Technology-enhanced Learning in Europe

1
Technology-enhanced Learning in Europe

• Marco Marsella
• Cultural Heritage and Technology-enhanced
  Learning Unit
• Information Society and Media Directorate General

2
Overview of the presentation

• DG INFSO
• Digital Agenda
• Historical elements
• Some results
• Future work

3
European CommissionInformation Society and Media
DG
DG Information Society and Media http//ec.europa.
eu/information_society/index_en.htm
DIGITAL AGENDA FOR EUROPE http//ec.europa.eu/info
rmation_society/digital-agenda/index_en.htm
ICT RESULTS http//cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/ind
ex.cfm
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Education and Training at EU level

• Member States retain responsibilities -
  principle of subsidiarity
• EU actions are geared towards improving the
  quality of our education and training systems

• ICT in education and training at EU level
• Connectivity/Access (Broadband,etc.)
• Quality content and services
• Research and technological development
• Best practices

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Innovation in ET through ICT

• Improve effectiveness and efficiency
• Build flexible and responsive learning
  environments
• Meet different learning styles/needs
• Engage and involve learners, teachers, parents,
• 21st century skills

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Are the New Millenium Learners Making the Grade?

• it is the quality, rather than the quantity,
  of ICT usage that determines the contribution
  that these technologies make to students
  academic performance
• (OECD Technology use and educational
  performance in PISA)

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ICT for learning

• Catalyst for change
• Empowering through richer and active experiences
• Personalised opportunities
• Assessment
• Digital literacy 21st Century Skills
• Upskilling / re skilling
• Alignment competencies/business needs

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Some EU initiatives
The European Digital Agenda Every European
Digital
Innovation and Skills - Flagships Innovation
Union/Youth on the Move/New skills for jobs -
Digital competencies and e-Skills
Life lifelong Learning Programme (LLLP) -
Transversal Key Action on ICT for Education and
Training
Research and Technological development - TEL
The ICT Policy Support Programme (IST PSP - CIP)
- Wider uptake and best use of ICT by citizens,
governments and businesses
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The European Digital Agenda

• Europe's strategy for a flourishing digital
  economy by 2020
• Policies and actions to maximise the benefit of
  the digital revolution for all
• Digital Single Market
• Interoperability and Standards
• Trust and Security
• Very Fast Internet
• Research and innovation
• Enhancing digital literacy, skills and inclusion
  
• ICT for Societal Challenges
• International aspects

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Action 68

• Mainstream eLearning in national policies for the
  modernisation of education and training,
  including in curricula, assessment of learning
  outcomes and the professional development of
  teachers and trainers.

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Digital Agenda Assembly
Workshop Mainstreaming eLearning in Education
and Training http//ec.europa.eu/information_soci
ety/events/cf/daa11/item-display.cfm?id5989
Change is necessary inevitable but difficult
and too slow Need to scale up, learn from each
another Be clear about the vision and the
goals Grassroots reforms Top/bottom approaches
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Our contributions

• Provide stimulus and support
• Demonstrate potential benefits and raise
  awareness
• Support capacity building
• Disseminate best practices
• Engage and involve stakeholders
• Create new opportunities for enterprises

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Key data on learning and innovation through ICT
at School in Europe
Eurydice, 2011

• Although ICT as a subject or as a tool for
  learning within other subjects is recommended in
  almost all countries, international survey data
  reveal a different picture of classroom practice.

http//eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice
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ICT in education in Europe

• Less disparity between schools regarding ICT
  equipment
• Lack of adequate learning software and support
  staff is still affecting students' instruction

Eurydice, 2011
In European countries, according to PISA 2009, at
least 50 of students were in schools where one
computer is available for every two students.
On average, almost 55 of students in the fourth
grade and 45 of students in the eighth grade
have computers available during their mathematics
lessons.
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Delivery of ICT learning objectives Primary Level
Source Eurydice.
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Delivery of ICT learning objectives Secondary
Level
Source Eurydice.
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A RANGE OF INNOVATIVE TEACHING METHODS BASED
ONACTIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ARE WIDELY
PROMOTED IN EUROPE
Primary education
Source Eurydice.
Project-based learning Personalised
learning Individualised/ student-centred
learning Scientific investigations Online
learning
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A RANGE OF INNOVATIVE TEACHING METHODS BASED
ONACTIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ARE WIDELY
PROMOTED IN EUROPE
Secondary education
Source Eurydice.
Project-based learning Personalised
learning Individualised/ student-centred
learning Scientific investigations Online
learning
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Training measures and research projects in areas
covered by national ICT strategies 2009/10
ICT in schools e-Learning e-Inclusion Digital,
media literacy e-Skills development
Training Research
projects
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Key data on learning and innovation through ICT
at School in Europe
Eurydice, 2011

• ICT ARE PLAYING A CENTRAL ROLE IN COOPERATION
  BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND THE COMMUNITY AND TO ENGAGE
  PARENTS IN THE LEARNING PROCESS
• ICT IS WIDELY PROMOTED BY CENTRAL AUTHORITIES AS
  A TOOL FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING BUT LARGE
  IMPLEMENTATION GAP REMAINS
• ICT IS OFTEN RECOMMENDED FOR ASSESSING
  COMPETENCES BUT STEERING DOCUMENTS RARELY
  INDICATE HOW IT SHOULD BE APPLIED
• TEACHERS USUALLY ACQUIRE ICT TEACHING SKILLS
  THROUGH THEIR INITIAL EDUCATION BUT FURTHER
  PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS LESS COMMON

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Research and Innovation

• RI key to strengthen the transformative role of
  ICT in education and training
• Global patterns from demonstration to adoption

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RTD at EU level

• European Community Framework Programmes for
  Research, Technological Development and
  Demonstration.
• A collection of the actions at EU level to fund
  and promote research.
• Participation from countries outside of the EU,
  enabling international co-operation, foreseen.

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RTD on Technology-enhanced learning

• Research aims at improving our knowledge of how
  ICT enhances learning and teaching.
• The work on learning draws on different research
  disciplines (computing, technological,
  pedagogical, cognitive and psychological
  sciences)
• Focus on how technology-enhanced learning can
  better facilitate the learning process, in
  different learning situations, for individuals or
  groups of learners, motivating and supporting
  people who learn on their own or collaboratively
  with others.

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RTD on Technology-enhanced Learning
Target Groups .
Pedagogical aspects
Technical aspects
Cognitive aspects
Organisational aspects
Focus on the learning process Intertwined
relationship between learner and organisation
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Main characteristics

• Researching understanding learning problems
• Realistic assumptions about the systemic changes
  needed to realise the potential benefits of ICT
  for learning
• Focus on key areas where impact is more likely

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Priorities 2000 2001

• ICT-based solutions for lifelong learning
  (inclusion perspective), schools, virtual
  universities, advanced training systems
• Infrastructures for broad access to learning
  resources and services
• High Quality Educational Content creation,
  access, maintenance and brokerage
• Consensus Building and Standardisation activities
  in CEN/ISSS Learning Technologies Workshop,

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Priorities 2002-2006

• The term Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) was
  introduced
• Focus of research was less on integration of
  technologies but rather on how people learn -
  through technologies
• Three main objectives
• Increase efficiency of learning - for individuals
  and groups
• Facilitate transfer and sharing of knowledge in
  organisations
• Deeper understanding of the learning process
• Two lines of Action
• Interactions human learning and organisational
  learning
• Links between human learning, cognition and
  technologies

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Priorities 2007-2008

• Technologically-mediated responsive environments
  for learning
• learning environments which motivate, engage and
  inspire learners, and make it possible to
  personalise learning to respond to specific needs
  and contexts (mass-individualisation of
  learning).
• Adaptive and intuitive learning systems
• innovative systems that self-configure their
  operations to optimally assist and respond to the
  learners activities according to their
  understanding and experience of learners'
  behaviour. These systems are able to identify
  learner's requirements from monitoring progress
  in an intelligent way. They make best use of the
  individual learning and cognitive abilities of
  the learner and produce meaningful advice to both
  learners and teachers.

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Priorities 2009-2010

• The classroom of tomorrow Large-scale pilots
  for the design of the classroom of the 21st
  century
• Embedding learning experiences in organisational
  processes and practices and Combining creative,
  cognitive and computational processes for
  workplace learning
• Adaptive and intuitive systems - affective and
  emotional approaches
• Learning appliances and cognitive tutors
• Focused interdisciplinary networks
• Awareness building, roadmapping, evaluation,
  showcases

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Where do we see potential impacts

• Learning, through life, in extended organisations
• improve return on investment on integrated
  solutions for learning
• shorter time periods for learning, speeding up
  time to competencies (goal of 56 of
  organisations)
• greater efficiency in business processes speed
  up and cut costs of on-the-job learning, ease
  change processes in organisations
• enable capitalisation of organisational
  intellectual assets

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Where do we see potential impacts

• Improve effective use of ICT-based learning
• research into better conceptual models of
  technology enhanced learning
• greater capacity to deliver individualised or
  personalised learning
• Support HE sector in move towards lifelong
  learning
• coping with increasing diversity in the student
  population and their modes of attendance
• continuous professional development
• competition on a global scale
• Contribute to competitiveness of eLearning
  suppliers

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Project portfolio

• 32 projects resulted from the 2 Calls in FP6
• 26 projects resulted from the first two calls for
  proposals under FP7
• 13 projects resulted from FP7 Call 5 (started
  July-October 2010)

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Project portfolio

• Technology blending learning and knowledge
  management _at_ workplace
• Supporting individualisation in learning/
  adaptive systems, diagnosis and guidance
• Engaging learners in science and maths
• Creativity and learning
• Serious games

http//cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/telearn-digicult/t
elearn-projects_en.html
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• Innovative Technologies for an Engaging
  Classroom
• Four year large-scale project starting in
  September 2010,
• 27 partners, including 14 Ministries of
  Education
• Large scale pilots including a sizable number
• of experiments in real world
• to design, build and comprehensively test
  scalable learning and
• teaching scenarios for the future classroom.
• Funding from the European Commission of 9.45
  million Euros
• 
  www.itec.eun.org

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NEXT TELL

• Conceptual framework resources for designing
  and implementing formative ICT-enhanced learning
• 12 partners 6 MEUR
• 4 years Sept 2010
• www.next-tell.eu

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STELLAR Network of Excellence

• Integrating excellence, structuring research,
  move tel rtd agenda forward
• Integrations instruments leadership capacity,
  key researchers, doctoral academic capacity,
  community level capacity (stakeholders)
• 16 partners
• www.stellarnet.eu
• Open archive http//oa.stellarnet.eu

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GALA Network of excellence

• Games and Learning Alliance
• NoE for Serious Games
• 30 Partners
• 6 MEUR
• September 2010
• www.galanoe.eu

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TEL MAP

• POSSIBLE FUTURES FOR TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING
• Exploratory and roadmapping activities
• Pan european observatory for innovation
• Mind the map building foresight capacity
• www.learningfrontiers.eu
• www.telmap.org
• 10 partners, 2.5 MEUR

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COSPATIAL

• Collaborative technologies for learning social
  competencies by children who are typically
  developing and those with autistic Spectrum
  Disorders
• http//cospatial.fbk.eu
• Active surfaces and virtual learning environment
• www.youtube.com autism every day

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Objective ICT-2011.8.1 Technology-enhanced
learning

• Technology Enhanced Learning systems endowed with
  the capabilities of human tutors
• Educational technologies for science, technology
  and maths
• Advanced solutions for fast and flexible
  deployment of learning opportunities at the
  workplace (targeting, in particular, SMEs)
  Computational tools fostering creativity in
  learning processes
• Exploratory activities

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Target outcome a) Technology Enhanced Learning
systems endowed with the capabilities of human
tutors

• Foci Advance systems capabilities to react to
  learners abilities and difficulties and systems
  understanding and use of the appropriate triggers
  (praise, constructive comments, etc.)
  influencing learning.

• Characteristics
• use of systematic feedback based on innovative
  ways of interpreting the user's responses -
  particularly in relation to deep/shallow
  reasoning and thinking.
• improve learners metacognitive skills,
  understand and exploit the underlying drivers of
  their learning behaviours.

Technologies Natural language interaction
(dialogues) rich and effective user interfaces
pedagogically sound smart and personalised
instructional design
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Target outcome b1) Educational technologies for
science, technology and maths

• B1)
• Supporting students to understand and construct
  their knowledge and meanings of scientific,
  technological and/or mathematical subjects.
• Characteristics of the solutions
• - accompanying the learners through the
  complexity of a subject (technologically and
  methodologically)
• How?
• - activating and feeding curiosity and reasoning
• - support the creative applications of the
  theory

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Target outcome b2) Educational technologies for
science, technology and maths

• B2)
• Supporting European wide federation and use of
  remote laboratories and virtual experimentations
  for learning and teaching purposes.
• Output
• - Services enabling online interactive
  experimentations
• accessing and controlling real instruments, or
  using simulated solutions
• - Stimulus to the growth of the network of labs
• Open interfacing components for easy
  plug-and-play of remote and virtual labs
• Research characteristics user interfaces
  mediating the complexities of creation and
  usability of experiments, in pedagogical contexts
  - in primary and secondary schools, universities,
  etc..

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Target c)Advanced solutions for fast and
flexible deployment of learning opportunities at
theworkplace (targeting, in particular, SMEs)

• Context networking/fostering (cross-)
  organisational learning and help SMEs to adopt
  and sustain effective learning attitudes.
• Characteristics
• faster, situated, just-in-time up-/reskilling
• lower the costs/efforts of production quality
  instructional material - in continuing education
  and training processes.
• novel business training models undertanding
  overcoming barriers to adoption - take up of the
  technologies
• Focus specifically on the needs of SMEs - in
  sectors without an established tradition in the
  adoption of learning solutions and - facing
  innovation and competitiveness challenges
  deriving from efficiency needs or new
  processes/products development.
• Partnership include SMEs /professional
  associations. SMEs users actively involved in
  pilots.

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Target d)Computational tools fostering
creativity in learning processes

• Context Creativity in the learning environments
• Focus innovative tools encouraging
• nonlinear, non-standard thinking and
  problem-solving
• exploration and generation of new knowledge,
  ideas and concepts, or new associations between
  existing ideas or concepts.
• Application supporting peoples learning as well
  as the formation and evolution of creative teams
• Approach technological solutions that facilitate
  questioning and challenging, foster imaginative
  thinking, widen the perspectives and make
  purposeful connections with people and their
  ideas.

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Target e)Exploratory activities
Looking ahead specific exploratory actions
10 years horizon - for Fundamentally new forms
of learning through ICT Networking and
test-beds Establishment of a pan-European
network of living schools for validations,
demonstrations and showcases
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Use of instruments, budget and call planning

• Budget
• 60 Meur
• Call 8
• opens 26/7/11 closes 17/1/12

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Looking ahead

• Continue exploring links learning and innovation,
  creativity, productivity at workplace
• Mobilising a more extended research community
• Strengthening research capacity around emerging
  trends
• Supporting technology transfer and take-up from
  research to innovation with validation,
  showcasing, best practices

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To know more
ICT research results http//cordis.europa.eu/ictre
sults/index.cfm
Technology Enhanced Learning Research http//cordi
s.europa.eu/fp7/ict/telearn-digicult/telearn_en.ht
ml
Digital Agenda for Europe http//ec.europa.eu/info
rmation_society/digital-agenda/
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• Thanks !