ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2009

Exemplary instructional design strategies, including gaming and informal learning approaches. The use of multi-user virtual environments (MUVES), including 3-D MUVES and simulations in learning contexts. Docugames (documentary resources turned into games) and learning. Narrative and the role of storytelling in teaching and learning. Advances in learning and curriculum design aiming at really engaging students regardless of location or background. Strategies and experiences of dealing with multiple languages in cross-border learning provisions as well as strategies to improve access for the disabled and hard-to-reach. Tools and applications that facilitate innovative learning design, including the latest developments in authoring tools. Innovation in specific sectors, including computer-assisted language learning (CALL), inter-generational learning and initiatives aimed at disadvantaged groups. Designing learning in synthetic worlds, as well as the loss and gain of identity – digital and virtual identity – and the impact that identity, including multiple identities, can have on learning. Enhancements in learner profiling made possible through digital behaviour and existence in digital environments and communities. Given the level of maturity of online environments for learning, how valid is asynchronous learning and how does it blend with synchronous virtual classroom and video tools?

The way that people actually learn has been engaging scientists and practitioners for many years based on a belief that if we understood the learning process better from a neurological point of view, we could in fact improve the way in which people learn. Given the degree to which brain science is advancing along with tools to measure brain activity, a question emerges: Can neurobiology assist in designing better learning? What do you believe to be the link between brain function and educational practice? And does the use of ICT-supported tools play a role in this discussion? What do you think about Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)? Does it provide us with a set of insights and skills that people who are engaged in teaching and learning can and should use to improve their offerings, or is it rather a dangerous trend with little relevance to the way we learn? Game developers are increasingly engaged in assessing the degree to which multiple media inputs affect performance. Is this an important field of science for the e-learning sector?

Many believe that the current economic crisis provides the e-learning community with a unique opportunity to show just how effective technology-supported learning can be in providing great learning opportunities in a cost-effective manner. How is your organisation managing its e-learning offer in a climate with fewer resources? What are the real cost-benefits that can be accrued in using technology to take the strain off of traditional training? Can you really assess return-on-investment (ROI) and impact? Does the economic downturn offer a good opportunity for innovative learning models? What impact does the credit crunch have on outsourcing and competition? What are the priorities for short- to medium-term investments and is there a future for large-scale, institution-wide systems? Can e-learning be used to update skills in a time of increased unemployment? What are the skills that will be required and what experiences do government agencies have in providing re-skilling and re-training opportunities supported by ICT? What impact will a pan-European recession have on public sector spending and, consequently, on education and training? What are the investment priorities for large institutions in terms of online learning? Have we seen the end of increasing budgets? To what extent can e-learning increase productivity and support necessary change? What will be the impact on the educational systems of the developing world? Is “brain drain” set to increase or can ICT be used to support education and training in the developing world despite dwindling resources?

Highlighting developments in tools and applications, including Web 3.0. This includes the way in which alternative interfaces can and will be used, including those in computer games like Wii and other orientation-sensitive interfaces. Could such interfaces support contextualised control, resulting in significant increases in understanding and retention? Affective computing, wearable computing, mobile computing and haptics, multi-sensory input devices: Is there a future for these? Cloud computing is starting to have a huge impact: Is your organisation developing or using cloud computing to support learning? Is cloud computing the answer to expensive installations in a time of financial crisis for cash-strapped organisations? What about multi-user tabletop computers, netbooks, roomware and ubiquitous computing: Are we moving from smart boxes to smart worlds in a far more radically connected environment than ever before? Devices and applications to support recommending, reusing and responding, including the latest innovations in response systems. What about image and gesture recognition? Location-based learning and location-based augmented reality for learning and enhancing the learning experience, including virtual field trips, virtual museums and virtual laboratories. Developments related to personalisation, including adaptive and intuitive systems. The latest developments in semantic tools and data intelligence as well as platforms and environments. Educational mash-ups: How do commercial vendors react to the demand for integration of these in their systems? How about the use of intelligent agents in e-learning applications: Can agents take over the task of harvesting and gathering content and applications and delivering them as a dynamic personal mix adapted for the learner?

What shape will learning take in the future and what organisational learning models work best to support learners in a networked world? How effective is scenario planning as a tool to help predict the future? Future-proofing for teachers, managers, administrators, training and education service providers: What have we learnt from several decades of innovation, where have all the good ideas gone and are we in danger of rehashing old and often failed approaches in our search for new solutions? Innovative and creative forms of teaching to ensure inclusivity, bringing in not only the digital natives but also those who are educationally disadvantaged. What can we do to make education better, cheaper and more accessible in the future? What about the school of the future: How can ICT be used to support key skills like critical thinking, creative problem solving, communications, collaboration and cross-cultural relationship building? Innovations and advances in pre-service and in-service teacher training. Can online learning be used to reduce everyone’s carbon footprint and to improve the sustainability of traditional teaching and learning institutions by reducing energy consumption along with improved educational opportunities? In universities, what is the best way to build an effective and competitive online learning capacity, at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, to meet the changing needs of students and to stimulate growth in both the higher education and skills sectors? What role does ICT play in smoothing the transition from secondary school to college, from university to work, from organised learning to informal learning?

What impact are open source strategies having on the viability and sustainability of online learning services? The latest developments in commercially available platforms: What is the best mix for the workplace, the classroom, the lecture theatre? What functionalities do learners really need and what business models are most appropriate in the current climate? The take-up of Moodle and developments within the Moodle community: Is Open Source the answer to an institution’s online learning needs in a time of recession? What impact is increased convergence having on the sector? What changes do training providers and educational institutions need to make to their purchasing and other policies to take into account open and free service offers? Standardisation, international collaboration and large-scale interoperability as well as partnership models means facilitating the sharing of (limited) resources.

Do educators really understand the optimal use of different media such as video, animation, graphics, photographs, audio and text? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each and how should they be blended? What about the role of video? How best to harness the power of imagery? What is the connection between perception and learning? The pros and cons of video lectures, video publishing and podcasting. How about production values and learner expectations? What are the simplest and most cost-effective strategies to use in educational media production? The importance of visualisation for learning complex matters.

Predicting learners’ needs and measuring what they know. Portability of knowledge and learning and the extent to which ICT tools have been used successfully to measure competence. The role of ePortfolios and eIdentity. What about regulatory and compliance testing: What are the best systems and experiences in this area, or is it that, despite the millions spent to date, compliance testing has largely been a failure? Quality assurance, accreditation and impact measurement: Which systems work and what are the needs of organisations in this respect? What does 21st-century assessment look like and who is it for? Are the systems currently available sufficiently relevant globally? Game design as a learning and assessment tool, and assessment through games. Evaluation and outcomes assessment. eAssessment and testing and the links to formal examinations. Are our learning systems and services sufficiently secure?

Rethinking pedagogy arising from the growing body of evidence available from online approaches. Contrasting new developments in the science of learning with old-fashioned approaches still dominating classrooms, lecture theatres and training facilities. Best pedagogical practice behind the use of technology in education, the latest developments in e-pedagogy and educational psychology arising from experimentation and scientific research as well as research into the value of pedagogical agents and social software. What is the most reliable theoretical basis to use in the dynamic world of web-based learning? Is connectivism the answer to the learning challenges of today? What about the ongoing debates about post-constructivism? How can ICT help in the move to self-organised learning? What are the skills our teachers and learners need today to be effective?

Mobile learning as a way to provide just-in-time and just-in-case learning opportunities for workers, students, pupils and lifelong learners interested in having access to learning when and where they need it. Examples from large-scale mobile learning providers about the way people learn in mobile scenarios. How to produce learning materials for mobile and rapid learning contexts. The latest in tools and applications for producing mobile learning and developments in access technologies, including the latest developments in mobile interactive devices (MIDs) and their use in mobile learning. What about mobile learning from a pedagogical perspective? In what way are mobile devices becoming more learning-friendly? The role of the mobile phone as a learning tool in disadvantaged areas. Improvements in eBook and eReader devices, free e-books on the web and the future of reading, advances in PDAs and other devices. Management of mobile learning applications and ways to increase a company’s mobile-learning assets. Learning beyond physical classrooms.

Systems to create and maintain online content, user-generated content, informal content and the link between content and delivery mechanisms. Content repositories and learning objects, the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement and the increased availability of free objects, free programmes and free courses. Sustainability, sharing and quality assurance of open educational resources. The impact cultural identity has on creating content and experiences in translation, adaptation and reuse across linguistic and other borders and other implications for transnational education. Ownership, licensing and issues related to intellectual property rights (IPR) and copyright.

Learning as a social activity supported by an ever-increasing plethora of social networking tools. Web 2.0 and social media and their increased use in companies for learning as well as every other work-related activity. Can social tools make learning fun and help to change the notion of learning as being one related to work to being something far more pleasurable? Does Web 2.0 help us to rethink the language of learning? Web 2.0 leading to Learning 2.0, characterised as being informal, collaborative and social. Informal learning supported by ICT in an organisation as a way to foster knowledge-sharing throughout the enterprise. Learners’ experiences in using wikis, blogs, microblogging, communities of practice , virtual classrooms, desktop video conferencing, document sharing and authoring and discussion forums. The nature and impact of interaction and dialogue.

Businesses face different challenges than universities and government. That’s why business people are conducting these interactive sessions specifically for business people. Join your colleagues to discuss the future of leader development and technical training. Explore today’s challenges with our panel of corporate thought leaders. Drop by at any time during our two days together; we’ll be open for business throughout.
In addition to our formal sessions, you can shape and discuss what you want to talk about in an Unconference focused on social learning and corporate initiatives. Get charged up by the high energy generated by rapid-fire Pecha Kucha. Come to the festival of best instructional video. We mean business.