innovation

The annual assembly and conference of the European Society for the Systemic Innovation of Education (ESSIE)  took place on 27 May in Leuven and attracted about 100 researchers from different parts of Europe. Peter Sloep from the Open University, the Netherlands set the tone for the day in his inspiring keynote presentation entitled 'Networked Learning, a Paradigm Shift'. A presentation from ATiT which elaborated on the role of educational media in general and video in particular in the new digital culture described ways in which video can contribute to innovative learning practices. This was also an opportunity to promote  various initiatives where educational media is nurtured and supported including the MEDEA Awards and the Media & Learning community.

The MEDEA Secretariat announced today the 8 finalists for the annual MEDEA awards. These are in alphabetical order: Daisy and Drago by Terakki Foundation Schools (Turkey), Eyes on the Skies by European Southern Observatory (ESO) (Germany), INgeBEELD by CANON CULTURAL UNIT (Belgium), Know IT All by Childnet International (UK), Les TIC en Classe by VISION FUTURE (France), Planet SciCast by NESTA (UK), Studiecoach by the Dutch Open University (The Netherlands) and Traditions Across Europe by Istituto Comprensivo “Don Bosco” (Italy). The overall winner will be announced during the MEDEA Awards Ceremony on 4 December 2009 in the Hotel InterContinental in Berlin.
 
This year the competition attracted 254 entries from 39 countries which was a significant increase in entries compared to last year. The finalists were chosen by a jury made up of 76 education and media experts from 26 countries who assessed the MEDEA entries in October.  All finalists will attend the Awards Ceremony on Friday 4th December 2009, where they will have the chance to win the main MEDEA Award as well as several other prizes, including software sponsored by Adobe and AVID.

If you would like more information about these awards, visit the MEDEA web site.

The latest book by Jef Staes is now available in English. Called 'My Organisation is a Jungle', this is the latest publication in Jef's Red Monkey Innovation Management series. In it, Jef tackles questions like How do you create an environment in which new ideas can survive and thrive? How do you increase the innovative power of your organisation, its teams and its employees? What is strangling creative entrepreneurship in our company?

As a leading expert in the fields of learning and innovation management, Jef analyses the way in which people resist and even obstruct change processes in his usual highly attractive and provocative manner. You can order Jef's latest book here
http://www.eoi.be/english/index.html