Research
ATC21S - Assessment and Teaching of 21st-Century Skills
The Assessment and Teaching of 21st-Century Skills (ATC21S) is a research project that proposes ways of assessing 21st-century skills and encourages teaching and adopting those skills in the classroom.
New Skills for New Jobs: Call for papers on Green Skills to be launched in September
The Cedefop-OECD Green Skills Forum 2012 we will be announcing its major theme, and calling for related papers, in early September.
The Cedefop-OECD Green Skills Forum 2012, to be held at OECD headquarters in Paris on 27 February 2012, will bring together an international forum of 70-80 researchers, government advisers and social partners who work on skills development and training needs for a sustainable future. They will gather the latest insights and identify tools and directions for further research.
The event aims at drawing on lessons from the work conducted by the OECD and Cedefop on the implications of a green economy for skills and training policies. These insights will contribute to the OECD’s Green Growth Strategy, and to Cedefop’s Green Skills activities, which contribute to the European Commission’s initiative on New Skills for New Jobs.
The deadline for submitting papers is early December 2011. Details will be given in September.
MINE - Research Studio "MicroLearning and Information Environments"
The Studio MicroLearning & Information Environments works on innovative systems that support efficient and effective learning. Learning and know how acquirement shall be adequate for everyday use and have a lasting effect. The focus is on the development of integrated microlearning, which offers a measurable improvement of the learning efficiency and know how output for persons and organizations through technologically.
CELSTEC annual report 2010
The mission of CELSTEC is to improve learning and knowledge handling at work, at school, at home and on the move by combining state-of-the-art knowledge in the Learning Sciences with the innovative powers of new Information and Communication Technologies. New technologies and approaches to learning are extensively tested in our laboratories and in practice. The core activities of CELSTEC are research, innovation, education and training.
'Education Europe': Investing today for growth tomorrow
The European Union has just proposed a multi-annual budget for 2014-2020. Responding to today's concerns and tomorrow's needs it focuses on priority funding at the EU level that provides true added value and includes more funds for Europe’s youth. In order to overcome the fragmentation of current instruments the Commission proposes to create an integrated programme of €15.2 billion for education, training and youth ('Education Europe'), with a clear focus on developing skills and mobility. The Commission's plans also include a new programme for the cultural and creative sector worth €1.6 billion ('Creative Europe').
A simplification of the current structure to one main programme is planned in order to avoid fragmentation, overlapping and/or proliferation of projects lacking the critical mass necessary to a lasting impact. The New Education Europe programme will include three key priorities.
Firstly, it will support trans-national learning mobility. Strict quality conditions for mobility, concentration on key policy objectives where critical mass can be achieved and complemented with other EU programmes will be instrumental in ensuring very high European added value.
Secondly, it will foster co-operation between education institutions and the world of work in order to promote the modernisation of education, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Thirdly, it will provide policy support to gather evidence on the effectiveness of education investments and help Member States to implement effective policies.
Funding through the new programme will be complemented by significant support for education and training through the Structural Funds. For example, in the period 2007-2013 around €72.5 billion is being spent on education and training across Europe's regions, and similar levels of spending can be expected in the future.
The Commission further proposes a common strategic framework in research and development, to be called Horizon 2020, which will have a volume €80 billion for the 2014-2020 period and include the Marie Curie actions for skills, training and career development of researchers and the European Institute for Innovation and Technology.
For more information on the Commission's proposal for a multi-annual budget for 2014-2020:
- The communication is available on the Multiannual Financial Framework website
- MEMO/11/468: Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF): Questions and answers
- MEMO/11/469: Money where it matters – how the EU budget delivers value to you
- MEMO/11/459: Myths about the EU budget and the Multiannual Financial Framework
- SPEECH/11/487: Remarks by President Barroso on the Commission's proposals for the 2014-2020 Multi-Annual Financial Framework
Implementing Digital Earth in education
The digital Earth vision has become reality in terms of technology, allowing for a multiplicity of research and communication applications at lay level. Education at schools therefore should provide reasonable means to acquire competences students can use to participate in society.
Enhancing Innovative Learning in Western Sweden: Gothenburg Region Joins iTEC Project
In June 2011, European Schoolnet’s iTEC project welcomed an important new Associate Partner, the Gothenburg Region Association of Local Authorities (GR). The new partnership aims to strengthen scenario building in Sweden as iTEC develops and validates scenarios for the future classroom in over 1000 classrooms across 15 countries in Europe.
Allocation of resources to lifelong learning is considered as one of the key areas within the Gothenburg Region Association of Local Authorities (GR), a co-operative organisation uniting thirteen municipalities in western Sweden. As one of the iTEC’s newest Associate Partners, GR provides iTEC with a solid base in Sweden and further extends the project’s pan-European scope. With the involvement of GR, iTEC will now be able to involve and work with schools in 15 countries.
The Gothenburg region includes 210,000 pupils, 20,000 teachers and 1000 school heads. GR Education, a service organisation within the regional body, plays an important role among these actors by supporting lifelong learning and providing a place for exchanging ideas, knowledge and experience. The association also runs several joint projects and collaborates with a large number of organisations outside the municipal sphere. For example, a new project called GUNS will establish cross-border cooperation between 9 Nordic schools and 18 school classes, who will jointly plan and carry out joint cross-border projects related to languages, science, history/social studies and mathematics supported by new technologies. GR Education will also organise a two-day “Mötesplats Skola” conference in October 2011 to present different regional initiatives in the field of education. iTEC will take part in one of the conference sessions called European perspective into school digitalisation.
GR’s concrete activities to support iTEC will be related mainly to future classroom scenario development and school piloting. So called “one-to-one” computer projects have a relatively strong presence within the region’s educational sector and schools involved in these initiatives will pilot and test some of the iTEC scenarios.
For more information: itec-contact@eun.org
Dundalk Institute of Technology Creative Media Research
Applied research is made possibly by a strong base of practical skills (in, for example, film production, drawing, graphic design, tangible interface design, media production, multimedia authoring, narrative writing or game design). The group is conducting a series of seminars, workshops and master-classes. They run every fortnight, since January 2010, with visiting speakers from industry and academic circles. To-date, the series has addressed the following areas: decision making and game theory, visual design, multimedia consultancy, graphic design, e-learning, and citizen democracy.
The Digging into Data Challenge has returned for a second round
What is the "challenge" ? The idea behind the Digging into Data Challenge is to address how "big data" changes the research landscape for the humanities and social sciences
During the first round, in 2009, nearly 90 international research teams competed in the challenge. Ultimately, eight remarkable projects were awarded grants.
Study on Knowledge Maturing in Europe
The MATURE Integrating Project is based on the concept of knowledge maturing (KM): goal-oriented learning on a collective level. The project investigates how KM takes place within and across organisations, what barriers are encountered and how socio-technical solutions overcome those barriers.