will collectively discuss and analyse. The preparatory work for this has already begun, if you wish to contribute to the list of advantages, disadvantages and ways of ICT usage (that we will discuss in Oslo), please fill in this form.
In the second part of the workshop a blank SWOT matrix will be presented in both the conference room and on the online platform of the webinar and with the use of “coloured post-its” the participants can map the particular strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the 5 investigated tools. The discussion will remain open online after the workshop.
Would you wish to participate the webinar, please join our Facebook group and add the event to your calendar. News about the workshop and its activities will also be posted on the project website. The Adobe Connect room where the webinar will be held is at:
http://conference.metid.polimi.it/eleneroom/
.
eLene2learn Transnational Workshop
Before the end of 2013 there will be another, unique opportunity to catch up with us, this time in Budapest at a special Transnational Workshop, organised by EDEN on 19-21 October 2013 (if you cannot attend in person you can still join us online). This special event, with a particular focus on the implications for secondary education, will bring together participants from several Member States to exchange ideas and experience relating to the approaches they are implementing or planning to implement, based on experiences in 3 selected ICT areas: (A) social networks, (B) digital media, serious games and virtual worlds and (C) ePortfolios and blogs. eLene2learn, as one of the event’s major hosts, is going to cover the organisational costs, so there will be no registration fee to attend this gathering, but as an effect the places will be limited, so make sure you secure your registration as soon as you can – keep an eye on the project portal and our Facebook group for further information.
Meet the person behind the username
The eLene2learn consortium has a very strong intention to remain in every user’s eyes a group of dedicated flesh and blood individuals. In every newsletter, a core partner will introduce themselves and their research interest as well as their tasks within the project. In this newsletter we would like to introduce to you Alessandra Tomasini from METID – Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
 Alessandra Tomasini graduated in Biological Sciences in March 2004 at the University of Genoa. She has worked as a researcher for the NURC (NATO Undersea Research Centre) of La Spezia and as a trainer for several environmental groups involved in nature conservation and scientific spreading as WWF, CTS and the Museum of Natural History in Milan. She collaborates with METID, the Politecnico di Milano Service devoted to design, development and delivery of e-Learning and e-Collaboration services, since 2007. She works as project manager of national and international training and research projects on innovative didactics exploring of new technologies to support teaching and online collaboration.
In eLene2learn her responsibilities include – after the finalisation of the practice exchange activities – the coordination of Work Group B (digital media, serious games and virtual worlds) during the implementation. Alessandra and her colleagues at METID also take care of the administration and maintenance of the eLene2learn web portal and play a major role in dissemination activities.
Keep in touch and help to extend the network
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your colleagues and encourage them to visit the keep an eye on the project portal and/or join the eLene2learn Facebook group. With questions and enquiries, please contact:
Coordinator: METID – Politecnico di Milano, IT (alessandra.tomasini@REMOVEpolimi.it)
Partners: Université de Lorraine, FR; European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN), UK; ZMML, Universität Bremen, DE; Ellinogermaniki Agogi, GR; Fundació per a la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, ES; University of Helsinki, FI; Maria Curie Sklodowska University – University Centre for Distance Learning, PL; University of Dundee, UK
You receive this newsletter as a service of the EDEN e-mail list. EDEN is a contributing partner in the eLene2learn project, that is co-funded by the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission
(Project No: 519212-LLP-1-2011-1-IT-KA3-KA3NW)
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
|
