In early 2018, I decided to get to know better the city that I live in, especially its culture and history.
In Seville, there is so much to see and to know, but as in any city, once you live there, you become less interested in visitng places. While living in Paris between 1997-1999, for example, I never visited the Eiffel tower (granted, I had visited it when 8 years old).
The first target in January 2018 was the famous Church of Saint Luis (en), or La Iglesia de San Luis de los Franceses (es), as it is called in Spainish. I already wanted to visit it for a while, as it's been touted to be the epitome of Barroc art in Seville. The visit was guided by this group.
...To be continued...
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Free schools in Sweden
I visited Sweden already some years back and was intrigued by their Free schools. The Free school system was instituted in 1992
and already for sometime, serves as a model for the charter school reform in the UK. Free
schools are publicly funded by school vouchers.
In 2011 (figure reported in March 2011[ii]),
some 15% of Swedish children go to free schools (friskola). In general, parents
view the opportunity of selecting the school for their children as an important
part of their freedom. Parents with children in private school (87 percent) are
more satisfied than those with children in public schools (74 percent)[iii].
There is currently a big debate going on
around Free schools in Sweden. The most controversy is around some small number
of private companies that run tax-funded schools "for profit". For
example the biggest enterprise, Academedia, in 2009 had sales of SEK 2.1
billion, compared with 2006, when turnover was 222 million SEK. According to
Wikipedia, the Group has in total around 44 000 pre-school children and
students, and approximately 20,000 adult learners in their activities (figures
from 2012).
The quality of education in Free schools has
also been in headlines. Additionally, the debate is on-going whether they also
increase equity gap among Swedish society. For example Pasi Shalberg says "In
Sweden, everybody now agrees free schools were a mistake. The quality has not
improved and equity has disappeared.[iv]"
For
profit debate:
- In 2012, there are 906 companies who offer free schools and kinder gardens. 97% of them are small with one to four schools. On average, they are run on 3% marginal of profit. 54% generate a surplus.
- A small number of them are run on risk capital which has made big headlines lately. Recently, bankruptcy has been claimed while previously such schools were paying hefty profits to their risk capital funders.
- See for example John Bauerskola, which now has failed bankrupt, but previously, according to headlines, put about 2.6 million euros of tax payers' money into paying school rent to big banks (e.g. see: John Bauerskolorna, som gick i konkurs i juni 2013, betalade 24 miljoner i räntor på sina lån 2012[v])
Quality
debate:
One free school enterprise called Distra
Utbildningscenter in the south of Stockholm is risking to face a penalty of
500.000 kronor if the results do not show better quality. The school
inspectorate refers to weak leadership, unqualified teachers and lack of
competences in special education. The school is small, only about 30 students,
the same company also runs an upper secondary school that also received
complaints by the school inspectorate. (translated
from: http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/abc/friskoleforetag-riskerar-vite)
Website by the major newspaper (Svenska
Dagbladet) to help choose a school: http://www.svd.se/nyheter/skolvalet/skolsok/
Monday, January 09, 2017
Suomenhevosten historiaa ja vähän sukuhistoriaakin
Vaikka suomenhevosen kantakirja on perustettu vasta vuonna 1907, hevosten systemaattista jalostustoimintaa on harjoitettu iät ja aja, Suomessakin.
Vanhempieni muuton yhteydessä selailin vanhoja valokuva-albumeita, jotka olivat kulkeutuneet äidilleni erinäisten sukulaisten kuoleman jälkeen, ja rupesin pohtimaan, että minkähänlaisia hevosia se iso-vaari oli oikeasti kasvattanut?
Henkilönä tämä kyseinen Leander Tiihonen (1848-1907) Rautalammilta oli jäänyt minulle hyvin kaukaiseksi. Oma vaarini, siis yksi hänen lapsistaan, kuoli kun olin vielä aika pieni, joten en muista juurikaan mitään juttuja, ainakaan hevosiin liittyviä, joita iso-vaarista olisi kerrottu (paitsi sen, että hän olisi myynyt/lahjoittanut tsaarille hevosen, mutta tällä hetkellä en tiedä asiasta yhtään sen enempää).
Aikani googlattuani löysin kaksi hyvää lähdettä: Sukuposti.net-nimisen suomalaisen hevosalan sivuston ja Kansalliskirjaston Digitoidut aineistot, jossa on aivan valtava määrä vanhoja sanomalehtiä haettavana.
Luulen, että tämä Linkki-tamma olisi ehkä ollut yksi iso-vaarin lempihevosista, ainakin vuonna 1915 ilmestyneessä Hevoshoitolehdessä siitä oli kirjoitettu kovin kauniisti:
En ole päässyt käsiksi ko. Hevoshoitolehteen enkä siis tiedä, miksi tuo juttu on aikanaan kirjoitettu. Leander itsehän kuoli siis paljon aiemmin, 1907, eli olisikohan ollut kyseessä joku muistokirjoitus, tms?
Löysin kyllä sanomalehti arkistoista muutaman viittauksen Linkkiin, mutta en löytänyt mitään ensipalkintoja. Esim.
Yksi näistä Linkin jälkeläisistä oli ori nimeltään Ilo, jonka kasvattajaksi mainitaan Tiihonen, eli aika takuuvarmasti Leander, koska emähän oli hänen.
Ilo oli syntynyt vuonna 1899. Merkinnöissä lukee, että Ilo oli myyty 1904 vuotiaana, jolloin se on saanut ensimmäisen palkintonsa Jyväskylässä 3 vuotiaiden sarjassa. Sukuposti-sivustolla tälle oriille on merkitty paljon jälkeläisiä (55), etenkin Jyväskylän alueella. Ja siitä löytyy kuvakin, ilmeisesti silloisen omistajansa kanssa (A. B. Fagerström).
Kun katsoo tarkemmin tietoja, mitä Sukupostissa on merkitty Kipakasta, siellä näkyy merkintä "ro" ennen rekisterinumeroa. Tuo "ro" juuri tarkoittaa ruununoria. "Tt", jos nyt ihan oikein ymmärrän, tarkoitti työhevossuuntaa jalostuksessa (vaikka nykyään se on pelkkä T). Sivuilla näkyy myös, että omistaja oli Leander Tiihonen juuri tuohon 1889 vuoteen saakka.
Eli tulkintani mukaan, Leander oli kasvattanut Kipakan, jonka hän myi 6 vuotiaana Kuopion tammimarkkinoilla kruunun siitosoriksi ja hevonen sitten sijoitettiin uuteen kotiin. Kiva nähdä, että Kipakasta maksettiin hyvä hinta, ainakin verrattuna muihin, jotka myytiin samoilla markkinoilla.
Löysin Tampereen Sanomista jutun vuotta aiemmin (1888), joka mainitsee kilpa-ajoista Viitasaaren kirkonkylässä, "2:sen p. sai taloll Leander Tiihonen, Rautalampi, 4 m. 16,/2 s.”. Löysin myös maininnan, että tuo palkinto tuli juuri Kipakalla (28.01.1888 Keski-Suomi no 8). Tuossa jälkimmäisessä on myös hauska kuvaus kila-ajosportista:
Pollen tarina liene jatkui, mutta Leander itse kuoli muutamia kuukausia myöhemmin. Siitäkin kirjoitettiin Savon Työmiehessä (09.11.1907), jossa oli juttu, että Rautalammin kihlakunnan lautamies (siis Leander) kuoli sydänhalvaukseen lähes kuudenkymmenen vuoden vanhana. Jutussa mainitaan myös, että hän kuoli pitäessään puhetta tilaisuudessa
Keski-Suomi: 21.01.1880: merkintä osallistumisesta kilpa-ajoihin Kuopiossa “talokas Leander Tiihonen Rautalammilta, punainen ori, 5 w., 10 k. (juoksi hywästi, waan ajoi kumoon kilpailussa)”. En löytänyt mitään muita tietoja, mistä hevosen nimi olisi tullut ilmi. Tämä muuten taisi olla ensimmäisiä ilmoituksia kilpa-ajoista, joihin iso-vaari osallistui. Mitä lie tehnyt sitä ennen?
Jutussa myös mainitaan kuinka korkeatasoiset ravit olivat:
Keski-Suomi 15.06.1897 (no 68) mainitsee:
 |
| Ensimmäinen nimellä tunnettu valokuva suomalaisesta hevosesta (Jaakko Tt 118, kuva 1882 Moskovassa) |
Vanhempieni muuton yhteydessä selailin vanhoja valokuva-albumeita, jotka olivat kulkeutuneet äidilleni erinäisten sukulaisten kuoleman jälkeen, ja rupesin pohtimaan, että minkähänlaisia hevosia se iso-vaari oli oikeasti kasvattanut?
Henkilönä tämä kyseinen Leander Tiihonen (1848-1907) Rautalammilta oli jäänyt minulle hyvin kaukaiseksi. Oma vaarini, siis yksi hänen lapsistaan, kuoli kun olin vielä aika pieni, joten en muista juurikaan mitään juttuja, ainakaan hevosiin liittyviä, joita iso-vaarista olisi kerrottu (paitsi sen, että hän olisi myynyt/lahjoittanut tsaarille hevosen, mutta tällä hetkellä en tiedä asiasta yhtään sen enempää).
Aikani googlattuani löysin kaksi hyvää lähdettä: Sukuposti.net-nimisen suomalaisen hevosalan sivuston ja Kansalliskirjaston Digitoidut aineistot, jossa on aivan valtava määrä vanhoja sanomalehtiä haettavana.
Ensimmäinen tuttavuus - tamma nimeltä Linkki
Ensimmäinen uusi "tuttavani", jonka löysin tuolta Sukuposti-sivulta, on Linkki niminen suomenhevostamma, joka on syntynyt 1887. Sen omistajaksi on merkitty "Tiihonen Leander, Rautalampi, Suomi" - bingo!Luulen, että tämä Linkki-tamma olisi ehkä ollut yksi iso-vaarin lempihevosista, ainakin vuonna 1915 ilmestyneessä Hevoshoitolehdessä siitä oli kirjoitettu kovin kauniisti:
"Linkillään Leander ajoi kymmenkunta palkintoa, niistä monet ensipalkintoja. Linkki hoidettiin hyvin kuolemaansa asti Lender Tiihosen omistamalla Maukola-nimisellä tilalla ja jätti tamma jälkeensä sievän ryhmän kauniita ja arvokkaita varsoja, joista monet ovat tulleet palkituiksi." (Hevoshoitolehti 10/1915)
En ole päässyt käsiksi ko. Hevoshoitolehteen enkä siis tiedä, miksi tuo juttu on aikanaan kirjoitettu. Leander itsehän kuoli siis paljon aiemmin, 1907, eli olisikohan ollut kyseessä joku muistokirjoitus, tms?
Löysin kyllä sanomalehti arkistoista muutaman viittauksen Linkkiin, mutta en löytänyt mitään ensipalkintoja. Esim.
- 1893 Keski-Suomi kirjoittaa kilpa-ajoista Rantasalmella: "...neljännen talokas Leander Tiihosen Raulammilta tamma Linkki joka juoksi radan 4 m. 3 s." (07.01.1893 Keski-Suomi no 3 )
- 1894 Aura no 22 kirjoittaa ajoista Jyväskylässä: Neljännen 200 mk. Tiihosen tamma Linkki, 5,38. (Aura 22.02.1894)
- 1896 oli merkintä, että tamma olisi hänen ohjastamanaan tullut kolmanneksi (30.12.1896 Suomalainen no 149). Eli tuolloin tamma olisi ollut 9 jo vuotias.
 |
| copyright: Hevoshoitolehti 10/1915 |
Ilo oli syntynyt vuonna 1899. Merkinnöissä lukee, että Ilo oli myyty 1904 vuotiaana, jolloin se on saanut ensimmäisen palkintonsa Jyväskylässä 3 vuotiaiden sarjassa. Sukuposti-sivustolla tälle oriille on merkitty paljon jälkeläisiä (55), etenkin Jyväskylän alueella. Ja siitä löytyy kuvakin, ilmeisesti silloisen omistajansa kanssa (A. B. Fagerström).
Ruununoriit
Toinen mielenkiintoinen juttu, joka liittyy niin suomenhevosten kuin iso-vaarinkin historiaan, on "ruununoriit" eli kruununsiitosorit. Wikipediassa niistä kerrotaan seuraavaa:Suurilla nälkävuosilla 1866–1868 oli suuri vaikutus Suomen hevoskantaan. Monien kasvattajien oli myytävä parhaat oriinsa Venäjälle henkensä pitimiksi. Suuret määrät hevosia teurastettiin ruoaksi. Arvokkaiden jalostuseläinten korvaamiseksi ja hevoskannan kasvattamiseksi Suomen senaatti määräsi vuonna 1869 pahimmin kärsineet Vaasan, Hämeen ja Kuopion läänit hankkimaan sopivia oriita ja tarjoamaan niitä paikallisten tammanomistajien käyttöön.
Kipakka (s.1883)
Savo-lehdessä 17.01.1889 (nro 7, s. 2) on seuraavanlainen maininta Kuopion tammimarkkinoilta:"Warsinaisten kilpa-ajojen jälkeen saiwat juosta näkeeksi wielä siitosoriiksi tarjotut. Niiksi ostettiin illemmalla sitten seuraawat neljä seuraawista hinnoista: Leander Tiihosen ,,Kipakka" 1,400 m:kasta, kauppias A. I. Ollikaisen ,,Pelle" 1,400 Mikasta, raatimies I. F. Malmborgein ,,Matti" 950 miksta ja maanmiljelijä I. Lagus'en ,,Pulmu" 1,100 m:ksta."
Kun katsoo tarkemmin tietoja, mitä Sukupostissa on merkitty Kipakasta, siellä näkyy merkintä "ro" ennen rekisterinumeroa. Tuo "ro" juuri tarkoittaa ruununoria. "Tt", jos nyt ihan oikein ymmärrän, tarkoitti työhevossuuntaa jalostuksessa (vaikka nykyään se on pelkkä T). Sivuilla näkyy myös, että omistaja oli Leander Tiihonen juuri tuohon 1889 vuoteen saakka.
Eli tulkintani mukaan, Leander oli kasvattanut Kipakan, jonka hän myi 6 vuotiaana Kuopion tammimarkkinoilla kruunun siitosoriksi ja hevonen sitten sijoitettiin uuteen kotiin. Kiva nähdä, että Kipakasta maksettiin hyvä hinta, ainakin verrattuna muihin, jotka myytiin samoilla markkinoilla.
Löysin Tampereen Sanomista jutun vuotta aiemmin (1888), joka mainitsee kilpa-ajoista Viitasaaren kirkonkylässä, "2:sen p. sai taloll Leander Tiihonen, Rautalampi, 4 m. 16,/2 s.”. Löysin myös maininnan, että tuo palkinto tuli juuri Kipakalla (28.01.1888 Keski-Suomi no 8). Tuossa jälkimmäisessä on myös hauska kuvaus kila-ajosportista:
"Katsojia oli kokoontunut radan ympärille joukottain ja näyttiwät he uteliaisuudella seuraaman jokaisen helvosen juoksua, Kilpa-ajosportti onkin saawuttanut paljon harrastajia Keski-Suomen miehissä. Tämän talvisissa waltion kilpa-ajoissa taas warmaankin moni heistä nopeakulkusella hewosellaan woittaa kunniaa ja rahaa.”
"Rata oli epätasainen, paikoin wettäkin, ilma riewuinen ja lämmin, joista syistä näin huonot tulokset. Tämä oli ensimmäinen kilpa-ajo meillä sitten wuoden 1881. Rahaa jäi kassaan 90 m. ensi wuodeksi, jolloin toiwokaamme parempaa tulosta.”
Polle (s.1902)
Toinen kruununsiitosori, joka liittyi iso-vaariin, on Polle, joka sijoitettiin Leander Tiihosen tilalle vuonna 1907. Uutisen ilmestyi Uusi Suometar-nimisessä lehdessä 26.06.1907 ja se kertoo Kuopiossa tapahtuneista Waltion ravikilpailuista seuraavanlaisesti:Ruunnnoriiksi ostettiin waltion kilpa-ajojen aikana Kuopiossa maanwilj. Pekka Jalkaselta, Rautalammilta, ori "Polle" 1,800 markan hinnalla ja sijoitettiin maanwilj. Leander Tiihoselle, Rautalammilla.
Pollen tarina liene jatkui, mutta Leander itse kuoli muutamia kuukausia myöhemmin. Siitäkin kirjoitettiin Savon Työmiehessä (09.11.1907), jossa oli juttu, että Rautalammin kihlakunnan lautamies (siis Leander) kuoli sydänhalvaukseen lähes kuudenkymmenen vuoden vanhana. Jutussa mainitaan myös, että hän kuoli pitäessään puhetta tilaisuudessa
Leander Tiihosen puhetta pitäessä sapuikin tuonen kowa koura, joka kaatoi maahan ja vei hengen heti
Muutamia muita hevosia mainittu lehdissä
punainen ori
Jutussa myös mainitaan kuinka korkeatasoiset ravit olivat:
Yleensä onnistuimat kilpa-ajot niin hywästi, että niiden wertaa tuskin milloinkaan on täällä nähty. Myöskin oliwat hewoset nyt paljon paremmin hoidetut kuin ennen.
Kilpa
I pall. 20 ml. maanwilj. Leander Tiihoselle Rautalammin Maukolasta 133 cm. lort. ,Kilpa"-nimisestä oriwarsasta;
Karjalatar 14.06.1898 no 66: tästä löytyy merkintä hevosnäyttelyyn osallistumisesta ja Kilpa niminen ori sai maininnan, mutta ei palkintoa, 2 ja 3 vuotiaiden luokasa.
Wäkewä
Savo-Karjala15.01.1890 no 5: tuloksia raveista liinaharjaorilla Wäkewä. Toisessa osassa mainitaan, että Leander voitti 10 markkaa ja sai kolmannen sijan.Kolmannen palkinnon, 10 markkaa, sai Leander Tiihonen ja neljännen, 5 markkaa, Pekka Roininen. Rata oli Englannin peninkulman pituinen, joka kaksi kertaa ajettiin wuorottain. Kaikki juoksijat oliwat ehkä ensikerran radalla, joten tulokset, warsinkin kun se oli huononpuoleiscssa kunnossa, oliwat myös huonot. Ilma myös ei ollut mikään „kilpa-ajoilma, joka näytti hewoisiin nukuttawasti waikuttawan.
Kuopion tammimarkkinat vuodelta 1889
Tuo juttu Kuopion tammimarkkinoista Savo-lehdessä muuten kannattaa lukea kokonaisuudessa allaolevasta linkistä, siinä on kullanarvoisia kuvauksia kuten esim:
- hevosmiehistä kaupungissa: Pakkasen puremaan kadun lumeen karskahuttelee kawioitaan hänen korkea jalkainen hewosensa, kaula kyömynä, kieli pitkällä ja sieramet huurua suitsuttaen. Ei ole miestä toista sen enemmän toimessaan olewan näköistä kuin hewoismies ajojen aattopäilvänä.
- siitä minne parhaat hevoset myydään: Usein tapahtuukin, että wenäläiset ostajat jo tammikuussa sieppaawat pois paremmat oriit ja maahan jääpi waan heidän tähteensä.
- analyysejä hevosten tasosta: Meillä sawolaisilla ei kuitenkaan ole kowin suurta syytä iloita näistä kilpailuista, sillä ori-palkinnoista ei jäänyt yhtään Sawoon eikä Karjalaan. Kaikki ne ynnä ensimäinen tamma-palkinto meniwät Keski-Suomeen, joka jo monena wuotena on wienyt woiton kaikista muista Suomen maakunnista siinä suhteessa. Karjalaiset ja sawolaiset kyllä koettiwat parastaan, mutta 6 minuuttia alemma ei heistä yksikään päässyt. Siitä päättäen ansaitseisi hewoisrodun parantaminen suurempaa huolta näillä paikkakunnilla. Sillä juoksuwoimista on kuitenkin hewosen hywyys taikka huonous parhaiten päätettäwä.”
- ja juhlista: Kun jäältä wihdoinkin oli kellon neljättä käydessä päästy pois, kiiruhtiwat hewoisasiain harrastajat seurahuoneelle, jossa odottiwat pulskat päiwälliset musiikin kanssa. Syödessä tietysti maljoja tyhjennettiin päiwän merkityksen johdosta, Hewosmiehet niitä hewosmiehille pitiwät ja eläköön-huutoja huudettiin niin hewosten kuin miestenkin kunniaksi. Maamme molemmat wiralliset kielet oliwat tilaisuudessa edustettuina. Ruotsikin, jota käytti eräs sawolainen hewosmies puhuessaan waltion asiamiehen assessori O. Stählbergin kunniaksi. Hra Stahlberg wastasi kuitenkin suomeksi, osoittaen siten kohteliaisuutta niille, joidenka kieli paikkakunnalla on enemmistön.
Savo, 17.01.1889, nro 7, s. 2 http://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/449346?page=2 Kansalliskirjaston Digitoidut aineistot
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
"Herding cats" - that's what I remember from Erik Duval's talk . . .
... when I first saw him. According to the date in this news clip, in which I reported about that event, it must have been summer 2002. Afterwards, me and my colleague followed him out for a cigarette - his talk was so different from the others in that event, so we wanted to know more.
Later, in 2005, I signed up for the pre-doctoral programme in his department at KULeuven. Erik Duval had such a magnetic stage personality and strive for his thing. I thought that if I'm going to stick with the field of Technology Enhanced Learning, I'd better be with people who are inspirational - with those who are the "doers and shakers". So I kicked off into a slow uphill scramble with my doctoral studies and we managed to do a few things together.
But the story didn't turn out to be a sweet one. If he was the reason for me to sign up at KULeuven, a few years later, he was also the reason for me to sign out. It was troubling times, for both of us, I assume. When we last talked then, he said something that stuck with me. It was something like "one day, much later, we will talk and you will tell me what went wrong". I was thinking "WTF, I will never talk to you - not ever again". We did talk, and even reconciliated, but we never talked about that. I hope the thing did not stick with him like it did with me.
Now I feel grateful that only some half a year ago, through some professional exchange, I had a chance to let him know that I actually had learned to appreciate that period in my life and that there was a lot that I had learned from him. Sometimes we don't really know it right away, but for me, little things in my academic practices would remind of him (e.g. the rigour to demand user studies and not to accept papers on prototypes only; asking "how do you know you are successful with your study/experiment/?").
It's funny how some people just stick with you - I guess Erik is one of them.
I cannot imagine the loss that his family is feeling now - my thoughts are with them.
Later, in 2005, I signed up for the pre-doctoral programme in his department at KULeuven. Erik Duval had such a magnetic stage personality and strive for his thing. I thought that if I'm going to stick with the field of Technology Enhanced Learning, I'd better be with people who are inspirational - with those who are the "doers and shakers". So I kicked off into a slow uphill scramble with my doctoral studies and we managed to do a few things together.
But the story didn't turn out to be a sweet one. If he was the reason for me to sign up at KULeuven, a few years later, he was also the reason for me to sign out. It was troubling times, for both of us, I assume. When we last talked then, he said something that stuck with me. It was something like "one day, much later, we will talk and you will tell me what went wrong". I was thinking "WTF, I will never talk to you - not ever again". We did talk, and even reconciliated, but we never talked about that. I hope the thing did not stick with him like it did with me.
Now I feel grateful that only some half a year ago, through some professional exchange, I had a chance to let him know that I actually had learned to appreciate that period in my life and that there was a lot that I had learned from him. Sometimes we don't really know it right away, but for me, little things in my academic practices would remind of him (e.g. the rigour to demand user studies and not to accept papers on prototypes only; asking "how do you know you are successful with your study/experiment/?").
It's funny how some people just stick with you - I guess Erik is one of them.
I cannot imagine the loss that his family is feeling now - my thoughts are with them.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Call for Papers: ICCE 2016 Sub-Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT), Learning Analytics and Digital Infrastructure
ICCE 2016 Sub-Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT), Learning Analytics and Digital Infrastructure
Mumbai, IndiaNovember 28 - December 2 (Monday-Friday), 2016
Organized by the Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education http://www.apsce.net/Hosted by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
All accepted papers will be published in proceedings which will be indexed by Elsevier Bibliographic Databases (e.g., Scopus, Engineering Village and others). Authors of accepted distinguished full papers will be invited to submit extended versions of their papers for consideration of publication in Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning (RPTEL), the official academic journal of the Asia Pacific Society for Computers in Education.
This sub-conference of ICCE 2016 will focus on recent and emerging directions in aligning digital infrastructure requirements with innovations in digital learning. In particular, it focuses upon advancements in learning technologies due to new and inventive use of data as representations of learning activities and also as a resource for learning. This brings into scope learning analytics and its sub-processes of capturing, collecting, storing, analyzing, visualizing and using data to improve learning, and processes that enable it, such as educational data mining, open educational resources, interoperability standards, and digital infrastructures.
This theme-based conference of ICCE will provide an opportunity to present and exchange ideas and results about recent research in the application of digital technologies in education and training. This conference focuses also on innovation that spans open educational resources and interoperability standards, both of which are important driving forces of sustainable digital technology adoption in education and training. The conference aims to inform standards development in the area of systems and resource interoperability and to report on and inspire design of new and advanced learning technologies.
The scope of the conference will cover but not be limited to the following topics
- Implementation and organisational development of advanced learning technologies
- New generations of educational technologies
- Design and application of learning analytics systems
- Data sharing for learning analytics
- New repository technologies and network systems
- Pedagogical models and learning analytics
- Gathering diverse learning data, e.g., related to linked and open data
- Development and management of algorithms for analytics based on gathered data
- Predictive models, visualisation and statistical analysis
- Privacy concerns and policy aspects related to learning analytics
- Open platforms, Open Educational Resources (OERs), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), open data, and open learning methods
- Evaluation and Assessment, including E-testing and new test theories
- International developments in open source and open standards
- Technology standards for content, portfolios, learner information, and competencies
- Life cycle management of technical learning objects
- Organizational readiness
- Social media and learning
- Personalized educational and learning systems
- Learning systems platforms and architectures
- E-learning, knowledge management and their organizational management
- Automated assessments
- Recommender systems
- Open Educational Resources (OER) – systems and application
- Learning content retrieval and recommendation
- New directions for standards development in the field of digital learning
- Digital Badges and open badging systems
- Design Thinking & Human Computer Interaction
- The Internet of Things and the future of learning
- Full paper (8-10 pages)
- Short paper (5-6 pages)
- Poster paper (2-3 pages)
All the accepted full papers are eligible for the competitions of
- Best Overall Paper Award
- Best Student Paper Award (restricted to papers whose first authors are graduate or undergraduate students)
- Best Technical Design Paper Award
Important dates (Main Conference)
Paper Submission Due: May 10, 2016Notification of Acceptance: August 2, 2016
Program Co-chairs
Tore HOEL, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway (executive program chair)Ulrich HOPPE, Univerisity of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Xavier OCHOA, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, Ecuador
Jin Gon SHON, Korea National Open University, South Korea
Program Committee
Irene CHEN, National Changhua University of Education, TaiwanJean-Noel COLIN, University of Namur, Belgium
Ingo DAHN, University of Koblenz, Germany
Dai GRIFFITS, University of Bolton, United Kingdom
Seungyeon HAN, Hanyang Cyber University, Korea
Yih-Ruey JUANG, Jinwen University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Fanny KLETT, German Workforce ADL Partnership Lab, Germany
Tatsuhiro KONISHI, Shizuoka University, Japan
Eugenijus KURILOVAS, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Lam-for KWOK, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Chien-Sing LEE, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia
Jerry LEESON, University of Adelaide, Australia
Ching-Jung LIAO, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan
Kin Chew LIM, SIM University, Singapore
Jon MASON, Charles Darwin University, Australia
Kenji MATSUURA, Tokushima University, Japan
Kuo-Liang OU, National Hsinchu University of Education, Taiwan
Luis ANIDO RIFON, University of Vigo, Spain
Robby ROBSON, Eduworks Corporation, USA
Manuel Caeiro RODRIGUEZ, University of Vigo, Spain
Eunice SARI, Univeristy of Western Australia, Australia
Hitoshi SASAKI, Takushoku University, Japan
Marcus SPECHT, the Open University of the Netherlands, Netherlands
Riina VUORIKARI, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, European Commission, Belgium
Maggie M. WANG, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Saturday, February 20, 2016
The view on churches from the roof top in Triana
Triana, and Seville for that matter, is full of churches. They are everywhere; from one street corner you can always see another one (hmm, this is probably where Starbuck's got their idea…). From our roof top, you can count 8 church towers, some of them on the Triana side and others in Seville. This article is a good source of information on them, here are some excerpts.
Starting from North, you can see:
Starting from North, you can see:
- The tower of the Moorish Revival style Chapel of El Carmen with an altarpiece of the Virgen del Carmen. This is the cute mini-chapel just on the side of the Triana bridge (Isabella II, built in 1854). It's built by Aníbal González in 1927, but there is a long history to it.
It is located where the old castle of Triana once was, first built in the 10th century. Later, it was made the seat of a fraternal society, the Order of Saint George, which changed its name to Castillo de San Jorge (Castle of Saint George). Later, in 1481, under the rule of the Catholic Monarchs (Isabella I), it was made the seat of the Spanish Inquisition until 1785. - La Giralda, the bell tower of the Seville Cathedral, was originally built as a minaret during the Moorish period (started in 1184), with a Renaissance style top subsequently added by Spaniards.
- One church tower can be seen by the Maestranza, the bullfighting ring, but I don't have the name.
- The Church of Santa Ana (Iglesia de Santa Ana), considered the Cathedral of Triana by popular sentiment. It was the first Catholic church built in Seville after Muslim rule ended in the city in 1248; its architecture combines early Gothic and Mudéjar styles.
- Capilla de los Marineros (Sailors' Chapel), seat of the popular brotherhood known as La Esperanza de Triana (Our Lady of Hope of Triana). Their Easter procession is impressive, it starts at 1am and lasts some 11h.
- One of the towers of Plaza de España, although not a church tower as such, so does not count.
- The top of the tower of the Capilla de Ntra. Sra. del Rocío where the Hermandad del Rocío de Triana is located. During El Romero, one can see the departure of the procession with horses and covered wagons to El Rocío.
- Iglesia de San Vicente de Paúl on Pages del Corro. In front of the church, there is a statue of Rodriques de Triana, a trianero sailor who first spotted America with Cristobal Columbus.
On the outside wall, there is a memorial plate for the first single voyage of global circumnavigation. It started and ended here in Seville between 1519 and 1522 (the Magellan–Elcano expedition). - San Jacinto church, built in 1676 by Matías de Figueroa for the Dominican order, just in front of our beloved tapas place Paloma Blanca.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Expo '92, Suomi paviljonki - The Finnish Pavilion - El Pabellón de Finlandia
The old Expo'92 site in Seville is somewhat a magical place. It's easy to dismiss its charm as everything is run down and sorta abandoned. It's amazing to think that this year we are coming up to its 25th anniversary.Not that I ever visited it back then, but once, while digging out some information on the Finnish Pavilion, I found this awesome news clip from the Finnish news which I actually think I remember seeing!
It says it's from summer 1992 and in the opening speech the dude, still a politician, mentions that Finland just turned in the application for the EU membership! Wow, these days, the whole idea of Finland not being part of the EU sounds crazy. It's kind of cool to think that today I work for the EU in Seville, and at the same building that was the Expo'92 headquarter.
The cool thing about the wooden structure is that it is supposedly made of Finnish pine and its artisan execution follows the principles of shipbuilding.
I also found out that one of the architects is still in practice and works with pretty interesting looking wooden structures. There is a link under projects to the Finnish Pavilion. The designers and architects were young architect students; Juha Jääskeläinen, Juha Kaakko, Petri Rouhiainen, Matti Sanaksenaho and Jari Tirkkonen, they are also interviewed at the news clip.
Last, worth watching is this promotional documentary from the Expo site, it's crazy to see how it actually looked like back then....
Saturday, February 13, 2016
My detective work on a Triana flamenco joint
Everybody who ever visited Seville knows that Triana is the home of flamenco with its own flare. Living in Triana is pretty special. I love observing the life here. So here's what I found out about the Flamenco joint next door on the legendary Calle Pureza.
On the walls, there are big, almost life size, paintings of a flamenco dancer at her mature age. She's really stunning with her facial expressions, so much so that it rattles the earth below you. Until not so long, I had no idea that they were actual pictures of a real dancer, a pretty famous one.
Her name is Manuela Carrasco (in the pic), and of course she's born in Triana. Here's her history on wikipedia, she, for example, performed in Carlos Saura's both flamenco films.
I saw her performance in the Bienal de Flamenco in 2014. Even more impressive than her dance was the anticipation and feeling in the Real Maestranza when she performed, she's really loved here. Check the review of that performance, it gives you a taste of it. I've seen her a few times in the joint too, having a drink, but I've never seen her dance there.
I found out about her identity once talking to the owner of the joint. It took me many times of going there before he warmed up a bit for a chat. Actually, I think he only wanted to talk to my friend, but hey, we got interesting stuff out!
He turns out to be Joaquín Amador, Manuela's husband and her long time guitar player. Apparently, they played and performed a lot together in their early days in the 1980's (an old clip of them performing). My friend and I were exited to hear that he's guitarist, but he was quick to say that he never plays in his own joint, somehow insinuating that it's way below he's class. So I had to dig out some early recordings of his playing on YouTube, and I found out that he's the brother of the famous flamenco singer called La Susi! See a clip from the old age of him playing with his sister La Susi.
So if the owner does not play in his own flamenco joint, who does? Well, once, I was there with another friend listening to a young flamenco singer with a honey-smoky voice, like I call her, my friend noted the resemblance between the singer and the pictures on the walls. At that time, I didn't know that the pictures were of Manuela Carrasco, so I kinda passed on her comment.
Later, though, I realised that my honey-smoky singer is the daughter of Manuela Carrasco and Joaquín Amador. Her name is Zamara Carrasco. She sings also with the group called La puro mando, but I think her voice works better in a small bar than on the big stage, where she seems to be forcing it a bit too much. This tv documentary of her is done already some years ago, but that's how l love to see her singing.
And - to finally to answer to the question: who plays the guitar? It's Zamara Carrasco's husband! He's pretty kick-ass too, I really like to listen to him, you can see him in this video. The only thing is that you never know when they play…. The joints opens close to the mid-night, he's working behind the bar and serving drinks, and you might end up waiting for an hour before anything happens. Or sometimes nothing happens... We actually almost never go there anymore, as something has changed and things don't seem to run in the same old manner anymore. But if you are nearby, it might be worth the visit!
On the walls, there are big, almost life size, paintings of a flamenco dancer at her mature age. She's really stunning with her facial expressions, so much so that it rattles the earth below you. Until not so long, I had no idea that they were actual pictures of a real dancer, a pretty famous one.
Her name is Manuela Carrasco (in the pic), and of course she's born in Triana. Here's her history on wikipedia, she, for example, performed in Carlos Saura's both flamenco films.
I saw her performance in the Bienal de Flamenco in 2014. Even more impressive than her dance was the anticipation and feeling in the Real Maestranza when she performed, she's really loved here. Check the review of that performance, it gives you a taste of it. I've seen her a few times in the joint too, having a drink, but I've never seen her dance there.
I found out about her identity once talking to the owner of the joint. It took me many times of going there before he warmed up a bit for a chat. Actually, I think he only wanted to talk to my friend, but hey, we got interesting stuff out!
He turns out to be Joaquín Amador, Manuela's husband and her long time guitar player. Apparently, they played and performed a lot together in their early days in the 1980's (an old clip of them performing). My friend and I were exited to hear that he's guitarist, but he was quick to say that he never plays in his own joint, somehow insinuating that it's way below he's class. So I had to dig out some early recordings of his playing on YouTube, and I found out that he's the brother of the famous flamenco singer called La Susi! See a clip from the old age of him playing with his sister La Susi.
So if the owner does not play in his own flamenco joint, who does? Well, once, I was there with another friend listening to a young flamenco singer with a honey-smoky voice, like I call her, my friend noted the resemblance between the singer and the pictures on the walls. At that time, I didn't know that the pictures were of Manuela Carrasco, so I kinda passed on her comment.
Later, though, I realised that my honey-smoky singer is the daughter of Manuela Carrasco and Joaquín Amador. Her name is Zamara Carrasco. She sings also with the group called La puro mando, but I think her voice works better in a small bar than on the big stage, where she seems to be forcing it a bit too much. This tv documentary of her is done already some years ago, but that's how l love to see her singing.
And - to finally to answer to the question: who plays the guitar? It's Zamara Carrasco's husband! He's pretty kick-ass too, I really like to listen to him, you can see him in this video. The only thing is that you never know when they play…. The joints opens close to the mid-night, he's working behind the bar and serving drinks, and you might end up waiting for an hour before anything happens. Or sometimes nothing happens... We actually almost never go there anymore, as something has changed and things don't seem to run in the same old manner anymore. But if you are nearby, it might be worth the visit!
Thursday, November 05, 2015
Recommendations for strategic advice: Finland, how to claim back the top spot in PISA?
I'm seriously inspired by the new PISA report called Students, Computers and Learning: Making the Connection to help Finland! Let's create better strategies and training programmes to claim back our top spot in the PISA study!
The data in this report dates back to 2012. Next round of PISA will be in 2018 (just missed the opportunity for 2015!), so we have enough time to rise.
In this post I focus on increasing the use of ICT outside of school for schoolwork in Finland. The damning evidence is the following (p. 60):
Namely, the new programme that I will detail below with policy recommendations and actions for teacher PD is inspired by the above quote and Figure 2.8 below. Take a careful look at the variables used and try to identify the key to the success!
It's the email, stupid! Now that the culprit has been identified, I offer Finns a few easy steps to re-claim their success!
The 1st key step to the top of PISA charts: enhanced use of e-mail
Progress could be made by investing more effort, time and resources in the use of email in schools. For example, new teacher training programmes could focus on highly competent use of e-mails in two areas:
The 2nd key step to the top of PISA charts: design of school websites
Courses for those designing school's website should include intense design and implementation of features to allow uploading and downloading material on school's website. Additional added value will come from features allowing browsing the material on school's website.
The recommendations to encourage such features on school's website should focus on diverting attention away from all cloud computing solutions (forget about https://portal.educloudalliance.org/) or even digital learning environments (publishers?) or government sponsored educational portals, as they will not be featured in PISA study any time soon (data not available as the questionnaires for the PISA 2015 have not been released for public at the time submitting this article….).
Moreover, the area on the school website to feature announcements should also be designed and implemented with the utmost care! It is good to advice people responsible for such implementations to avoid any other "apps" or digital communication means for this (e.g. Vilma, Watsapp..).
It's the homework done on computers, stupid!
The 3rd key step to the top of PISA charts: homework done solely on computes Guidelines could be implemented to discourage teachers from accepting any homework done by students using any other digital devices than computers. Forget about smart phones, let's bring back the desktops for homework.
ps. this advice is given totally pro bono and has no connection to my everyday work!
ps 2. joke-joke-joke!!
The data in this report dates back to 2012. Next round of PISA will be in 2018 (just missed the opportunity for 2015!), so we have enough time to rise.
In this post I focus on increasing the use of ICT outside of school for schoolwork in Finland. The damning evidence is the following (p. 60):
Finland and Japan are the two countries where students make the least use of computers outside of school for schoolwork.
Namely, the new programme that I will detail below with policy recommendations and actions for teacher PD is inspired by the above quote and Figure 2.8 below. Take a careful look at the variables used and try to identify the key to the success!
It's the email, stupid! Now that the culprit has been identified, I offer Finns a few easy steps to re-claim their success!
The 1st key step to the top of PISA charts: enhanced use of e-mail
Progress could be made by investing more effort, time and resources in the use of email in schools. For example, new teacher training programmes could focus on highly competent use of e-mails in two areas:
- how to teach student to submit homework or other school work to teachers by email, and
- how to teach students to use email to communicate with other students about school work.
The 2nd key step to the top of PISA charts: design of school websites
Courses for those designing school's website should include intense design and implementation of features to allow uploading and downloading material on school's website. Additional added value will come from features allowing browsing the material on school's website.
The recommendations to encourage such features on school's website should focus on diverting attention away from all cloud computing solutions (forget about https://portal.educloudalliance.org/) or even digital learning environments (publishers?) or government sponsored educational portals, as they will not be featured in PISA study any time soon (data not available as the questionnaires for the PISA 2015 have not been released for public at the time submitting this article….).
Moreover, the area on the school website to feature announcements should also be designed and implemented with the utmost care! It is good to advice people responsible for such implementations to avoid any other "apps" or digital communication means for this (e.g. Vilma, Watsapp..).
It's the homework done on computers, stupid!
The 3rd key step to the top of PISA charts: homework done solely on computes Guidelines could be implemented to discourage teachers from accepting any homework done by students using any other digital devices than computers. Forget about smart phones, let's bring back the desktops for homework.
ps. this advice is given totally pro bono and has no connection to my everyday work!
ps 2. joke-joke-joke!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Neuroscience, education - neuromyths
Checking this years keynote speakers in various events and conferences, I've picked up on a trending topic of neuroscience. Hilary Leevers, for example from Wellcome Trust is on the topic in Online Educa Berlin, whereas ISLS as Professor Elsbeth Stern from ETH Zürich. Both European and women (for once!), it's great to see that keynotes are not any more dominated by grey males (no offence!).
Welcome Trust has interesting surveys (a survey of teachers and parents, really interesting stuff!) and reports (a literature review on the topic) available on the topic here: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Education-resources/Education-and-learning/Our-work/Neuroscience-and-education/WTS040353.htm
Welcome Trust has interesting surveys (a survey of teachers and parents, really interesting stuff!) and reports (a literature review on the topic) available on the topic here: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Education-resources/Education-and-learning/Our-work/Neuroscience-and-education/WTS040353.htm
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) in Education
I spotted this workshop as part of the conference which is organised by the Behavioural Insights Team in the UK ( http://www.bx2015.org/#!programme/c121s). The video of the session is available here.
As I don't know much about Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) in education, I googled the names to see the stuff they do. My colleague also said that they will most likely publish some video recordings of the sessions - mental note to my self, check back later!
Education RCTs: Past, present and futureWhat do we really know about why some children do better at school than others? What are the world's leading education researchers currently working on? In this session, academics from the US and UK will give presentations of their work and the narrative that drives it, before considering where future efforts should be applied.
Speakers include: Todd Rogers, Simon Burgess, Anna Vignoles, Sally Sadoff
As I don't know much about Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) in education, I googled the names to see the stuff they do. My colleague also said that they will most likely publish some video recordings of the sessions - mental note to my self, check back later!
- Todd Rogers; http://scholar.harvard.edu/todd_rogers/home;
- Simon Burgess; http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/schoolsteam/schoolsadminteam/burgess.html; http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/news/2013/638.html
- Anna Vignoles: http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/vignoles/, and this book, called "Making a Difference in Education: What the Evidence Says" looks really interesting!
- Sally Sadoff: http://rady.ucsd.edu/faculty/directory/sadoff/
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
CALL for papers - Conference Theme: Transforming Education in the Big Data Era
======================================================================
ICCE2015: The 23rd International Conference on Computers in Education
November 30 - December 4,2015
Hangzhou, China
Web page: http://icce2015.zjut.edu.cn
Conference Theme: Transforming Education in the Big Data Era
Paper Submission Due: May 12,2015
Notification of Acceptance: August 4,2015
======================================================================
Organized by Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (APSCE)
http://www.apsce.net/
Hosted by: Zhejiang University of Technology,
Collaborative and Innovative Center for Educational Technology, China
ICCE 2015 is a premier annual international forum for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and people in the industry in the Asia-Pacific region to connect with international research communities for the worldwide dissemination and sharing of ideas for research in the field of Computers in Education.
The conference program will comprise keynotes, invited talks, paper presentations and poster sessions, workshops, tutorials, interactive events and Doctoral Student Consortia. All the accepted papers in the main conference, workshops and Doctoral Student Consortium will be published in proceedings which will be indexed by Elsevier Bibliographic Databases (e.g., Scopus, Engineering
Village and others).
Sub-Conferences:
Paper categories and page limits:
Conference Organization:
ICCE2015: The 23rd International Conference on Computers in Education
November 30 - December 4,2015
Hangzhou, China
Web page: http://icce2015.zjut.edu.cn
Conference Theme: Transforming Education in the Big Data Era
Paper Submission Due: May 12,2015
Notification of Acceptance: August 4,2015
======================================================================
Organized by Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education (APSCE)
http://www.apsce.net/
Hosted by: Zhejiang University of Technology,
Collaborative and Innovative Center for Educational Technology, China
ICCE 2015 is a premier annual international forum for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and people in the industry in the Asia-Pacific region to connect with international research communities for the worldwide dissemination and sharing of ideas for research in the field of Computers in Education.
The conference program will comprise keynotes, invited talks, paper presentations and poster sessions, workshops, tutorials, interactive events and Doctoral Student Consortia. All the accepted papers in the main conference, workshops and Doctoral Student Consortium will be published in proceedings which will be indexed by Elsevier Bibliographic Databases (e.g., Scopus, Engineering
Village and others).
Sub-Conferences:
- C1: Artificial Intelligence in Education/Intelligent Tutoring System (AIED/ITS)
- and Adaptive Learning (AL)
- C2: Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and Learning Sciences (LS)
- C3: Advanced Learning Technologies, Open Educational Content, and
- Standards (ALS)
- C4: Classroom, Ubiquitous and Mobile Technologies Enhanced Learning (CUMTEL)
- C5: Digital Game and Digital Toy Enhanced Learning and Society (GTEL&S)
- C6: ICCE Conference on Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL)
- C7: Practice-driven Research, Teacher Professional Development and Policy of
- ICT in Education (PTP)
Paper categories and page limits:
- Full paper (8-10 pages)
- Short paper (5-6 pages)
- Poster paper (2-3 pages)
Conference Organization:
- Conference Chair: Siu Cheung KONG, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
- International Program Committee (IPC) Coordination Chair: Hiroaki Ogata, Kyushu University, Japan
- International Program Committee (IPC) Coordination Co-Chair: Weiqin Chen, University of Bergen, Norway
- Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Chair: Feiyue Qiu, Zhejiang University of Technology, China
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
ICWL 2015 Call for Papers - Submission June 2
As other years before, I'm glad to be part of the Programme Committee for the International Conference on Web-based Learning! This year it will be organised by Hong Kong Web Society. The call for papers below.
The 14th International Conference on Web-Based Learning
ICWL 2015 Guangzhou, China 5 - 8 November, 2015 http://www.cityu.edu.hk/merc/icwl/icwl2015home.htm ICWL is an annual international conference on web-based learning organised by Hong Kong Web Society. The first ICWL was held in Hong Kong in 2002. Since then, it has been held in Australia (2003), China (2004), Hong Kong (2005), Malaysia (2006), United Kingdom (2007), China (2008), Germany (2009), China (2010), Hong Kong (2011), Romania (2012), Taiwan (2013) and Estonia (2014). ICWL 2015 will be the 14th ICWL conference and will be held in Guangzhou, China. The conference program will feature keynote addresses, workshops, panels, posters, demos and industry track, in addition to presentations of refereed papers that have been selected by the international program committee. A special attention will be paid on collaboration and exchange of knowledge between our local communities. We especially invite joint contributions from colleagues coming from different continents. We plan a special issue for collaborative papers expressing the spirit of ICWL, to be a truly international conference. In addition we will provide an Asian-Australian-European Research Exchange Forum for presentations from funded research projects. Conference topics Areas of interest include but are not limited to the following: * Personalized and Adaptive Learning * Computer Support for Intelligent Tutoring * Intelligent Tools for Visual Learning * Informal Learning on the Workplace * Web-based Learning for Oriental Languages Learning * Game-based Learning and Serious Games * Personal Learning Environments (PLE) * Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) * Computer Supported Collaborative Learning * Web 2.0 and Social Learning Environments * HTML5 Web-based Learning * Virtual environments and 3D graphics for e-learning * Intelligent Learner and Group Modelling * Learning Analytics * Human Factors and Affective Computing for Learning * E-Learning Platforms and Tools * Design, Model and Framework of e-Learning Systems * Deployment, Organization and Management of Learning Objects * Open educational resources (OER) * E-Learning Metadata and Standards * Semantic Web and Ontologies for E-Learning * Mobile, Situated and Blended Learning * Bring your own Device (BYOD) * Cloud-based Learning * Pedagogical Issues Important deadlines Abstract submission deadline: June 2, 2015 Full paper submission deadline: June 9, 2015 Notification of paper acceptance: July 14, 2015 Camera-ready papers and registration: August 10, 2015 Conference dates: 5 - 8 November, 2015 Paper Submission & Publication Authors are invited to submit original papers reporting on research results or novel applications in technology-enhanced learning. Submissions will be handled through EasyChair https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icwl2015 Papers for submission should be formatted according to the Springer LNCS Authors Guidelines and have maximum 10 pages. Since the review process will be double-blind, the submitted manuscript should not contain the authors’ names, affiliations, or any information that may disclose the authors’ identity. All papers should be submitted in PDF format. All accepted papers presented at the conference will be published as a volume in Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). Conference Co-Chairs: - Jun Zhang, Sun Yat-Sen University, China - Balta Fernandez Manjon, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain - Rynson Lau, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Program Co-Chairs: - Frederick Li, Durham University, United Kingdom - Mart Laanpere, Tallinn University, Estonia - Ralf Klamma, RWTH Aachen University, Germany Steering Committee Representative: - Qing Li, HKWS Organization Chair: - Wenyin Liu, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Local Arrangement Chair: - Xiaonan Chen, Sun Yat-Sen University, China Workshop Co-Chairs: - Zhiguo Gong, Macau University, Macau - Yiwei Cao, IMC Information Multimedia Communication AG, Germany Publication Chair: - Jeff Tang, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong Publicity Chair: - Elvira Popescu, University of Craiova, Romania Finance Co-Chair: - Howard Leung, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Web Master: - Zhangjun Yan, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Conference Secretary: - Christina Tai, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Program Committee to be announced About Guangzhou Guangzhou (also romanized as: Canton) is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in South China. Located on the Pearl River, about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong and north-northeast of Macau, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port. One of the five National Central Cities, it holds sub-provincial administrative status. Guangzhou is the third largest Chinese city and the largest city in South Central China. As of the 2010 census, the city's administrative area had a population of 12.78 million. Some estimates place the population of the entire Pearl River Delta Mega City built up area as high as 40 million, with an area of about 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi). In 2012 Guangzhou was identified as a Beta+ World City by the global city index produced by the GaWC, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. About Sun Yat-sen University Sun Yat-sen University was founded in 1924 by Dr. Sun Yat-sen (also called Sun Zhongshan), a great democratic revolutionary leader of the 20th century. The University is located in Guangdong Province, an area neighboring Hong Kong and Macao, which is at the forefront of China's reform and opening up. Being one of the leading universities in China, Sun Yat-sen University is a comprehensive multi-disciplinary university, including the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, technical sciences, medical sciences, pharmacology, and management sciences. It has about 82,384 students studying on four campuses in Guangzhou and Zhuhai. Benefiting from its location near Hong Kong and Macao and the regional advantage of opening and economic development, the university has become an important base for training high-level talents, scientific research, providing services to society and inheriting cultural traditions. The University has also successfully built international cooperation and exchange relationships with many top universities in the world. According to the Times Higher Education World University Ranking for 2010-2011, Sun Yat-sen University was ranked in the top 200 in the world. At present, Sun Yat-sen University covers a total area of 5.972 square kilometers and has 4 campuses: Guangzhou South Campus, Guangzhou North Campus, Guangzhou East Campus, and Zhuhai Campus.
ICWL is an annual international conference on web-based learning organised by Hong Kong Web Society....
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Monday, December 01, 2014
ICALT 2015 - Call for papers open until January 20, 2015
This year again, I'm pleased to be part of the Program Committee of the
15th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies
(ICALT2015)! The conference will be held in Hualien, Taiwan from 6-9 July 2015.
The call for paper is out with a deadline of January 20th, 2015 for the submission of papers (Full Paper, Short Paper, Poster).
See more about the conference here.
The call for paper is out with a deadline of January 20th, 2015 for the submission of papers (Full Paper, Short Paper, Poster).
See more about the conference here.
Emerging technologies keep transforming not only the ways people learn but what they learn as well. Access to learning is nowadays moving beyond defined pathways and discrete courses. It rather integrates formal and informal learning experiences throughout life. Learning is structured around flexible curricula that accommodate needs of diverse student audiences, and offer access to courses, content, and resources through a variety of platforms, devices, and contexts. This change of the way people access learning poses quandaries for educational organisations, researchers, practitioners and policy makers, especially with regards to the development of advanced technologies that accommodate the needs of a new generation of learners; the choice of appropriate technologies; and the application of learning technologies in emerging learning contexts.
Wednesday, July 02, 2014
Study on Khan Academy - non of the teachers used flipped classroom...
Khan Academy is a really intriguing platform. I remember the first time when hearing of it, it was in 2009, Khan himself presented it in the BigIdeasFest in California. He had just received a big grand from Bill Gates to develop it further. I had a hard time imagining what was so cool about it. After all, it was a very classical way of "frontal teaching" where a teacher walks you through a problem. Well, this was in 2009, life before the hype on MOOCs, flipped classroom hype, etc... :)
So after lots of talk about Khan Academy, today, I was glad to find this piece of research on teachers' use of Khan Academy: How Are Teachers and Students Using Khan Academy? (comment: Funnily enough, the starting point of Khan Academy was not to be used as part of formal educational context, but rather as a "catch up tool" when the teacher wasn't really doing his/her job as ought to.)
An interesting finding:
So instead of an innovative new way of using the resources, teachers often resorted back to their usual classroom organisation, namely to using Khan Academy resources as part of a rotational model (some use it, while others use pen&paper and a third group receives face2face lesson), for remediation purposes or as part of self-paced studies.
So after lots of talk about Khan Academy, today, I was glad to find this piece of research on teachers' use of Khan Academy: How Are Teachers and Students Using Khan Academy? (comment: Funnily enough, the starting point of Khan Academy was not to be used as part of formal educational context, but rather as a "catch up tool" when the teacher wasn't really doing his/her job as ought to.)
An interesting finding:
While Khan Academy videos are often associated with the flipped classroom model in which teachers assign instructional videos to be watched at home, none of the teachers in this study used that model. And though some educators have used Khan Academy videos as a launching point for project-based learning models, none of the teachers in this study reported using that model.
So instead of an innovative new way of using the resources, teachers often resorted back to their usual classroom organisation, namely to using Khan Academy resources as part of a rotational model (some use it, while others use pen&paper and a third group receives face2face lesson), for remediation purposes or as part of self-paced studies.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
ICWL 2014: the 13th International Conference on Web-based Learning
One of my favourite conferences on e-learning is the International Conference on Web-based Learning. This year it takes place in Tallinn, Estonia on 13-16 August 2014. Also one of my favourite Nordic capitals! And I'm also glad to be able to serve as part of the Programme Committee again :)
The call is out now at:
http://www.hkws.org/conference/icwl2014/
Find below the conference topics and areas of interest. They include but are not limited to the following:
* Personalized and Adaptive Learning
* Computer Support for Intelligent Tutoring
* Intelligent Tools for Visual Learning
* Web-based Learning for Oriental Languages Learning
* Game-based Learning
* Personal Learning Environments (PLE)
* Computer Supported Collaborative Learning
* Web 2.0 and Social Learning Environments
* HTML5 Web-based Learning
* Virtual environments and 3D graphics for e-learning
* Intelligent Learner and Group Modelling
* Learning Analytics
* Human Factors and Affective Computing for Learning
* E-Learning Platforms and Tools
* Design, Model and Framework of e-Learning Systems
* Deployment, Organization and Management of Learning Objects
* E-Learning Metadata and Standards
* Semantic Web and Ontologies for E-Learning
* Mobile, Situated and Blended Learning
* Cloud-based Learning
* Pedagogical Issues
Paper Submission & Publication
==============================
Authors are invited to submit original papers reporting on research
results or novel applications in technology-enhanced learning. Submissions
will be handled through EasyChair:
https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icwl2014.
Papers for submission should be formatted according to the Springer LNCS
Authors Guidelines
(http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0) and have
maximum 10 pages. Since the review process will be double-blind, the
submitted manuscript should not contain the authors' names, affiliations,
or any information that may disclose the authors' identity. All papers
should be submitted in PDF format.
All accepted papers presented at the conference will be published as a
volume in Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS).
Important Dates
===============
Abstract submission deadline: March 1, 2014
Full paper submission deadline: March 8, 2014
Notification of paper acceptance: April 15, 2014
Camera-ready papers due: May 8, 2014
Conference dates: August 13-16, 2014
Conference Organization
=======================
General Co-Chairs:
* Howard Leung, City University of Hong Kong
* Mart Laanpere, Tallinn University, Estonia
Program Committee Co-Chairs:
* Elvira Popescu, University of Craiova, Romania
* Rynson Lau, City University of Hong Kong
* Kai Pata, Tallinn University, Estonia
Steering Committee Representatives:
* Qing Li, City University of Hong Kong
* Ralf Klamma, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
* Yueh-Min Huang, National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan
Workshop Co-Chairs:
* Yiwei Cao, IMC Information Multimedia Community AG, Germany
* Terje Väljataga, Tallinn University, Estonia
* Jeff Tang, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong
Publicity Chair:
* Mohammad Smadi, Tallinn University, Estonia
Poster Chair:
* Vladimir Tomberg, Tallinn University, Estonia
Local Organization Chair:
* Kairit Tammets, Tallinn University, Estonia
Please refer to the conference website
(http://www.hkws.org/conference/icwl2014) for more information.
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