open education movement

11:04 AM    

open education movement,Open educational resources

Open educational resources (OER) are freely accessible, openly licensed documents and media that are useful for teaching, learning, and assessing as well as for research purposes. Although some people consider the use of an open file format to be an essential characteristic of OER, this is not a universally acknowledged requirement.
The development and promotion of open educational resources is often motivated by a desire to curb the commodificationof knowledge[1] and provide an alternate or enhanced educational paradigm.[2]

Defining the scope and nature of open educational resources


The idea of open educational resources (OER) has numerous working definitions.[3]The term was firstly coined at UNESCO’s 2002 Forum on Open Courseware and designates “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions. Open licensing is built within the existing framework of intellectual property rights as defined by relevant international conventions and respects the authorship of the work”. Often cited is the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation term which defines OER as: "teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge".[4] The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines OER as: "digitised materials offered freely and openly for educators, students, and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning, and research. OER includes learning content, software tools to develop, use, and distribute content, and implementation resources such as open licences".[5] (This is the definition cited by Wikipedia's sister project, Wikiversity.)[6]By way of comparison, the Commonwealth of Learning "has adopted the widest definition of Open Educational Resources (OER) as ‘materials offered freely and openly to use and adapt for teaching, learning, development and research’".[7] TheWikiEducator project suggests that OER refers "to educational resources (lesson plans, quizzes, syllabi, instructional modules, simulations, etc.) that are freely available for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing'.[8][9]
The above definitions expose some of the tensions that exist with OER:
  • Nature of the resource: Several of the definitions above limit the definition of OER to digital resources, while others consider that any educational resource can be included in the definition.
  • Source of the resource: While some of the definitions require a resource to be produced with an explicit educational aim in mind, others broaden this to include any resource which may potentially be used for learning
  • Level of openness: Most definitions require that a resource be placed in the public domain. Others require for use to be granted merely for educational purposes, or exclude commercial uses.
At the same time, these definitions also share some universal commonalities, namely they all:
  • cover both use and reuse, repurposing, and modification of the resources;
  • include free use for educational purposes by teachers and learners
  • encompass all types of digital media.[10]
Given the diversity of users, creators and sponsors of open educational resources, it is not surprising to find a variety of use cases and requirements. For this reason, it may be as helpful to consider the differences between descriptions of open educational resources as it is to consider the descriptions themselves. One of several tensions in reaching a consensus description of OER (as found in the above definitions) is whether there should be explicit emphasis placed on specifictechnologies. For example, a video can be openly licensed and freely used without being a streaming video. A book can be openly licensed and freely used without being an electronic document. This technologically driven tension is deeply bound up with the discourse of open-source licensing. For more, see Licensing and Types of OER later in this article.
There is also a tension between entities which find value in quantifying usage of OER and those which see such metrics as themselves being irrelevant to free and open resources. Those requiring metrics associated with OER are often those with economic investment in the technologies needed to access or provide electronic OER, those with economic interests potentially threatened by OER,[11] or those requiring justification for the costs of implementing and maintaining the infrastructure or access to the freely available OER. While a semantic distinction can be made delineating the technologies used to access and host learning content from the content itself, these technologies are generally accepted as part of the collective of open educational resources.[12]
Since OER are intended to be available for a variety of educational purposes, most organizations using OER neither award degrees nor provide academic or administrative support to students seeking college credits towards a diploma from a degree granting accredited institution.[13][14] In open education, there is an emerging effort by some accredited institutions to offer free certifications, or achievement badges, to document and acknowledge the accomplishments of participants.

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Chronicle of the annual congress of European Schoolnet # Eminent2014

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The annual congress of European Schoolnet (EUN) , EMINENT ( Experts Meeting in Education Networking ), held in Zurich this month, has had as its central theme this year "assessment of key competencies: paradigm shifts". In addition to reviewing policies and innovation projects in European education, the proposal has been to focus the conference on exploring the notion of evaluation and current affairs on this, as outlined in the Communication of the European Commission on " Opening Up Education " , which stresses the need to "explore and try, in cooperation with stakeholders and Member States, the frames of digital skills and self-assessment tools for students, faculty and organizations".

Participants at the conference have been:

collect updated on innovative and educational policy issues assessment information.
make their contributions to the discussions and shaping the future work program of European Schoolnet.
connect with peers and other stakeholders in each sector and field.
The policy of innovation and experimentation have always been at the heart of the work of EUN. In EMINENT 2014, have dedicated part of the program to be presented to the ministries of education, industry partners and other stakeholders in education, the latest results of the projects of innovation and experimentation that promote, as iTEC , inGenious , Creative Classrooms Lab , eSkills jobs for 2014 , Living Lab Schools   and eSafety label . The session was informative posters on projects on Future Classroom Lab , Creative Classroom Lab , Evaluation of Science Fairs, Go-Lab , LangOER and KeyCoNet .

The conference hashtag on Twitter was # Eminent2014. A summary of tweets generated with that tag is in: https://storify.com/conectatic/eminent2014

[ View the story "# eminent2014. Expert Meeting in Education Networking" on Storify ]
Summary of presentations program

Opening session
Giovanni Biondi (Chairman of European Schoolnet Steering Committee) opened alluding to the educational revolution underway Congress, the challenges posed by the new paradigm of key skills and the necessary integration of digital media, involving new forms of assessment. It takes a new teacher for the new school model, but it also requires specifying the powers of the new teacher.

Monika Knill (Head Department of Education of Canton Thurgau) gave institutional welcome from the hosts and stressed the importance of these meetings to address these challenges.

Barry O'Sullivan (Senior Advisor, British Council) made ​​the keynote address. He talked about the necessary changes in systems and assessment practices. He reviewed the history of educational assessment and commented that we evaluated in a similar way as it was a century ago. Society has changed and we must adapt the evaluation systems. The technology supports innovation, but not just because we use technology innovation.

Mesa "Trends and challenges in evaluation"
Roger Blamire (Senior Advisor, European Schoolnet) opened the reflection on what is evaluation, types, purposes and new trends related to competency assessment.

Janet Looney (Director, European Institute for Education and Social Policy / EIESP) gave an overview of the main theories and methods of assessment, either summative (tests), training (referenced criteria, feedback), ipsative (portfolios, tools monitoring of student progress.) Each evaluation method collects various types of information in different ways and times.

Morten Søby (Head of Department, Norwegian Centre for ICT in education, Ministry of Education and Research) discussed the challenges of evaluating new media. He described the evaluation plan digital competition in Norway, according to its own framework. He offered collaborative research group on learning analytics.

Mesa "Learning Analytics and education"
Peter Karlberg (Skolverket, Sweden, Chair of the Policy Innovation Committee) and Patricia Wastiau (Principal Advisor for Studies, EUN) made ​​a summary of the discussion groups digital competition and innovation policies, with the latest trends identified on analytical technologies learning data. It is important to determine what data you wish to collect and how we use them better educational intervention purposes are.

4. Parallel Workshops

A. Learning with mobile devices, evaluation and inclusion: contributions of the network of special educational needs (Sennett) and Classrooms Creative Lab (CCL). Speakers: Roger Blamire (EUN), Jan de Craemer (Flemish Ministry of Education), Leo Højsholt-Poulsen (Danish National Agency for IT and Learning), Patrizia and Silvia Lotti Panzavolta (INDIRE, Italy).

The tablets are becoming more popular in schools. They present unique opportunities and challenges in the evaluation as the inclusion of 15% of students with special needs in Europe. The objective of the workshop was to broaden the debate on changing paradigms of assessment to include students with special needs, based on information from two EUN projects pay special attention to the use of tablets: Sennet and CCL. Case studies were presented video of students with special educational needs who use tablets in regular classes in six countries involved and the work of CCL project with its focus on collaboration and evaluation, which this year will shed light on the opportunities particular tablets that may be provided. Sennet other results on digital content and teacher training is also provided; is also debate about future plans and generalizability.

B. Scientix: education policy recommendations in STEM projects, experiences and results. Speakers: Agueda Gras Velazquez and Gina Mihai (EUN).

The Scientix workshop focused on results and lessons learned from different European STEM projects. During the first part of the workshop, participants had the opportunity to get to Scientix and other STEM projects, highlighting the results and best practices. The second part of the workshop consisted of an open debate, in which participants could share experiences and best practices acquired for their participation in STEM projects and the impact they had in their centers and educational practice. It has also been reflected on a series of recommendations for the projects and their results and how they can help teachers and school administrators.

C. Bridging the digital skills gap: eSkills and digital work. Speakers: Charmaine Kerr and Tommaso Dallavecchia (EUN).

Despite stagnating economic growth and high unemployment, demand for digital work stations in Europe is growing continuously. Studies estimate that in 2015 around 500,000 vacancies in digital positions will not be covered due to the lack of suitable candidates. And this figure can reach almost one million in 2020. "e-Skills for Jobs 2014" is a mainstream Europe-wide campaign promoted by the European Commission and the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs. The campaign consists of hundreds of national and European events, meetings with social partners and political and business leaders, media and social media marketing ... It is that young people, families and educators are aware of the relationship between having and maintaining digital skills and access to jobs. The workshop discussed the digital competence of teachers is one of the most important generalizations in society attention to these shortcomings keys.

D. Promotion of key skills in school: Virtual Guide to learning in entrepreneurship. Speaker: Sofia Aslanidou (EUN)

The materials of the Virtual Guide is a practical and useful tool for teachers in primary, secondary and vocational schools that wish to integrate entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship in the methods of teaching and learning processes that are configured in the classroom. In addition to tools, the guide provides examples of leadership and best practices from different schools in several countries, an overview of policy and strategic documents and two self-assessment tools for teachers and schools. Besides presenting the material of the guide, there is debate about the most appropriate policies and relevant practice in integrating entrepreneurship training in education. The "The Entrepreneurial School" project is co-funded by the 'Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) "of the European Union.

Tables policy experimentation in Europe.
Patricia Wastiau (EUN) presented the outlines of projects and policies experimentation European Schoolnet. The ultimate goal is the mainstreaming of good practices that have been tested, for which, the sharing and dissemination are key elements in the processes developed.

Anja Balanskat (EUN) presented the first results of Project Classrooms Creative Lab , which has allowed to experiment with new methods and devices (Spain does not participate).

Karin Steinmann (Amgen Teach) presented by the pharmaceutical company Amgen educational program .

Jan De Craemer (Coordinator of ICT in Education and Media Literacy Policy, Flemish Ministry of Education & Training) presented the Draft eSafety label, http://www.esafetylabel.eu/ , which provides tools for assessing the safety of infrastructure, policies and practices with digital media in schools and create a personalized action plan.

Closing session: "System-wide and whole school change, building on iTEC School and Living Lab projects".
Will Ellis (Project Manager, iTEC) and Dorothy Cassells (Project Manager, Living Lab School) presented the progress both iTEC Project http://itec.eun.org/ , offering a wealth of resources and examples of good practice in relation to the design of classroom of the future (it would be highly desirable for Spain to participate more actively in this project) and Living Lab Schools, http://lsl.eun.org/ , with examples of models of ICT integration projects educational center. All developments and examples of good practice are reviewed in reference websites of projects.

He closed the conference Marc Durando (Executive Director European Schoolnet) highlighting the importance of using cooperation platforms such as eTwinning, for experimentation and spread of innovation posed new technological challenges for educational processes and actors.
Conferences , Education , Europe , European Schoolnet , European Projects
Conferences , Education , Europe , European Schoolnet ,European Projects 

Tags: Conferences , Education , Europe , European Schoolnet , European Projects 

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The latest advances in technology and education that were in SIMO 2014

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The past 16, 17 and October 18, Madrid hosted the II edition SIMO Education . Organized by IFEMA in collaboration with Education 3.0 , the show has had a full program of activities which have combined exhibitions, workshops, panel discussions and presentations, as well as presenting pioneering experiences of using technology in the classroom. This scenario has been used to relate different educational experts and technology, publishing, teaching professionals world, ICT coordinators, principals, etc., who have spoken, among other issues, education of the future and the past developments in educational technology, multiple intelligences, learning projects and technological and social inclusion.
Professional Training, Events, SIMO, Technology, ICT,


Those attending SIMO 2014 Education have known firsthand innovative devices such as Google Glass , the wearable   Gear S or virtual reality goggles Gear VR of Samsung ; also educational robotics systems and innovative design bq which connects the project with 3D printing. 3D printers have occupied a prominent place at the fair, and that allowed visitors to closely observe the printing process sample parts and their educational opportunities. The sample of the different tactile tablet devices, whiteboards or smart TVs and various virtual environments with interactive tools aimed at improving the productivity of learning, companies like HP , Promethean , Telefónica Learning Services , Dell or Lenovo , among others , presented at the fairgrounds. As he points K12 Horizon Report , the benefits of intuitive technology are becoming increasingly significant, especially when used for the student to be an active protagonist of their learning.

Among the sessions held in the Auditorium, include interventions Marc Prensky , about the changes necessary to educate in the third millennium, Miguel Brechner , president of Ceibal Plan , María Perhaps , author of rEDUvolution, or Carlos Magro , who encouraged attendees to promote educational change in the current school incorporating new technologies, among other educational experts .

Teachers have a space reserved at SIMO Education 2014 where they shared their experiences on foot classroom, spoke about the importance of eLearning, the MOOC, programming with Scratch, augmented reality or gamification, among others. Similarly, children have had great representation at the fair, as it has been given the opportunity to participate in presentations and discuss things from their point of view.

From the INTEF have also presented the new formation of massive online courses ( MOOC ) of the Ministry of Education , the communication model EducaLab and program eTwinning in Spain. In addition, there has been space Procomún education and all the possibilities for teachers. To complete the program SIMO Education, have conducted workshops that have seen the Project Based Learning as a methodology that allows a better educational use of technological resources, content creation with eXeLearning , CLIL methodology (Integrated Learning Content and Language), examples of educational use of augmented reality or robotics projects with Scratch 2.0, among other thematic units.

Note that the fair has highlighted not only bring new technology trends attendees, confirming SIMO as a technology showcase of reference for the educational community, but also give them the opportunity to actively participate in workshops and demonstrations. You searched this way that teachers could experience firsthand resources and methodologies that promote the improvement of teaching practice. The show concluded with the presentation of awards SIMO , which has been awarded innovation and recognition of the work of professionals who favor the development of ICT solutions in education. Thus, for the second consecutive year, SIMO Education, in collaboration with the magazine Education 3.0 , it has become the Hall of technological reference for education.

Professional Training, Events, SIMO, Technology, ICT, 

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EDUCATION SIMO 2014

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From Thursday 16 October to Saturday 18 is held in Madrid SIMO EDUCATION 2014 . Under the theme "Teaching in a Digital World", is aimed at education professionals. It offers a wide and interesting program with lectures, workshops, seminars, roundtables and experiences of using technology in the classroom.

Professional Training , Digital Competition , Teacher Training , Teaching resources , ICT

Among the various conferences especially oriented to compulsory education, SIMO Education program will feature speeches by renowned author Marc Prensky , who will speak on education of the future and how to convert the digital natives protagonists of their learning, and Miguel Brechner , president of Ceibal Plan, a program that has allowed providing technology to schools in Uruguay. He also will learn more about multiple intelligences and emotional psychologist and writer Begoña Ibarrola , or the theories presented María Perhaps in his book "rEDUvolution".

In the Hall of Communications teachers tell their classroom experience from the development of different initiatives, such as project work in a rural school, class or Flipped Classroom backwards, the use of video games, assessment practices, or projects Collaborative, among other topics.

In addition, the Board of Practical Workshops topics augmented reality tools and apps will be treated to 'flip the class', creating digital identity, or how to leverage digital 'artifacts'. Mobile Learning in Room will be announced experiences and educational workshops on -apps mobile devices will be developed, the revolution of mobile learning, videos, music, QR codes, etc. And in the Hall of Audiovisual Language, focusing on communications, there will be workshops on the advantages of film, radio, podcasts in class and learn about Stop Motion, among others.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education will present some of the projects we are working at the Institute of Educational Technology and Teacher Education: PROCOMUN , space for easy access to the repository of educational digital resources open ( REA) of the Ministry and the Autonomous Communities. The latest news portal eTwinning and presentation of the latest eXelearning , open authoring tool to help teachers to create and publish web content code. EducaLab, its contents and social spaces, and the experimental plan MOOC for teacher training.

Some of these presentations will be accompanied by workshops in which participants will learn the possibilities offered tools and spaces of the Ministry to education professionals.

The National Institute of Educational Technology and Teacher Education (INTEF) of the Ministry of Education, issued to teachers attending activities SIMO Education 2014 certificate for 8 hours of training, according to the Order EDU / 2886/2011, of 20 October, establishing the call, recognition, certification and registration of the activities of teacher training is regulated.

 Professional Training , Digital Competition ,Teacher Training , Teaching resources , ICT

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Support for undertaking projects to improve learning

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From the 4th to October 18, 2014, clusters composed of centers or educational units supported by public funds of at least two different autonomous communities or cities may apply for support to develop and implement projects to improve learning. With this aid is intended to encourage the implementation of organizational and methodological changes that increase the number of students completing compulsory education and continue further studies.
Professional Training , aids , teaching skills , Calls , improved learning , projects

Are at least three strategic lines around which schools should articulate their projects:


  • the application of methodologies that promote the acquisition and comprehensive skills development,
  • personalized attention to student diversity and
  • updating and development of digital competence of the members of the education community.
In your application, will also play a key role coordinating centers with those from students or those which continue their training and performance improvement through direct observation of the organizational and teaching practice of other colleagues profession.

They may be eligible for such aid centers or educational units that impart the following lessons: Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Special Education, Secondary Education, Vocational Training, Adult Education and Special Education System.

To facilitate contact between centers of different communities and autonomous cities, to form groups, has created a professional community in the commons area. To do this you must become a member of the community center PROMECE .

Find all the information on these aids in the resolution published in the BOE and you can register your application pool in the electronic office of the Ministry of Education. Inquiries may be directed to intef.promece@mecd.es .

Also you may find useful the Guidelines of the Call and instructions to fill an application at the Electronic Office.

Professional Training, aids, teaching skills, Calls, improved learning, projects, 

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Connectivity schools

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Teachers and program designs based on the use of digital educational resources with increasing intensity and frequency activities. In most cases access to these resources is done in school and the entrance to the network, for the students to access content occurs simultaneously. Chances are, at that moment, in the center is conducting a similar activity for another class group and therefore, is competing for the use of a valuable shared resource: bandwidth Internet access.

Connectivity is defined as the ability to connect or make connections. This ability, in the context at hand, ie Internet access of schools, is conditioned by several factors. Within the working group on connectivity Plan for Digital Culture at the School , we are dealing with analyzing and finding the best solutions or, at least, the most viable to help schools and education authorities to optimize the use of this precious.

ADSL , connectivity , fiber optic , digital culture Plan , WiMAX


To advance the search for solutions, we have dissected the problem into three areas or components of connectivity: the communications backbone with which the autonomous region or country has the capillarity of broadband networks throughout the extent of the territory and finally, the distribution of bandwidth within schools. This article will deal only in summary form some of the contributions that have been made in the space of the capillary, leaving for another day aspects of other areas.

First, we have found through reports that have been sent by the autonomous communities, the most common connection of a school in Spain internet is via ADSL technology. We're talking about connections flow means 10 to 30 Mbs. While this technology in the home environment can still offer sufficient performance for most households in the case of access to schools it is weak. Its clear substitute is the connection to the fiber optic network, since both capacity obtained steadily as service quality is much higher.


There are already schools in those regions where they have the ability to hire their own connections, they are making the change of their ADSL lines for fiber optic connections. The same happens when the autonomous communities have centralized procurement capacity of the lines through competitions: install fiber optic where coverage permits. For rural centers, where the fiber has not yet arrived, it is opting in some regions by use of broadband wireless technology (WiMAX). It is a solution to be considered because, as the technology develops, it will obtain a rate considerably higher than the real bandwidth of ADSL transfer in these areas.

Just as a decade witnessed the gradual migration of our Internet access from modems connected to the switched telephone network to broadband ADSL ago gave us, now and perhaps assist in a range of Minor-time consolidation Internet connections over fiber optics, as traders are in full deployment of their networks and the costs begin to be assumable. Fibre connections offer another advantage: you can extend the bandwidth at much higher current levels (50 to 100 Mbs on average) using the same infrastructure. With bandwidth always happens that the more you have, the more they consume and always seems insufficient: content providers are designing new services and applications to be voracious consumers of the same in the next decade.

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Strategic Framework for Teacher Development

7:14 AM  , , ,  

The National Institute of Educational Technology and Teacher Education (INTEF) has identified three areas of work that will structure the new Strategic Framework for Teacher Development, in line with EU policies on education and training which have resulted the "program Education and Training 2020 "and the proposals announced in the new strategy" Rethinking Education ".

Strategic Framework for Teacher Development
Strategic Framework for Teacher Development

The main objectives are:


  • guide the initial and continuing teacher education to a new competency model for the teaching profession in the twenty-first century,
  • explore new forms of training to facilitate professional collaboration (learning in communities of practice, massive open courses ...)
  • establish a common regulatory framework that allows the accreditation of skills for the practice of the profession and recognition of activities that show verifiable evidence of effective professional development pathways that encourage educational leadership.

With these objectives, it is currently working on three projects in collaboration with the Autonomous Communities and groups of experts and teachers:

1. Professional Skills Teachers

To meet the needs of teacher education that society demands we need to redefine the profession. And for this it is necessary to establish a framework of professional teaching skills to help a methodological change in the school and enable teachers to develop and evaluate the core competencies of the students. The new competency model as a basis for training plans and other policies in the entire education system, which requires the cooperation of educators at all levels and is a reflection of the current social demands and the latest educational developments and technology.

2. New Methods of Training

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and social learning activities in virtual communities of practice are new forms of network formation that have emerged in recent years and are spreading to various proposals. The Ministry can join this innovative movement within a strategic plan defining the objectives and means of these new modalities, offering new opportunities for training, collaboration and professional development related to the sharing of experiences and educational resources through the use of digital platforms that facilitate this.

3. Regulation of Training

This project focuses on the study of a new regulatory framework for recognition and accreditation of teacher education, which is oriented to the accreditation of skills and includes new training methods.

The guidelines of the Strategic Framework for Teacher Development orient new plans for teacher training of INTEF for next school year, including a series of training activities aimed at developing teaching skills and an experimental pilot massive open online course (MOOC ), which will have as its main objective the improvement of the digital competence of teachers.

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European survey of schools: ICT in Education

7:11 AM  ,  

The National Institute of Educational Technology and Teacher Education (INTEF) presents an analysis, the results and conclusions of large-scale survey entitled " Survey of Schools: ICT in education "promoted by the European Union and integrated into a set of data collection activities that compare national progress and objectives of the i2010 and EU2020 initiatives.

The results of this large survey configure a report to be published on 18 April 2013. This is the first Europe-wide survey on ICT in schools since the reports "eEurope 2002" will be held and " eEurope 2005 ". It also is the first online survey on information technology and communication in schools and the first to include the students directly.

With this initiative the European Commission intends to establish indicators that can be used to measure the progress of ICT integration in schools with a view to 2020 and thus to compare the performance of each country in relation to these indicators or targets, identify strengths and weaknesses of these developments and provide information that can serve as a reference in national and European policies.

The study was conducted in 31 countries (27 EU, Iceland, Norway, Croatia and Turkey), by surveying some 190,000 people, including students, principals and teachers of primary, secondary, high school and junior vocational training centers randomly selected, representing a sample of a total of 1,200 schools by country.

European survey of schools: ICT in Education
European survey of schools: ICT in Education


The main fields of research are the digital competence of students and their attitudes towards ICT, the use of these by students inside and outside the classroom, professional use by teachers, also inside and outside the classroom, teacher attitudes toward educational use of these technologies, infrastructure facilities, connectivity and access to them, and the role of management teams regarding these and instructional use.

From the results of the survey showed that the levels of use of ICT and digital skills are still unequal, although faculty and European students willing to "convert to digital world", there are twice as computers in schools since 2006 and most centers are now "connected". In addition, teachers need more training and technical support.

Some of the conclusions drawn regarding the situation in Spain are:


  • Spanish schools have good levels of ICT equipment compared to the European average, especially for portable computers are concerned.
  • Both the levels of provision of broadband connectivity as the centers are above the European average. The primary school students are relatively well equipped compared to European rates. It is noteworthy that a small number of students at centers equipped to very low level.
  • The frequency of use of ICT in the classroom is slightly lower than the European average.
  • Spain is in the first position on ICT training in the last 2 years. The professional development c o n this technology is widespread in education at all levels analyzed, and the use of online communities, and really few students are in centers teachers have received little training.
  • Confidence levels of both the faculty and the students, in their ICT skills are lower than the European average in most of the levels tested.
  • At all levels analyzed, a percentage higher than the European average students are in schools with the presence of ICT coordinators.
In general, Spanish students enjoy high levels of equipment and connectivity, and tend to be digitally centers and equipped teachers trained in ICT. However, it is curious that this teacher training does not result in high levels of trust in technology or greater use of these in the classroom.

The main findings of the survey at European level:


  • Only one in four students in nine years is on centers digitally equipped to high standards, that is, with upgraded appliances, high-speed broadband (over 10Mbps) and high connectivity (web center, e-mail to faculty and students, local area network and virtual learning environment).
  • Only half of pupils aged 16 digitally equipped centers is at high level.
  • 20% of pupils in secondary education has never or rarely used a computer in the classroom.
  • The frequency with which students complete activities based on ICT in the classroom is higher in schools that have adopted formal policies regarding the use of these technologies.
  • There are significant differences between countries in terms of technological equipment. Schools in the Nordic and Scandinavian countries are the ones with better equipment (Sweden, Finland, Denmark), while Poland, Romania, Italy, Greece, Hungary and Slovakia the worst.
  • Laptops, tablets and netbooks are replacing desktop computers in many schools.
  • The lack of ICT equipment does not translate into a lack of interest in information technology and communication. In fact, some countries, such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Cyprus and Hungary, have low rates of provision of this equipment but high levels of use.
  • It is essential that students have access to ICT at home and at school.
  • Most teachers believe that radical change is needed in the centers policies regarding educational technologies.
  • Teachers usually have confidence in the use of ICT for learning, what is even more important than technological equipment itself.
  • However, the training of teachers on this topic is rarely mandatory and therefore most teachers spend their leisure time in acquiring these skills.
  • Teachers use computers to prepare lessons rather than the classroom itself.


Download Report: Survey of schools: ICT in education in Europe

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Open wide education

7:05 AM  ,  

In the new strategy, "he Rethinking Education" ( Rethinking Education ), the European Commission presented in November 2012, the importance of training in basic and generic, especially in entrepreneurship and digital competence, skills stands out and that new technologies Information and communication are fully integrated into training centers and improved access to education through open educational resources (OER). The upcoming release of the "initiative was also announced Opening up Education , "which suggests that this openness has the potential to expand access to education and improve the efficiency and quality of teaching and learning.

Due to technological advances, knowledge is increasingly accessible to all citizens. In recent years there has been an exponential growth in the creation of open educational content and courses and other resources available through the Internet. The so-called "Open Education Movement" and other public and private initiatives are promoting the use of ICT to reduce barriers to education and facilitate forms of more flexible and creative learning characterized by collaboration and where the user He is also creator of learning content. Both REA as EPO (Open Educational Practices) have become hot topics, not only for educational researchers but also for policy makers in Europe and international organizations. However, REA are underexploited. A better understanding of their potential and what should be the goals of your promotion in educational policies.
Open wide education
Open wide education

The "initiative Opening Up Education "will focus on three main objectives:


  • Open the contents: digitized materials offered openly to any student that are reusable and expand opportunities for informal learning. The open access to quality content, accompanied by support services and evaluation, will bring major changes in the educational paradigm by questioning of fundamental issues, such as access to education, providing content or certification of learning casual.
  • Open learning pathways: the increasing use of open resources allow each person to decide their personalized learning, mixing shapes and spaces of learning (school, home, community, work, leisure, etc. ). Schools and universities need to adapt to these new requirements and environments become dynamic, creative and innovative learning. The assessment of skills acquired through REA will also have to be faced, in order to maximize their potential without compromising the absolute need to ensure the quality of assessments. This transformation is only possible if the pedagogical and assessment approaches have full regard to the possibilities offered by new technologies. This will also bring about changes in the roles of teachers and students.
  • Open collaboration: through networks and communities of practice as an increasingly common means of learning. For teachers and students communities of practice can be an ideal for collaborative peer learning platform, the exchange of good practices and even joint development of teaching activities between schools.

This challenge is transverse and has important implications, first for education, educational institutions and training systems, but also in many other areas, such as technology infrastructure, intellectual property and research.

For more information, see the document "Consultation on Opening up Public Education - a Proposal for an European Initiative" . Within this framework, IPTS (JRC) has launched the project OEREU (OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES AND PRACTICES IN EUROPE) , whose main objective is to provide empirical evidence to policy makers in order to guide policy in the field of Open Education .

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7 Ideas for a discussion on "Digital Culture and Education"

7:00 AM  ,  

The Space Foundation Telefonica hosts a series of debates organized in collaboration with élogos Foundation , dedicated to the role of ICT in today's job market in Spain. From what was stated in the roundtable meeting on April 16 on "Digital Culture and Education. ICT as a means and object of study, "7 Ideas include:

Session 3 Digital Culture and Education
Session 3 Digital Culture and Education
  1. There is a major disconnect between what the education sector provides and demanding society and business. Education authorities should make changes in order to provide more appropriate training.
  2. There are not enough well-trained professionals in ICT and foreign languages.
  3. New technologies have changed the way we go to the client and the internal organization of firms. We must learn to work in new virtual spaces and know how to use social media as a powerful communication tool.
  4. In many cases they already have the tools but still works with traditional analog models. You do not need a technical background to be user.
  5. Key is the ability to manage and exploit the abundance of information on the Internet comes continuously.
  6. Instead of emphasizing regular training processes, which are becoming less formal, more diverse and global, should focus more attention on the regulation of the accreditation and certification of skills.
  7. It would be desirable to have a common framework for digital competence in education and that teachers act as active agents of knowledge.   

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Would you like to make educational materials? EXe Learning meet

11:51 AM  , , ,  

Methodological innovation and technology, not only is the possibility that eXeLearning offers to all users. This authoring tool, which is currently one of the most popular around the world, now has a new development that makes it easier still to teachers the creation of interactive educational materials based on the most innovative didactic methodologies, such as work for projects and tasks, or cooperative and collaborative learning methods.

eXe learning helps all those teachers interested in innovating the creation of their own materials according to their needs. It is, therefore, an easy-to-use authoring tool and with open code that allows that educational materials be adapted to the needs of teachers and students. EXe learning can be done with simple and autonomous through the manual published in exelearning.net.

This application allows you to incorporate the methodological innovation in the classroom and break constraints imposed by the traditional educational materials (digital or printed). eXe is a free, open and free application that boasts simplicity in handling among other advantages. Any teacher with some minimal computer skills can learn to create materials in just a few hours.

Guía para elaborar materiales educativos. Se abre en nueva ventana

There is already a huge Bank of educational resources created with eXe and that can be used by any teacher anywhere in the world. Among the examples we can show are those published by the National Center for curriculum development in non-proprietary systems (CeDeC) and the project Ceibal in Uruguay.

In addition to its technical advantages, eXe adapts to the new methodological trends. Created resources may serve support to work on tasks and projects. In this way, a single interactive material may include all the resources needed to raise a classroom project, in which, in addition, collected other methodologies of learning principles.

This is undoubtedly the main contribution of eXe. Give all teachers the possibility of creating content really innovative not only for its interactive character but, above all, for responding to a new approach to teaching and learning processes. At the same time, the eXe properties make it ideal to offer students a flexible, open, and easy-to-use resources.

Recently several institutions have presented the latest version of eXe, exelearning7. This new development is a very important possibilities of this authoring tool development, facilitate that it can work with it from any browser, the incorporation of new idevices, improvements in embedding resources 2.0 and export formats, spelling correction...

EXe Learning development is fundamentally based on the voluntary work of its community of users and developers. Participation in this project is open to all the forums.

Don't even know eXe? We are waiting for you.

Tags: eXeLearning, methodological innovation, open source, interactive educational materials 

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Digital culture in the school plan

11:43 AM  ,  

At the meeting of the Working Group of ICT in education which took place on October 4, 2012 in Merida, proposed work and lines of action of the Ministry of education, culture and Sport (MECD) in the field of ICT in education for the next few years.
The meeting discussed that the MECD performances will be according to autonomous communities (regions), in a space of collaboration and joint decision, and that the projects defined must have dimension State, since only thus will have sufficient critical mass and ensure its sustainability. With this will, it was decided to draw up a Plan of Digital culture in school.
In this framework, the Ministry opened a process of shared reflection, with the participation of the autonomous communities, external experts and heads of the MECD, to define such a plan for the coming years and develop and implement, in the following school years, specific projects to the service of its users (teachers, educational managers, students, families) and citizens in general.
Specifically, the reflection process was structured into five groups of experts linked to the five priority projects of the plan:
I connectivity of schools
II. Interoperabilidad and standards
III. space "Commons" of open content
IV. general catalogue of educational resources of payment: neutral
V. teaching digital competence
In addition, two projects stand, with two additional groups, have been defined oriented to strengthen the dynamics of collaborative work between CCAA and improve channels of communication and interrelation telematics with the educational community:
VI. collaboration with autonomous spaces
VII. Web and social networks
proyectos del INTEF
These seven groups met for the first time in November-December, 2012, and will be maintained throughout the period of the plan as a space of encounter and reflection shared with the aim to support and assess progress in each of its priority projects:


Plan projects
Brief description
I connectivity of schools
Move towards full access of schools to Internet in coordination with the autonomous communities, improving the quality of access in a viable and sustainable way through agreements with agents of the telecommunications sector.
II. Interoperabilidad and standards
Setting standards in the field of educational ICT and promoting the regulatory development of specific interoperability standards for the educational use of ICT within the framework of the national interoperability scheme.
III. space "Commons" of open content
Design the evolution of the educational content repository adds, to become a common area of contents in open that can participate actively throughout the educational community.
IV. general catalogue of educational resources of payment: neutral
Promote agreements with the different agents involved and defining the structure of the meeting point between suppliers of digital textbooks and other educational resources and potential users of the same.
V. teaching digital competence
Establishing a model of development of digital competence of teachers in its various dimensions and levels.
VI. collaboration with autonomous spaces
To create a space that serves as a meeting point between the autonomous communities and the Ministry to work together.
VII. Web and social networks
Evolve towards the logic of single educational portal and develop a strategy of presence on social networks that promotes interaction with the educational community.

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Congress "Quality and early childhood educational care"

11:41 AM    

The Ministry of education, culture and sports of the community Autónoma of Castilla - La Mancha and the Ministry of education, culture and sport are organizing, for on 25, 26 and 27 April 2013, the Congress of national 'Quality and care education to first children', which will be held in Sigüenza (Guadalajara).

Congreso Calidad y atención educativa. Se abre en nueva ventana

The program of this event will count with the participation of speakers from national and international prestige, discussion groups and experiences, as well as an interesting cultural offer, which seeks to give effect to the following objectives:

Demonstrate the importance of the stage of early childhood education from the studies and research carried out in Europe.
Visibility relating to quality and foster a meeting among teachers that invite reflection on the possibilities of their application in the classroom.
Exchange practical experiences carried out by teachers from centers that offer the stage of early childhood education.
The Conference is aimed primarily to teachers of the stage of early childhood education, teachers of early childhood education of vocational training cycles, professors from the faculties of education and permanent training, teams of early care centers, municipal technicians education and directors of schools of all the autonomous communities, and policymakers and administrators thereof.

Congress Web Full program

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Connected education: the school in times of network

11:37 AM    

The increasing digitization process which we live is generating a profound transformation in the way we interact, learn, educate, work, leading people, projects and organizations. Its impact has changed every aspect of our lives, from the most private and personal to the most public and professionals. Digital is not just a set of technologies is above all a new way of doing things. It has more to do with the field of culture to technology. It is more about being with the room, and the poise that know-how. And ultimately, its impact is not so much in doing the same old thing with other tools and do it in a substantially different way. It is, for some , one of the few disruptions in the history of our species. Of those that have profoundly changed our production system and therefore our habits and our ways of production.

If there is something that seems to be a general consensus to uncertainty and continuous change in which we live is in the claim that the social web is here to stay ( Nielsen , PewInternet ). It does not matter much which technology will dominate (although the choice of technology is not neutral nor without consequences), or if the offer will be focused on a single platform or multiple (although it is always preferable to the diversity and multiplicity of homogeneity and uniqueness ). What seems to agree to one and is the relevance of "social turn" the Internet has experienced in the last ten years. A transformation which, remember, has only just begun, but it has taken us from one, a few, advertising unidirectional Internet primarily broadcasting to another built on the "democratization" of production and access to information based participation and constant conversation and characterized by interaction, dialogue and collaboration of many.

On the other hand, by its very nature, by its enormous social relevance, its high impact as an instrument of solidarity and redistribution of wealth and importance in building a better future, education and learning can not, in any way be unaffected by this transformation.

In fact, they have not been. The digital, Internet, Web, Web 2.0, or social Web have long since entered the classroom. And they have done it, how could it be otherwise, with the help of students ( The Internet & Education PewInternet Report ; . Teens social and media PewInternet ), teachers ( Aulablog , Spiral , Hack Education ..) and families ( Parents 2.0 , ...) who, in many cases, facing no opposition, fears or inaction of other agencies, are leading the transformation.

Bells ring change although we resort to memory sufficient to confirm they are not new and that the voices that question the education system and demand a more integrative model and connected with us for years. The debate on the need for education reform and the role of technology in this transformation has been a recurring at least the past 40 years. The largest recall, perhaps with nostalgia, the avalanche of documents and reports from different areas, occurred in the 60s and 70s in favor of the imperative need for this change ( learning to be Fauré Report . UNESCO 1972 Learning Society , Robert Hutchins, 1968 and Torsten Husen, 1974). Also recall with amusement the many initiatives and projects are then launched to incorporate technology into education and that for example it is enough with this great excerpt from a video made ​​in 1967 in which he predicted what it would education in 1999.


1999 A.D. Learning من طرف donaldtheduckie

So rooted (and much needed) in our culture is the debate between reform and education and so accustomed are, unfortunately, hardly accept changes without much surprise that someone can say, from the direction of one of the leading institutions occur European education, "I always thought that what is important in life happen outside the classroom" ( François Dubet ). But like has changed our concept of leisure or work long ceased to be a place to go, Educational finally seems doomed to change. Learning is more than ever a matter not only confined to specific spaces (classrooms), or a standard content (curricula), and not even just a matter between legislators, teachers and students (disintermediation, peer learning, new roles of the teacher). It is something that concerns us all and goes anywhere and anytime ( Juan Freire , Tíscar Lara , Cristóbal Cobo , Zemos98 ) and hence the relevance of talking about connected education , where what matters is being able to respond to why and what we study, how to do, where and from whom to learn ( DML Central , HASTAC , Hybrid Pedagogy ). And although we know that multiple arguments to support that learning was always connected and social, it appears that gains strength the idea that learning is connected or not be and in this process the web and the social web is clear that play (and do) an important role.

"Connected education: the school in times of networks" ( # re-education ), seeks to contextualize the momentum of educational change caused by the emergence of the network wants to be first and foremost a space for reflection and practice on the impact of the Internet. and social networks in teaching and learning. The course is organized around four themes, four areas that are being affected profoundly by the networks:

1. LEARNING NETWORK ( José Luis Cabello , David Alvarez , Juan Sánchez Martos ), where new forms of teaching and learning in network address (communities of practice, so connected, learn from your own experience and others) and on the Web (internet, sources of knowledge, open source, social media). The Internet has dramatically changed our ability to access and produce knowledge ( REA ) has also changed the balance of authority and the traditional role of the teacher ( as educators curators ), the dynamics of the classroom ( flipped classroom , use of hashtags in education ), the recognition systems ( badges ), our ways to keep up ( PLE are for summer ) and our territory of references and connections ( Siemens and Downes ). Whenever it becomes necessary to learn how to learn network ( #ETMOOC ) collectively so connected ( connectivism ), other and other ( A teacher's guide to social media ).



Metropolitan railway

2. LIVE IN THE RED ( Antonio Omatos Urko Fernandez and Victor Cuevas ) that deals with personal and professional management of networks, with identity and fingerprint, with the right to be forgotten but right ahead, privacy and good use of networks with data protection and children and therefore with the need for classroom instruction on the use of social networks . In short, with the necessary learning to live on the Web and inexcusable responsibility for management teams, parents and teachers in the learning process. Denying the impact and incidence of social media in the classroom, prohibit or look the other way does not seem a reasonable choice ( here ), nor responsible ( internet, social networking and David Maeztu oblivion. Didactalia 2013 meeting )

3. SCHOOL OPEN ( Lorena Fernandez , Carlos Magro ). If we accept that the social web has led to a complete change in the ways of relating and communicating, we can not ignore their impact in the classroom and in schools. Networks offer new opportunities for improving communication among members of the educational community (teachers, students, administrators, teams, families) together and the educational center with its environment. They are an opportunity to improve the integration of the educational system, they are a way to open the classroom and aim for an open school. What is the digital identity of a school , who builds ( Branding the Learning Organization ), what new forms are communications and digital integration which has a school or teachers to interact with their immediate environment are just some of the issues to be addressed in this session. The goal: to be able to design the end of the day a model of online presence, a mini media plan for each teacher individually and the entire Center ( Eudora Schools: Embracing Social Media and Creating a Digital-Friendly School District ).

4. WORK ON THE NET ( Julen Iturbe , Charo Fernandez ) discuss how the introduction of digital logic in the classroom mobilizes and amplifies other new skills that have to do with network learning, collaborative and distributed work and project work . Competencies and skills that are essential today for the professional development of individuals ( 21st Century Skills , Framework for 21st Century Learning, Education to employement Mckinsey ) and keys to form citizens and professionals to live and work in changing and uncertain environments, knowing react and adapt quickly to these changes and ultimately knowing collaborate and cooperate in network.

The course ultimately aims to open discussion among all participants on simple questions like: Why educators should be on social media ? How do I select valid sources and content learning in the network What is a PLE and how to use it in the classroom? How can I learn from the experience of others? What is digital identity? Why is it important to manage and teach students to do? Can you use social media to enhance learning? Who and how are you doing? How do you use to communicate with students and families? How it works in network ... definitely "? connected education: the school in times of networks "( Registration ) aims modestly put a grain in the transformation of education, to be able, together, to reverse the phrase of Davies and not against educating experience but from the experience and the experience of others (collectively, networked and shared).

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