EDEN 2020 - how was the first virtual conference dedicated to digital education and artificial intelligence
278 participants from 40 countries on 4 continents, for three days with fish 90 published academic papers, interactive workshops, keynote speakers with state-of-the-art presentations, but also virtual tours through Timișoara enriched with AR / VR elements, a virtual festive dinner with traditional Romanian dishes and a virtual tour of the most beloved festivals in Timișoara.
Digital education and the most innovative practices, platforms and tools with the help of new technologies, but also the impact of artificial intelligence now and in the future were the topics that, for 3 days, brought together virtually 278 participants from 40 countries to cshe 29th edition of EDEN Annual Conference – Human and artificial intelligence for the society of the future. Stimulating digital education for the next generation of students STE (A) M. For the first time in Timișoara, the event was organized by the Polytechnic University of Timișoara together with the EDEN International Association.
EDEN 2020 dedicated a series of interactive thematic workshops, but also academic papers to the context of the pandemic, in which top scientists presented and debated digital activities in education, analyzed the results collected in recent months and made predictions for best practices for the development of digital education.
Along with this conference, the Polytechnic University of Timișoara launched a unique application, dedicated to virtual academic conferences, ConferenceUPT https://conference.upt.ro/. EDEN 2020 was the first fully virtual conference held with the help of this tool, offering multiple facilities - from organizing work sessions, integrating academic papers and including presentations and to video conferencing and direct communication opportunities, offering unlimited access to all participants, for the creation of an EDEN2020 virtual community
UPT 100
Conference EDEN 2020 is dedicated to the anniversary of 100 years of university education in Timișoara, Politehnica 100, the first 100 years of existence of the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, also celebrating the coherent and innovative development of online education in the university.
The opening ceremony was broadcast live, free of charge and brought Prof.dr.ing to the center. Nicolae Robu - the mayor of Timișoara, Assoc. Florin Dragan - UPT rector prof. Dr. Eng. Radu Vasiu - the president of the UPT Senate and Sandra Kucina - President of the EDEN International Association.
During the EDEN 2020 opening ceremony, Prof. Dr. Eng. Radu Vasiu received the "EDEN Fellow Award", by decision of the EDEN Executive Committee, an award given for the work done in the last 20 years in the field of open, digital and online education.
8 speakers During the 3 days, world-class companies gave a series of live broadcasts that could be watched free of charge by the general public.
EDEN 2020 offered participants a variety of parallel sessions, in which they could choose between thematic virtual workshops according to interest. Among them were the Open EdTEch Workshop - plenary session broadcast live, chaired by Martin Dougiamas and Dr. Diana Andone, Digital Culture Workshop (project coordinated by UPT), EDEN COVID Workshop, but also the SYNERGY session, organized every year, during which different participants presented the projects in which they are involved and the common objectives for opening modern educational services to wider audiences.
On the second day of the conference, dozens of PhD students from around the world presented their research progress report, receiving recommendations and suggestions from experienced university teachers from countries such as Italy, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Israel and Romania.
One of the most appreciated parts of the conference was the social program, specially designed so that participants can socialize while getting to know the social, cultural life and traditions of the city of Timisoara.
The participants explored the beauty of Timisoara in a virtual tour broadcast live, starting from the UPT Library building, the initial location of the conference and arrived on the shores of Bega, Victoriei Square and Unirii Square, with an architect who told the story of each objective visited virtually.
The team of the e-Learning Center made a virtual walk through the most beautiful parts of the city, unfolding a series of videos from the project Spotlight Heritage Timișoara (project coordinated by UPT in partnership with the National Museum of Banat), and the participants had the opportunity to enjoy the architecture of the city with the help of AR / VR elements.
After the virtual walk, Radu Ticiu, Oana Romocea and Simona Fiț told the participants about the community projects in Timișoara, including CoderDojo, HackTM, BiocoderDojo, Științescu, EducaTM and Timotion.
Follows the registration of the social event for participants - Timisoara - Education STE (A) M and Digital Culture. Timisoara LIVE (Virtual Virtual Live)
In the afternoon of the second day of the conference, the participants were able to “taste” virtual semolina with milk with cherries, raspberries and chocolate, sauerkraut in vine leaves, quality wine and music from Timisoara festivals to EDEN 2020 Virtual Conference Dinner, where participants attended a LIVE demonstration of sarmale preparation at the Faber / Embassy, discovered the cultural communities and the most beloved festivals in Timisoara - Plai, Bega, Lumen, JazzTM, took part in a virtual tour in Cramele Recaș and they listened to the music of the Bega Blues Band.
See the registration of the Virtual Conference Dinner below:
The last day of the conference began with the EDEN 2020 Award Ceremony for the best scientific work and the EDEN 2020 Award Ceremony for the Young Scientist Award and ended with the announcement for the 30th edition of the annual EDEN conference , which will take place in 2021 at the UNED University of Madrid, Spain.
Follow the recordings from the EDEN 2020 plenary sessions below
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