dissemination

Web2LLP project partners have launched a series of free online training courses about the use of web strategies and social media tools aimed at anyone involved in European projects supported under the Lifelong Learning Programme.

These courses are made up of 5 modules each lasting 2 hours which will be delivered via webinar sessions taking place at different times in April and May. There will be three such courses, one in French (starting on 19 April), one in Italian (starting on 23 April) and one in English (starting on 30 April). To find out more and to register for one of these courses please visit the online course information. The number of people who can be accommodated is limited so early registration is encouraged.

The project web site now contains a wealth of resources on the topic of social media including video tutorials, showcases, downloadable versions of the 3 handbooks, video tutorials as well as showcases of good-practice LLP projects with interviews, along with links to other useful materials and resources.

This week ATiT is organising a week-long course on Webstrategies and Social Media for LLP Projects in the framework of the Web2LLP project. 8 highly motivated LLP project managers from 6 European countries (Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Spain) are working together in groups to create dissemination strategies and action plans to improve the dissemination and reach of lifelong learning projects.

Beside domain experts and trainers from within the Web2LLP partnership, guest speakers include Bernard Van Isacker (PhoenixKM), Kamakshi Rajagopal (Open University, The Netherlands) and Valentina Garoia (European Schoolnet).

Those who missed this hands-on course can visit the project website for video tutorials, video showcases, 3 handbooks and resources. In April-May the partnership is also organising a free online course series of 5 webinars in English, French and Italian, contact us for further information.

Partners in the VISCED project on Virtual Schools have been meeting this week in Sheffield to discuss the work to date and to plan for the final stages of the project. This meeting also included a gathering of the project's International Advisory Committee where the outputs of the project including critical success factors for the successful deployment of virtual schools were disussed.

These meetings followed the very successful Virtual School Colloquium which brought together virtual schools from 14 different countries, these included schools catering for students that are travelling or seriously ill. It also included schools aimed at marginalised and isolated students.

Full details of the presentations given will be available shortly on the VISCED project website.

ATiT staff met with Web2LLP project partners last week on 1-2 March 2012 for the Web2LLP Kick-Off Meeting hosted by DICA-lab in one of the campuses of the University of Luxembourg in Luxembourg City.

Web2LLP aims to boost dissemination strategies of LLP projects through providing personalised support and training about integrating social media, as well as through identifying best-practices and sharing resources. Following a pilot training, ATiT will organise a face-to-face training and five two-hour online (videoconferencing) sessions aimed at current and potential LLP project managers in the beginning of 2013. The face-to-face week-long training will be organised in Leuven, Belgium and a grant to cover the full costs of participation including accommodation and flights is available through the Comenius/Grundtvig programme of the European Commission.

ATiT is also responsible for the project dissemination and will publish the project website soon. You can already subscribe to the Twitter Channel and join our Diigo group where we share related resources. Web2LLP is funded with support from the European Commission through the Lifelong Learning Programme.

People from 13 organisations in 12 countries got together in Dublin this week for the launch of a new project in science teaching. SAILS (Strategies for Assessment of Inquiry Learning in Science) is all about putting in place assessment strategies to support inquiry based science education in Europe at second level (students aged 12-18) and is a key development in the enhancement of innovative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) teaching.

Speaking at the launch of the SAILS project, Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn, spoke about the importance of innovation in this area and praised Dublin City University for taking this initiative. SAILS is a 4 year support action funded under FP7, ATiT are partners in this project with responsibility for dissemination. Initial information about SAILS is available from the project website.

The DiVa project, which focusses on Good Practice for Dissemination and Valorization of Educational Projects, has recently published its final products: a handbook for project co-ordinators, a best-practice catalogue and recommendations, and the MEDEA Awards are mentioned in the best-practice catalogue thanks to the dissemination activities undertaken by the MEDEA:EU project, of which ATiT was the project coordinator. The successful actions of the MEDEA:EU project, the European Commission-supported project which helped to extend the European identity of the MEDEA Awards through a multilingual newsletter and the European network of national contact points, have been taken up and are being enhanced by our current MEDEA2020 project.

By carrying out European studies about successful educational projects and evaluating them based on certain criteria, the DiVa project has already proven to be very useful for new as well as already started European projects and through these publications everyone can now benefit from this collection of different and innovative ways to promote, disseminate, exploit and valorize.

Jim O'Sullivan and Sally Reynolds presented the results so far of the SoRuraLL project during the CESI annual conference held 5-6 February in Portlaoise, Ireland.

This conference, entitled Creative Technology for Challenging Times brought together about 150 teachers and others working with ICT in primary and secondary schools in Ireland for a day and a half of presentations, exchanges and discussions about the effective implementation of ICT in Irish classrooms. One of the highlights of this conference was the presentation given by Joe Dale on 'New Tools, New Curriculum, New Opportunities', to find out more about Joe and the tools he recommends, visit his blog.

The SoRuraLL presentation provided an opportunity to showcase some of the blogs and websites being developed by rural schools in Co. Clare as part of this project.

The November edition of the Re.ViCa newsletter is now available.

Highlights this month include:

• a presentation of the Re.ViCa Handbook which is about to be published and a sneak preview of its contents
• an overview of the collaborative work carried out by the Re.ViCa International Advisory Committee and the growing network of experts contributing to the virtual campus wiki
• a summary of the current status of the Open University of Japan by International Expert Dr. Kumiko Aoki
• introductions to several experts in the field; David Porter (BCcampus, Canada), Em. Prof. Terry Mayes (Glasgow Caledonian University, UK) and Em. Prof. Gajaraj Dhanarajan (Wawasan Open University, Malaysia)
• a round-up of announcements, reports and publications in the field of e-learning and the virtual campus

For more information visit the Re.ViCa web site or the virtual campus wiki and inventory set up and managed by the project team. 

The October edition of the Re.ViCa Newsletter was published this week and is being distributed to almost 500 subscribers all over the world who are interested in the virtual campus phenomenon.

In this edition you will find an article on postsecondary educational accreditation in the United States, an article about multilingualism in the Virtual Campus wiki and introductions to new people in the Re.ViCa network from New Zealand, UK and Palestine.

The newsletter also gives information on several recent reports including a Commonwealth of Learning report on ICTs for Higher Education and a Study into Global Activity published by JISC in the UK as well as a progress report on the Virtual Campus wiki.

The October issue of the Media in Education Newsletter highlights the launch of the new Greek ministerial video web site for schools, the new JISC Digital Media Newsletter and the way Swedish schools are using media resources.

This month's newsletter contains a feature on the winner of the MEDEA Special Award in 2008 as well as a profile of CSP in Italy, a very active MEDEA national contact point. The October edition reports on the numbers of entries to the 2009 MEDEA Awards and gives information about other awards in this sector.

If you have relevant information or news you would like to share in this newsletter, contact the editors.