EDEN 2019

Our team was represented at the annual EDEN Conference 2019, in Bruges, Belgium, between 16.06.2019-19.06.2019, by Diana Andone and Vlad Mihăescu.

EDEN'S goal is to maximize the potential to exchange academic and profesional experience, promote effective navigation in the filed and improve the quality and depth of information available to the sectors involved.

EDEN conferences:

they have become important ODL academic and professional events in Europe, supporting the professionalization and international exchange of experience and expertise;
are meetings in which comprehensive and indicative contributions are presented by exceptional experts, politicians and academics;
are based on the collection of best practices - each year, the presented papers in the conference sessions are selected for publication in the volume of the conference, serving as important resources for the professional community;
to have a genuine sense of community for them, in which working existing relationships are strengthened and deepened and where new partnerships are formed.

Monday, 17th June, during one of the morning parallel sessions, Diana Andone, along with Mark Frydenberg from Bentley University, United States of America, presented their work entitled Exploring students' cultural experiences in an international learning project using digital reality - Talktech.

In the afternoon there was the workshop OpenVM: e-evaluation of skills for open virtual mobility coordinated by Deborah Arnold and Gerard Casanova from AUNEGe, France, Diana Andone and Vlad Mihăescu from the Politechnica University of Timisoara, Ilona Buchem from the Beuth Hochschule fur Technik Berlin, Germany. This interactive workshop offered participants a perspective on the concept of e-evaluation and the opportunity to evaluate their own virtual open mobility skills using the e-evaluation tool. Discussions on potential obstacles have enriched the debate and participants have been able to identify what their institutions can do to encourage the development of open virtual mobilty.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019, one of the parallel sessions in the morning was the workshop Augmented and virtual reality - In reality: Connections to learning, work and community coordinated by Susan Aldridge, Drexel University Online, USA, Diana Andone and Vlad Mihaescu, Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Marci Powell, Marci Powell & Associates, USA and Steve Wheeler, Plymouth Institute of Education, UK. Leaders in e-learning shared concrete examples of the “best in the classroom” type, discussing the significant impact that AVR has on digital classroom and work experience. The presenters of this session discussed the role of AVR in education and the workplace, critically analyzing its benefits and challenges. They presented recent examples of good practice and discussed their experiences, focusing on the specific pedagogical use of emerging augmented and virtual reality tools and techniques.

In the afternoon, Diana and Vlad actively participated in the workshop ABC Blended Learning (re) Design: How to involve your teachers quickly and on a scale related to the ABC to VLE Erasmus + project, where UPT through CeL are partners. The workshop was hosted by Natasa Perovic and Clive Young, UCL, UK. How can we help our time-pressed teachers design blended and enriched online courses? UCL has developed ABC LD, an effective and captivating method of learning design, which is used with great success in European higher education institutions. In this workshop, academic teams work together to create a visual “storyboard” using cards to highlight the type and sequence of learning activities. The ABC LD method is used for learning design, academic development, strategic development, environmental review and technical and support analysis.

In the last session of the day, the partner University of Rome 3 coordinated the workshop Developing digital skills through MOOCs and OERs for employers in the creative industries - DigiCulture Workshop. Together with partners from the Polytechnic University of Timișoara and Dubli City University, participants were invited to develop the outline of a MOOC on digital skills for employers in the creative industries working in small interdisciplinary groups. The DigiCulture workshop supported networking among people working in the creative industries, digital skills and open education to impact the impact of their previous experiences. The participants had the opportunity to evaluate the curriculum of the MOOC course for digital skills for the creative industry developed by the project partners. The participating team members were Antonella Poce, Maria Rosaria Re and Francesca Amenduni from Roma Tre University in Italy, Diana Andone and Vlad Mihaescu from Timișoara Polytechnic University, Mark Brown and Mairead Nic Giolla Mhichil from Dublin City University, Ireland.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019, the project coordinators from the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, Diana Andone and Vlad Mihăescu had a presentation entitled DigiCulture - improving digital skills and social inclusion of adults in the creative industries during the synergy session. The synergy session facilitates the sharing of practices, project results and research results, offers participants the opportunity to develop new ideas and plans, to create new partnerships through involvement in interactive work group activities. The presentation was well received by the 25 participants in the session and various interesting questions and discussions arose.