2021 European Online and Distance Learning Week
EDEN is hosting the European Online and Distance Learning Week (EODLW) for the sixth time. Virtual events takes place on 3-11th of November.
This week will be an excellent opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and to discuss how education should look like in the post pandemic era. During EODLW, you will have access to daily online webinars and panel sessions of expert scholars and practitioners, who will present best practices and expertise in online and distance education and discuss with the audience on the challenges in shaping the future of education and how we can fully harness the potential of new models of online and distance learning.
More information about EDEN European Online and Distance Learning week, presentation time and moderators and speakers of each day can be found at EDEN website. The participation in this event is free. We invite you to register and actively participate.
Digitization strategy of the University’s academic activities was formed by order of the Rector of Vytautas Magnus University
In September of 2020, after the first six months of the pandemic, (since all the academic activities had to take place in a digital environment) a group of experts on the digitization strategy of the University’s academic activities was formed by order of the Rector of Vytautas Magnus University. Through self-analysis, the aim of this group is to assess the challenges and good practices in academic units when digitalizing study content, as well as teaching and learning activities, using learning data analysis tools to monitor and to improve learning progress, to evaluate digital tools and institutional support for teachers, to offer recommendations on how to improve the digitalization process of academic activities, and to point out strategic directions for the digitalization of these activities to take.
The subgroups of the self-assessment group have selected the topic coordinators in accordance with the topics for self-analysis: prof. habil. dr. Rūta Petrauskaitė, associate prof. dr. Laima Anglickienė, prof. dr. Margarita Teresevičienė, Konstantinas Kurževas, and Aistė Žemaitytė. The leader of the self-assessment group is the director of the VMU Innovative Studies Institute of VMU Education Academy prof. dr. Airina Volungevičienė.
The thematic self-assessment groups have performed SWOT analysis, as well as systematically reviewing the results according to the framework of a digitally competent organization (DigCompOrg) and prepared proposals for the University’s strategic goals. In the meantime, the representatives of the study units took the initiative in the digitalization process of study subjects for formal and non-formal studies, as well as for international cooperation in the field of virtual mobility, micro-credentials, and other innovations based on the technology.
The work of the self-assessment group is ongoing. The interim results will be presented at an international EUA seminar (briefly announced by the members of the self-assessment group in this video here) and also in the EUA discussions of Thematic Peer Groups.
EDEN webinar “How to examine or how not to examine; that is the question in the post pandemic era”
EDEN hosts webinar series Time for Action in Shaping HE 4.0. The new webinar of the series #onlinetogether Time for Action in Shaping HE 4.0 is organized on Monday, 11 October 2021. It is called “How to examine or how not to examine; that is the question in the post pandemic era”.
There have been a lot of challenges for education system during pandemic, one of the main questions was how to examine students learning when face to face examinations have not been possible. This webinar will examine some of the approaches to summative assessment which include how to substitute physical assessment with remote technology enhanced assessment.
We invite you to register and participate at this webinar. You can register here.
More information about the seminar can be found here.
VMU in EUA Workshop Developing a high-performance digital education ecosystem: strategy and organizational culture
Vytautas Magnus university prof. dr. Airina Volungeviciene, together with prof. dr. Ruta Petrauskaite, a chair of VMU digitalization subgroup, are participating in the Developing a high-performance digital education ecosystem: strategy and organizational culture workshop, organized and led by EUA, as a part of DIGI-HE project.
The workshop will take place on 19th October from 15.00 to 18.00 (EEST).
This is the first part of a three-part workshop series which aims at exploring how higher educational institutions can enhance digital learning and teaching through self-reflection. This first workshop will examine the role of strategy and organizational culture in developing a high-performance digital education ecosystem. In the meantime, the subsequent workshops will focus on matters regarding curriculum and internationalization.
The workshop will be held online. Participation is free of charge and registration is open until 5th October. Active involvement in discussions and peer exchanges is highly expected. However, there are limits to attendance as only 30 spots are available, with a maximum of two people from the same institution. To register for the event, check this link.
To learn more about the workshop, click here.
To look at the program of the workshop, click here.
Digitally Competent Lecturer and Digitally Competent Teacher
On August 24, 2021 the multiplier event of the project EdDiCo (Supporting the Development of the Digital Competences of Educators, agreement No. 2019-1-DE01-KA203-005070) took place in Klaipeda.
The event presented the EdDiCo project, its objectives and the results already achieved. The working group discussed the perspectives of the project activities and the possibilities of improving the project or ensuring the continuity of the project idea in other projects. Two professional development programmes – Digitally Competent Lecturer and Digitally Competent Teacher, as well as the complementary and openly accessible Virtual Didactic Laboratory, were selected and presented as a separate topic of the seminar. After the presentation of the programs, which are based on the DigCompEdu framework (which is also the basis of some of the results of the EdDiCo project), there was a discussion on the constantly evolving digital competences, the areas for extension of the framework and the practical challenges.
The event was attended by municipal politicians and heads of education departments, representatives of higher education institutions, researchers, representatives of associations, trade unions and other social partners, members of the Seimas, the Government representatives.
Presentation of digitally competent teacher program
A comprehensive list of Digital Competences of Educators
Digital competence development model
Open discussion about micro-credentialisation
Open Consultation with the stakeholders from higher education, VET, adult learning institutions, as well as HE decision makers, technology experts and practitioners was organized to discuss micro-credentialisation, the challenges and the possibilities to create open, flexible and recognisable learning paths for society members.
The Open Consultation was organized in the framework of ECCOE project.
The practical handbook developed during Global grant project was also introduced, focusing on the requirements for the process of open and online learning assessment and recognition, relating them to the national and European qualification framework (EQF).
The round – table discussion record is available here (until July 12, 2021)
Webinar “Do we develop digital competences or digital skills?”
Webinar “Do we develop digital competences or digital skills?” will be held on 7 June 2021. The webinar dedicated to address the challenges and needs that education institutions experience in digital competence development and will discuss how the pandemic highlighted the need for development of digital competences.
The coordinator of this webinar is director of VMU Institute for Study Innovations – Prof. dr. Airina Volungevičienė.
We invite you to register and attend. You can find detailed information and link to registration here.
EDEN webinars recordings
EDEN organization held several webinars on distance learning in May. We invite you to watch.
A seminar “Changing Assessment due to Covid-19: Experiences and Impact” was held on May 5th. This interactive session explored the change in assessment in higher education due to the pandemic. You can watch recording of the seminar here.
A seminar “Sharing and collaborating our way out of the storm” was held on May 10th. In this webinar it was identified whether OERs were a solution or was being used in the last year in education; and how OERs may be used in the future. You can watch recording of the seminar here..
A seminar “Developing Teaching and Learning Opportunities and Facilities in Children Care” was held in May 13th, seminar discusses the improvement and creation of learning environments. You can watch recording of the seminar here..
“Gamesforchange” webinar invitation
We invite you to the second virtual program on Innovative Storytelling, as part of the Games for Change Series, Friday, May 14 at 5p.m. (CEST). The event is organized in collaboration with Virtual Reality Experience, Unitelma Sapienza, University of Rome III, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), the European Institute of Design (IED) and Vigamus (Museum of Videogames).
To watch live event on YouTube, click here.
VMU joined a new project “Active Class: Activating Students in Online Classes”
The VMU team representatives from Institute for Study Innovations and Faculty of Humanities has joined the partnership lead by University of SILESIA in Katowice (Poland) in a new Erasmus+ project “Active Class: Activating Students in Online Classes”. The project started in March 2021 and lasts for 24 months. The main planned results of the project are
- to created a methodology for activating students in online learning
- to collect best practices, shared by the partnering university teachers,
- to create and share the scenarios that may foster student active participation while learning online.
On 22nd of April project partnership had an online kick=off meeting to start cooperating in the project activities and creation of intellectual outputs. Some of the project activities are interrelated with a broader T4E university alliance project, thus the participation in the projects will require cooperation between internal departments of university and their cooperation with the other partnering universities.