Miscellaneous

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CICERO – a digital competence project!

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CICERO – a digital competence project!

The project addresses three items in the field of Adult Education, which are connected to each other and tied together in this project. These items are

  • Digital competences
  • Digital photography
  • European Cultural Heritage

Rationale of the project

Digital competences must be learned by the users. This requires some motivation. Without motivation, the learning will only “scratch at the surface” and instead of well-proven competences only superficial knowledge and understanding will be the result – without any depth and sustainability.
Digital photography can be the engine to motivate people to care about basic digital competences. This will cover the creation of images (a creative work), the processing of images (a technical endeavour), the storage and administration of images (needs digital competences) and the use of the created images, for instance in social media (needs digital competences as well as basic legal knowledge).

Digital Photographyis done with smartphones as well as with high-tech DSLR cameras. It is part of our daily life!

Finally, digital photography enlarges the social contacts (for instance in special interest groups), keeps elderly people active (both in physical and mental sense) and contributes in many cases to promote cultural heritage (as objects in various images) and transnational activities (photography contest with items addressing the European Year of Cultural Heritage).

Project Aim

The project aims to develop digital competences in the group of adults using digital photography as the engine of motivation and to give an impact to social, cultural, and family life. Additional, taken pictures focusing on European Heritage are collected in a free-to-use database (contribution to the year of European Cultural Heritage 2018).

Preparation work for new projects

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Preparation work for new projects

Currently the EBI is preparing a new project proposal in the frame of ERASMUS+. It’s a project focussing on flipped learning with several schools in Europe.

Peter Mazohl visited one of the future partner schools in Trujillo, Spain. He met the headmaster of the school and gave a precise description of the project.

A second school is located in Austria, near Wiener Neustadt. Peter Mazohl and Harald Makl had a meeting with the responsible teacher for the future project, Gabriele Ernst. They discussed open issued and cleared several items in the application.

The application will be submitted in March. Here are some pictures from the preparation work!

SEMIFIT Seminar for Intercultural Trainers

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SEMIFIT Seminar for Intercultural Trainers

Stefanie Mayrwöger attended the SEMIFIT Seminar for intercultural trainers, on Project Design under Erasmus+, from 1st to 6th of December 2018 in Almuñécar, Spain. The week was structured in panel discussions, presentations and workshops, which were all designed and held by the participants. During the seminar all participants found themselves in different roles, such as documentarists, speakers, workshop leaders and marketers. Tools and methods were shown, projects presented, and ideas shared. The aim of the seminar was to create an open space for youth trainers, learning designers and educators to talk about difficulties, tips and ways to improve their skills in project design and management of (inter)national projects.

Here is a video from the event (produced by Steffi)

The variety of topics, that were covered and discussed, was extensive. Therefore, workshops took place, in which the group focused on difficulties in international projects, active learning through games, and how to calculate important factors in project management. In several presentations certain project management methods, successfully designed projects, and the work with open source and free licences were showed. Also, panellists talked about the topic of managing projects including groups with different or difficult social backgrounds. All in all, it was a very enriching week with a big amount of useful knowledge and interesting minds.

Here are some impressions from the work and the working environment.

What does ACAT mean?

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What does ACAT mean?

This is the acronym for the “Analogous Comparison and Transfer” Method. This pedagogical approach to teaching STEM subjects was developed by Peter Mazohl (EBI/EIE Austria) and published at the ICERI 2017 (International Conference for Education, Research, and Innovation in Seville).

An example for the ACAD transfer in Quantum Physics (What are quantum objects?)

This method means a new pedagogical approach to strengthen female learners in STEM subjects. The method was developed in School Education and focuses on the age of 16 to 18 years old students. The method uses analogous comparisons by taking examples or situations from everyday life and in consequence the logical or analogous transfer to the scientific problem. The method uses the development of imaginations or “pictures in the head” to develop a view of the analogy; this picture is transferred as a problem-solving idea to the concrete scientific problem. Multimedia material like animations are used to provide a higher level of imagination and to develop the understanding for the discussed problem. The method was developed in the disciplines physics, mathematics and computer science and was tested in physics at high school level.

It turned out that male learners also benefit from this approach and get a deeper understanding in the fields of science.

To proof the ACAT method and to test the usability and get some reference to the published study an ERASMUS+ KA2 School Project was started (with December 2018). The project’s outcomes will be several examples of the implementation of the ACAT method, tested and evaluated in a Spanish, an Irish, and finally in a Swedish school.

Kathi – our new head of the training department

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Kathi – our new head of the training department

Kathrin Zehrfuchs

Kathi Zehrfuch, the new head of the training department

Kathrin just finished her Master study (business) with focus on business administration and controlling at the University of Applied Studies. During her studies, she has been working for the EBI assisting in courses and in the planning, implementation and performing of the “Blended Learning Conference” in Wiener Neustadt in 2014.

In the last three years, she was also working in application writing and she coordinated the scientific publications done by the EBI.

 

 

Stefanie – our new head of the technical department

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Stefanie – our new head of the technical department

Stefanie Mayrwöger

We proudly present our new head of the technical department!

Stefanie just finished her Bachelor studies (BSc) in Media Technology with focus on Interactive Media at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences. During her studies, she lived in The Hague, The Netherlands for one semester where she studied Photography and Internet Marketing.

In the last two years, she participated in the LeaD in Practice blended-learning project for which she also traveled to Athens, Greece and took part in the STEPS Education Practitioners Seminar in Potsdam, Germany.

Stefanie started her Master studies in Digital Design & Graphic Design in September and will attend the 3rd ASEF Young Leaders Summit on Ethical Leadership in October in Belgium, Brussels.

Stefanie will be responsible for technical production of intellectual outputs and the technical background for the learning platform. She also is engaged in interface development in the frame of EBI’s project involvement.

SemiFit – EBI/EIE is partner!

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SemiFit – EBI/EIE is partner!

The EBI is partner in the Youth Project Seminar for intercultural trainers in HRE.  The EBI/EIE is mainly focusing on the 50+ generation in Adult Education. Participating in this project we have the chance to educate our younger trainers to work with international youth groups and younger adults. Two of our trainers, Stefanie Mayrwöger and Kathrin Zehrfuchs, will be in charche to cover this target group.

SemiFit in HRE is an example of Peer and Lifelong Learning where educational practitioners have the chance to share their competencies and experiences and learn new concepts from peers. In SemiFit, every participant is actively involved in the preparation and design of the learning space: content and flow. The project is linked to key European youth policy developments where non-formal educational youth work needs to be better connect.
Additional the project also brings in its expertise: upcoming European Youth convention III in 2020, COE rec on Youth work, European Training Strategy for YW, the development of a European Charta on Youth work, the further development of the European Youth Strategy, but also reference cooperations such as “becoming a part of Europe”, “Youth for Human Rights” all indicate youth issues become more political. Such there is a need to foster strategically the processes of capacity development of EDC/HRE work in the field of youth, as in the recent years barriers in a lot of European countries have become higher.

Stefanie Mayrwöger from the EBI/EIE will participate at the training event organized in Almuñécar, Spain (Málaga area) from 1 to 6 December 2018.

Do we need books in technology enhanced learning (TEL)?

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Do we need books in technology enhanced learning (TEL)?

In the last three years I met many people mentioning that they use eLearning in their teaching and books are outdated. But – is this true?

Technology in learning

First of all, it would be necessary to clear the term “eLearning”. This term says nothing and expresses everything – from an objective point of view it is more or less meaningless.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines e-Learning[1]

learning done by studying at home using computers and courses provided on the internet

This definition is highly influenced form Marc J Rosenberg[2] who mentions three columns for eLearning:

  1. E-learning is networked making it capable of updating, storage and retrieval, distribution and sharing of instruction or information.
  2. It is delivered to the end-user via a computer using standard internet technology.
  3. eLearning is more than eTraining.

A modern description is done by the North Carolina Education Cabinet (as one example taken from the USA) and defines “eLearning is learning utilizing electronic technologies to access educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom”.

Rosenberg’s descriptions are approx. 20 years old. The modern version also does not match with the reality. The term eLearning must be replaced by the new expression technology enhanced learning (TEL).

Technology enhanced learning is used to refer to technology enhanced classrooms and learning with technology (and not through technology), which means a learner centered approach using the technology for the learning.

Where is the place for “traditional” books?

Books are still available – Amazon started the business success by selling books (and still sells them), libraries are still used intensively by people borrowing books there. Masses of books – in small quantities – are published and printed as “book on demand”.

Books are transferred to the digital age as eBooks. The reader used an eBook reader (like Kindle, Kobo, or Tolino) or read the book by a viewer on their digital device (laptop, tablet).

Printed books provide all the advantages of technology enhanced learning: you can read them at any time, everywhere, and in your own pace. An advantage is the use of books without energy (you must not recharge your book).

Another big advantage is that you can share the book easily (this is more or less impossible with eBook readers) and that books have page numbers. Did you ever try to cite a text correctly from a eBook without any page information (pure PDF documents often have page numbers but do not supply the advantages of eBook readers like enlarging the fonts).

 

[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/e-learning

[2] Rosenberg, Marc Jeffrey (2001): E-learning. Strategies for delivering knowledge in the digital age. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Image source: © Peter Mazohl