ELearning: Fifth Annual Conference in Serbia
The guiding question of the keynote asks how one can address and improve learning quality through innovation and eLearning in order to modernize lifelong learning and thereby improve the impact of education and training in society. Globalisation, worldwide connectivity, and online services are changing the world of work as well as all of our lives by offering new opportunities for innovative (formal, non-formal, and informal) learning. The TELIT Research Institute handles these challenges through its focus on technology-enhanced learning and innovative education and training.
Efforts towards opening up education through innovations like online cooperation, MOOCs, and technology-enhanced learning have achieved broad awareness and agreement through the support of new policies launched by the European Commission. Nevertheless, investment in education and training is decreasing in many countries despite general recognition of its importance. Innovation and eLearning can foster new ways of learning; however many contributions currently focus exclusively on technological opportunities. Educational change through refined pedagogies, however, is extremely important in order to achieve the highest learning quality possible.
ICORE, the International Community for Open Research and Open Education, was established with this objective in 2013 and launched at the international LINQ Conference in Rome in order to promote open education and its connections with open research. ICORE collaborates with leading European and international organizations that are motivated by a common vision, joining efforts for future strategies and activities that facilitate innovative learning in schools, universities, societies, and at work.
To support this objective, Open Discovery Space (ODS), supported by the European Commission, was initiated as the major European initiative and community. ODS is introducing eLearning in 28 countries and over 2,000 schools throughout Europe and is helping more than 10,000 teachers open up and modernize school education.
Prof. Dr. Marcus Specht from the Open University of the Netherlands will hold the second keynote at eLearning. He will focus on the potential of and solutions offered by mobile learning.
Conference Chair, Prof. Dr. Dragan Domazet, is organising the eLearning conference at the Belgrade Metropolitan University for the fifth year.