entrepreneurship
eLearning Africa 2013 programme revealed
Sharing the best practices of sustainable classroom computing: join experts from Zambia, Lesotho and the UK in the eLearning Africa interactive session chaired by Dell's David Angwin http://bit.ly/10kBPJj.
To know the whole programme, please visit the following address: http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_table.php
Notes for editors
eLearning Africa, 8th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training
May 29 - 31, 2013
Safari Conference Centre, Windhoek, Namibia
Organisers: ICWE GmbH (www.icwe.net), Government of the Republic of Namibia
Contact
ICWE GmbH, Ms Rebecca Stromeyer
info@elearning-africa.com, www.eLearning-africa.com, Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 18 18-0
The eLearning Africa Team
eLearning Africa 2013 - Innovation or Sustainability: the Choice for African Education
Four controversial experts will take part in "a bare-knuckle fight" about priorities for African education at this year's eLearning Africa Debate. Outspoken Scottish entrepreneur and blogger Donald Clark and Namibian teacher and eLearning expert Maggy Beukes-Amiss will square up to "mobile technology crusader" Adele Botha and Angelo Gitonga of the ICT for Education Unit of Kenya's Ministry for Education at the annual war of words. They'll be arguing about whether too much attention has been paid to innovation in education and not enough to sustainability.
"It's a big issue and there'll be a bare-knuckle fight," says Harold Elletson, who will chair the debate alongside Honourable Silvia Makgone, Deputy Minister of Education, Namibia. According to Dr Elletson, "Some people think that the focus on innovation and technology has just persuaded governments and consumers to invest in equipment that soon becomes redundant. They say that the priority should be to support projects that are sustainable. Other people argue that innovation is vital to Africa's competitiveness and future economic growth. They say that it should be at the heart of the education system."
The eLearning Africa Debate has become the highlight of the eLearning Africa conference, an annual gathering of experts and decision-makers from all over Africa and beyond. Traditionally one of the liveliest and best attended events at the conference, this year's debate is likely to stir up real controversy.
"It's an issue which affects everyone and on which everyone has an opinion," says Dr Elletson. "The debate is an opportunity for conference participants to say what they think about one of the most important issues for the future of education in Africa."
The motion for debate, which will be put to a vote, is "This house believes that sustainability is more important than innovation for education in Africa". The debate will be held at the Safari Conference Centre in Windhoek, Namibia. All conference participants are welcome to attend and to take part in what promises to be a tense and exciting climax to a fascinating conference.
Information on the debate can be found at http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_debate.php, and the full conference programme can be found at http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_table.php%20.
Notes for editors
eLearning Africa, 8th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training
May 29 - 31, 2013
Safari Conference Centre, Windhoek, Namibia
Organisers: ICWE GmbH (www.icwe.net), Government of the Republic of Namibia
Contact
ICWE GmbH, Ms Rebecca Stromeyer
info@elearning-africa.com, www.eLearning-africa.com, Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 18 18-0
Game Based Learning MOOC. Promoting Entrepreneurship Education
Promoting entrepreneurship could help society overcome the crisis. At the same time, MOOCs could allow a large number of participants to enrol in entrepreneurship education.
This case study introduces the Introduction to Entrepreneurship MOOC, which takes advantage of Game Based Learning for developing entrepreneurship through an active based methodology in a MOOC open to anyone, anywhere.
unX: Learning Network for Ibero-American Entrepreneurs
unX is the first Ibero-American community that offers collaborative and open learning to digital entrepreneurs. Through unX, entrepreneurs can access MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) relevant to their career needs.
Stimulating Entrepreneurship through Serious Games
Stimulating innovative and entrepreneurial mindsets of students, in particular, but not exclusively, for the set-up of new micro-companies, is a major concern of the EU educational policies in order to enhance the EU competiveness, above all in the field of new technologies.
he goal of eSG is to develop, deploy and assess experimental pedagogical plans based on appealing and instructive SGs for stimulating entrepreneurship in university students (a short course will be implemented for all the 3 levels: Bachelor, Master, PhD), with an aim to reduce the gaps among education, research and innovation. An online planning tool will also be developed. The project is highly innovative because it brings to the Higher Education (HE) sector (also through teacher training) the results of ongoing research on SGs, in particular through GaLA, which acts as a hub at EU level.
On the other hand, the outcomes from the eSG’s extensive deployment – the first one of this type in EU, to the best of our knowledge – will provide precious experimental information to researchers, that lack real data on using SGs in real HE settings. Moreover, innovation is guaranteed by the focus on new technologies and entrepreneurship, so that students are stimulated and given competences/skills, in order to apply in the real world of business the innovative knowledge they are gaining in university studies.
European Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations Awards
The European Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations Awards are primarily inspiring initiatives that promote active ageing and solidarity between generations.
Please read the general and the specific rules for each category below. Entries will only be accepted if submitted using the online entry form by the deadline set for each category (see table above).
For more information about the generations@school competition and the Life Story Challenge go to http://www.historypin.com/gats/en/page/generations-school-project-contribute-content and http://www.lifestory-historypin.com.
Workplaces for all Ages awards – Specific rules and information
Social Entrepreneurs awards – Specific rules and information
Journalists awards – Specific rules and information
Towards Age-Friendly Environments awards – Specific rules and information
EIT ICT Labs Master School: apply online!
The KIC launched the Master School's website where you can find all information about the various choices of our Master's programmes in ICT Innovation that are offered in different combinations at almost 20 universities in Europe.
In the fall of 2012 EIT ICT Labs Master School will be able to welcome its first students (approximately 200).
Visit the website to also find out more about how it combines a technical major and a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, providing graduates with double degrees and a special EIT and EIT ICT Labs certificate.
Students who will take the chance and fullfill the programme will gain a fantastic network of exclusive contacts with leading research and business organisations and fellow students all over Europe.
Tuition fee waivers and scholarships
For the most highly ranked admitted students (as a minimum 30%), we will provide fee waivers. EIT ICT Labs has also reserved funding for scholarships covering personal expenses on the level of 9000 Euro per year and student, however a formal decision by the European Commission is pending in this matter.
The application period opens on January 1 and closes on February 15.
European Institute of Innovation and Technology to create more innovation hubs
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is to significantly step up its efforts to drive innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU with the creation of six new cross-border innovation hubs, known as Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), in 2014-2020.
The European Commission has allocated a budget of €2.8 billion in the next financial framework to enable the EIT to expand and consolidate the development of its existing KICs which focus on climate change, sustainable energy and ICT.
"The new package we are proposing for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology is great news for European business, research and academia. We are investing in creating the entrepreneurs of tomorrow and strengthening the innovation capacity of the EU so that we remain a match for the world's best," said Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
The Commission also adopted a proposal for the EIT 'Strategic Innovation Agenda', which defines the framework for the Institute's operations in the years to come. The Commission expects it to provide an impetus for creating up to 600 start-up companies and for training 25 000 students and 10 000 PhDs in new curricula combining excellent science with a strong entrepreneurship component.
European Commission will propose Erasmus for All and Creative Europe programmes on the 24 November
On Thursday 24 November, the European Commission will announce its detailed proposal for 'Erasmus for All', the new programme for education, training, youth and sport, and 'Creative Europe', the new programme for the cultural and creative sector.
Both programmes are part of the Commission's proposal for a multi-annual budget for 2014-2020.
The new programme for education, training and youth would allocate €19.5 billion (+ 70%) over seven years; the increase underlines the priority given to investing in knowledge and skills to support job creation and growth in Europe. The programme would ensure that more people benefit from EU grants to study or train abroad; it would also promote cooperation between governments, educational institutions, businesses and other partners, to support the policy reforms needed to modernise education systems and promote innovation, entrepreneurship and employability.
The 'Creative Europe' programme will bring the current Culture, MEDIA 2007 and MEDIA Mundus programmes together under a common framework which will support the cultural and creative sectors with a budget of €1.8 billion (+37%). The focus will be on helping cultural and audiovisual professionals to safeguard and promote cultural and linguistic diversity by making the most of the Single Market and reaching new audiences in Europe and beyond, as well as contributing to the Europe 2020 objectives for jobs and sustainable growth.