The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) annual National Distance Learning Week will be held on 7-11 November, 2016. After our successful collaboration last year, EDEN is yet again proud to be the global partner of the event, and contribute to the official programme with webinars on teacher creativity (K12 focus), educational leadership (HE focus), open badges and home and hospital education.

The webinars on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be held in EDEN’s Adobe Connect room, while Friday’s webinar will be held in the LeHo project’s own Adobe Connect room. If you are not familiar with this tool, please log in before the start to test and adjust your settings, an EDEN colleague will be there to support you.

Tuesday, 8 November 2016, 9:00-10:00 EST or 15:00-16:00 CET

Animation creation as a learning tool 
Moderator: Kriszta Mihályi, Director of Operations, EDEN
Recording of the webinar

The aim of animation creation as a learning tool (pedagogical method for K-12) is to create short animated films, working in small groups by using simple technology, to cover a specific topic of the curriculum. The purpose is NOT to produce artistic pieces of work but to experiment and enjoy the process and the result of creation.

The greatest value of the method is its power to motivate pupils/students in learning and the effect on the development of their 21st century skills such as communication, creativity, cooperation and critical thinking. The method has been developed and tested within the context of several consecutive European projects initiated and lead by the Danish animation Workshop and the experts of Aalborg University (led by Prof. Lisa Gjedde): ‘Teaching with Animation’ (2005-2007); ‘Animated Science’ (2007- 2009); ‘Animated Learning’ (2009-2011). The method was transferred to the Hungarian context applied for the facilitation of learning in vocational schools within the ‘AnimClass’ (2011-2013) project, coordinated by the Corvinus University of Budapest (Kriszta Mihalyi and Kata Kovacs).

Wednesday, 9 November 2016, 9:00-10:00 EST or 15:00-16:00 CET

Transforming Universities for the Digital Age: policies, business models, resources
Moderator: Dr. András Szűcs, Secretary General, EDEN
Recording of the webinar

The goal of D-TRANSFORM is to implement a training program for leaders of European universities (presidents, vice-presidents) focusing on the major role played by digital technologies and Open Educational Resources (OER) in the necessary transformation of their institutions. The premise is that e-education (digital pedagogy and training) can become a strategic tool for European universities, enabling them to be pedagogically more effective, more cost-effective, more attractive and able to meet the needs of the professional world with regard to youth training and life-long learning.

During this webinar we will focus on a comparative survey between Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom on public digital policies and an overview on the business models for opening up education – Sustainability of MOOCs, OER and related online education approaches in higher education in Europe. We will be also try to answer the question of whether Open Educational Resources are a lever for digital transition of higher education.

Thursday, 10 November 2016, 9:00-10:00 EST or 15:00-16:00 CET

How to design open badges?
Moderator: Ildikó Mázár, Deputy Secretary General, EDEN
Recording of the webinar

Some may be advocates, while other are skeptics, but these days most educational practitioners are familiar with the concept of open badges. So you know how they are being used but do you want to learn how to create your own open badges? This practical webinar, that is a preliminary teaser of a more comprehensive MOOC being developed by the Open Badge Network project, will fast track you through the open badge design process.

The aim of the one-hour session is to highlight how open badges can serve to promote the acquisition and demonstration of soft skills demanded by the 21st century labour market. You will be allowed, and are encouraged, to make your own choice of badge-able skill, competence, achievement or event and begin the work with a head start by downloading and printing the open badge canvas to familiarise yourself with the steps of the design process. If you do not have the time to prepare, you can simply follow the moderator’s demonstration.

Friday, 11 November 2016, 9:00-10:00 EST or 15:00-16:00 CET

Creating meaningful learning for children with a medical condition: Key educational factors and related ICT solutions
Moderator: John Dennis, Universitá di Perugia
Recording of the webinar

Meaningful learning for children with a medical condition starts with understanding the Key Educational Factors (e.g. Relationships, Making sense and constructing knowledge). These factors, while universal for the education of every child, take on new meaning for children with medical needs. Two focus groups were completed to better understand the role of these factors for the education of children with medical needs and how ICT implementation might help in the process of recognising and remedying these factors.