Online Educa Berlin (OEB) 2008

Berlin, Germany

The Largest Global E-Learning Conference for the Corporate, Education and Public Service Sectors
    

1.     What We Need is Top-End Content
2.     A Networked Life - Ton Zijlstra on Social Networking
3.     Will E-Books Ever Become Mainstream?
4.     Implementing Moodle for 120,000 Employees
5.     Meeting the Needs of the New Learners
6.     Portugal: Mobile Phones in Schools
7.     Learn to Make Quick Decisions - With Your Mobile
8.     Exploring Archaeology in Second Life

Has Web 2.0 arrived in today's education institutions? Over the last years, social networking applications have seen an unprecedented uptake. A large share of Internet users are contributing to social networking and media sharing sites, especially young users. Blogs and wikis are used by people of all ages, supporting the collaborative creation and sharing of knowledge between young and old, students and experts. But what about organisations and educational institutions? On behalf of the European Commission, the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) is conducting a study on the impact of Web 2.0 innovations on education and training. Results will be presented at OEB 2008.
What could be the role of the teacher in an Open Educational Resources scenario - an education system where content is packaged in an open library concept, allowing visitors to help themselves to whatever they find? Will teachers - based on this development - become obsolete in the future? This is a core question Giselle Ferreira will raise at OEB. A lecturer and educational reseacher, she works at the Faculty of Maths, Computing and Technology at the UK Open University. In her presentation Out with the Old, in with the New? Questions Concerning the Role of the Teacher in 21st -Century Education, she will concentrate on findings from her recent study on the impact of open-access informal-learning environments.

On Wednesday, December 3, 2008 the first ONLINE EDUCA Iberoamérica Forum will take place. The event will feature presentations by experts from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic. Among the institutions represented are the European Commission, the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) and the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). The forum has been created as an opportunity for institutional and business networking. Roundtables offer attendees the chance to meet specialists from all e-learning fields, establish potential partnerships, and engage in discussions and debates designed for active participation.

After several years of experimenting with various types of Open Education Resources (OER), is there a formula for success making sure that an OER service has a sustainable future? This is a key question raised at OEB this year. A particular plenary session on Open Education Resources assembles a group of expert practitioners to discuss the potential of OER in more detail. Among them are representatives from universities, the corporate sector, OECD, the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, CERI, France; as well as the UK's Joint Information Systems Committee JISC.

Anna-Maria Walter