Happy Easter

Cult@intel – Digital Leaflet no 1.

The first Leaflet of Cult@intel project

Digital Well-being in the European Digital Education Ecosystem

On April 7th, the EDEN NAP organized a webinar “Digital Well-being in Digital Education Ecosystem in Europe,” dedicated to discussing the crucial intersection of technology and well-being in education Recognising the massive impact of digitalisation, which, while offering many opportunities, poses significant challenges to our overall health, the webinar explored the multidimensional nature of digital well-being. Digital well-being encompasses not only online safety but also the physical, mental, emotional, and social health of both students and teachers or lecturers. During the discussions, the importance of integrating digital well-being into teaching practices, developing digital competencies, choosing digital tools that offer solutions for ensuring well-being, and critically evaluating the positive and negative impacts of digital tools was emphasized.

The presenters participating in the seminar discussed this topic from different perspectives. Kristina Adomaitienė, a doctoral student at the Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) Education Academy, revealed the complex and multi-layered concept of digital well-being, emphasizing that its scope is much broader than just time spent in front of a screen. The event moderator, Giedrė Tamoliūnė, a member of the EDEN NAP Steering Committee and Associate Professor at VDU Education academy, presented a new policy experimentation project WINDEE – Well-being in Digital Education Ecosystem in Europe (no. 101195779 WINDEE — ERASMUS-EDU-2024-POL-EXP), the aim of which is to foster an environment where students can achieve digital well-being and maximise the benefits of technology in educational settings. Rasmus Benke-Aberg (Stifterverband, Germany) shared valuable initiatives and actions undertaken by the European Digital Education Hub community. Finally, Justina Pluktaitė (SPSCH Pardubice, Czech Republic) presented a practical approach to digital well-being, offering tangible insights on how to implement it. This seminar is an important contribution to planning research, policies, and practical strategies aimed at fostering a healthier, more balanced, and ultimately more effective digital learning experience in the European education ecosystem, highlighting its importance for global initiatives and the future of education.

The event recording is available on the EDEN DLE website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AewLk1MalPI.

WINDEE – Well-being in Digital Education Ecosystem

On March 31 – April 1, VMU hosted a meeting of partners of the international, VMU-coordinated, EU policy experimentation project Well-being in Digital Education Ecosystem (WINDEE).

This is a meeting during which for discussions and debates about digital well-being in the education process. Questions were raised about what causes tensions in digitalization, how to reduce them, when is a digital balance, and what kind of help is needed for politicians, educational institutions, educators, parents of students, and children to achieve digital well-being in education.

Project partners:

KIC – Knowledge Innovation Centre (Malta)
TLU – Tallinn University (Estonia)
UOC – Open University of Catalonia (Spain)
EDEN – Digital Learning Europe (Estonia)
EUN – PARTNERSHIP AISBL (Belgium)
EDUCRAFTOR OY AB (Finland)
NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION (Lithuania)

Project associated partners:

LieDM – Lithuanian Association of Distance and e-Learning (Lithuania)
LKNUC – Lithuanian Educational Centre for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Lithuania)
Stifterverband – Stifterverband fur die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Germany)

DISCLAIMER: “Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.”

EDEN NAP Webinar – Digital Well-being in Digital Education Ecosystem in Europe

We invite you to join us on EDEN NAP Webinar – “Digital Well-being in Digital Education Ecosystem in Europe“, April 7 at 15:00 (CET)

This webinar will focus on the critical aspects of digital well-being within the European education ecosystem, exploring research, policies, and practical strategies to create healthier, more balanced, and ultimately more effective digital learning experiences.

Registration: register now

More information here.

GenAI and Metacognition: Insights from the EDEN NAP Seminar

Discussions about generative AI in higher education often focus on its potential and applications, but there is a need for deeper research on its impact on learning. On February 27^th, the EDEN Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP) held a webinar ‘Measuring Awareness of Using GenAI in University Studies: A Metacognitive Approach’ to address this important issue. The event was moderated by Dr. Giedrė Tamoliūnė, a member of the EDEN NAP Steering Committee and Associate Professor at VDU Education Academy.

You can watch the webinar recording on the EDEN YouTube channel.

The seminar featured presentations from:

Prof. Dr. Josep M. Duart from the Open University of Catalonia (Spain) shared insights into how higher education institutions are responding to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence in their practices. He discussed the policies and initiatives universities are developing, and the challenges they face.
Prof. Dr. Airina Volungevičienė, Professor at the VDU Education Academy and Director of the Institute for Study Innovations, presented theoretical insights raising awareness among educators, practitioners and researchers about the intersection among metacognitive strategies, learning, and artificial intelligence.
Kateryna Harbarets, a second-year Master’s student in Educational Management at VDU Education Academy, continued the discussion by presenting her Master’s thesis research. The results of this research reveal how students engage with generative AI in higher education and how metacognitive strategies shape their awareness and use of these technologies.

Webinar participants discussed how and what teaching and learning strategies should be created, ensuring transparency in the use of GenAI and promoting metacognition.

The next EDEN NAP online seminar, “Digital Well-being in Digital Education Ecosystem in Europe,” will take place on April 7^th at 15:00 CET. Register now!

EDEN NAP is a nearly 20-year-old EDEN network initiative, supporting collaboration and communication of experts in digital education across Europe and beyond in organizing webinars, discussions, and research activities.

First Project Meeting: CULT@INTEL

On January 15-16, 2025, the first meeting of the project “Incentivising Digital Transformation in Teaching: Applying Cultural Intelligence for Student Inclusiveness and Success” took place. During the meeting, project partners discussed key objectives, planned activities, and expected outcomes.

The project aims to support educators in digitally transforming teaching, developing cultural intelligence competencies, and fostering internationalization in higher education. Additionally, an educational e-laboratory is planned, which will be tested with educators and administrative staff.

Project Coordinator:

Social Innovation Fund, Lithuania

Project Partners:

Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
Social Innovation LTD, Cyprus
University of Latvia, Latvia
Instituto Politecnico Do Porto – OT, Portugal
Associated Partner: Lithuanian Distance and e-Learning (LieDM) Association, Lithuania

Final OER-Codex Project Conference

On January 13-14, 2025, in Piran, Slovenia, the OER-Codex project leader, Prof. Dr. Aušra Rutkienė, and researchers Dr. Giedrė Tamoliūnė and Indrė Oleškevičienė participated in the final project meeting and the concluding OER-Codex project conference. During the final conference, the project leader and researchers delivered a presentation titled “Virtual Collaboration in Action: Key Lessons from Developing OERs with Educators.” The event was organized by the EMUNI University. The event showcased the project results, focusing primarily on the development and sustainability of Open Educational Resources (OER) as an essential component of the open science movement and the role of OER in enhancing collaborative virtual learning.

The goal of the OER-Codex project is to create OER course modules for higher education instructors, based on digital remote collaboration methods in a blended learning context, aiming to enhance the capacity and readiness of higher education institutions to implement effective changes in digital education.

The Institute of Innovative Studies at VMU Education Academy is implementing this project in partnership with TU Dresden (Germany), IMC Krems (Austria), and EMUNI (Slovenia).

More about the project can be found here.

The OER-Codex project, no. 2021-1-DE01-KA220-HED-000023196, is funded by the European Union. The educational materials and content created within this project reflect only the authors’ views, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use of the information provided therein.

Recommendations for teachers before the start of the new semester

Check whether the course code(s) in the Moodle environment and the study program network and/teacher portal.
Please note that it is necessary to update the MS Teams meeting/room links in the course (delete the previous semester and create new one). How to create MS Teams meeting room in Moodle
Update the dates of existing activities. It is possible to check and see the set dates of all activities at once -> Administration -> Course administration -> Reports -> Dates.
Pay attention to whether the educational material is available (visible) to students (you can check this by activating the student role by clicking on your name in the upper right corner in Moodle and then Switch role to -> Student).
Delete messages from previous semesters that were sent to the learners via discussion forum.
Update the study description (the student guide).
Delete student test attempts from the previous semester (it is required if you want to add/delete questions in the test activity).
View whether uploaded video materials (videos, links, etc.) are available to students.
Pay attention whether the authorship in your uploaded slides is indicated.

Wishing a happy holiday season