There are many innovations in blended learning that are making it an even more effective and engaging learning experience for students. Here are a few of the most promising trends:

• Use of artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize learning. AI can be used to track student progress, identify areas of need, and recommend personalized learning activities. This can help students learn at their own pace and in a way that is most effective for them.
  
• Development of more immersive and interactive online learning experiences. Online learning is no longer just about reading text and watching videos. Thanks to new technologies, online learning can now be more immersive and interactive, with features such as virtual reality, gamification, and simulations. This can help students learn more effectively and retain information better.
• Increased use of mobile devices for learning. Mobile devices are becoming increasingly powerful and affordable, making them a great way for students to learn on the go. There are now many mobile apps and learning platforms that can be used to access blended learning content and activities.
  
• Collaboration between Trainers and Learners in online learning environments. Online learning doesn’t have to be isolating. Thanks to tools like video conferencing and chat, teachers and students can collaborate in real time, just like they would in a traditional classroom. This can help students get the support they need and make learning more engaging.

These are just a few of the innovations that are making blended learning a more effective and engaging learning experience for students. As technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovations in blended learning in the years to come.

Martin Zgraggen published a literature analysis citing one of these papers. He mentions the TIBL Project as

A current study project based on student’s perspective (Mazohl, Ossiannilsson, & Makl, 2018) is (2017 – 2019) conducted under the umbrella of Technical Innovation in Blended Learning (TIBL). An EU project on continuous vocational education investigating the use of multiple devices in blended learning. The activities performed are the development, implementation, performing and evaluation of pilot courses in C-VET.
Source: Literature review: Blended learning in Vocational Educational Training Hospitality Courses Zgraggen, Martin December 2018

The mentioned citation is part of the project “Blended Learning in Vocational Educational Training (Hospitality Industry)” and serves as a bases for further phases in the project.

This quote in another project shows the good project results and their influence or the further usability in the field of vocational training and here in particular in continuous vocational education and training (C-VET).

The keynote speaker, Univ.Prof. Felix Breitenecker (from the University of Technology, Vienna) gave an introduction to the project. Harald Makl and Peter Mazohl (from the EFQBL) presented the project and the results with the specific focus on

• The developed pedagogical framework
• The quality enhancement framework
• The use of multiple devices, and
• The Toolbox

Here is an image album of the successful event!

The TIBL project (Technical Innovation in Blended  Learning), mutiplier event for SADE took place in combination with SADEs annual conference at Saturnus Conference, Stockholm, SE. In additon it was combined with another EU project, the VTT-BOX where there are some synergy effects and spin offs. The mutiplier event gathered some 50 delegates from different kind of stakeholders and sectores, such as Univerities, National Authorities as Swedish Higher Edcuation Authority (UKÄ), The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR),The Swedish Agency for School Education (Skolverket). Other delagates were just to mention some Företagarna (organsation for the co-operative sector). Digital Skills and Job Coalition, Sweden, the National Organization for e-comptence (REK), Schools, Companies, and also the private sector and individuals who had an interest in the field.

Besides delegates from Sweden, we had delagates and presenters from the Nordic countries, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Iceland was about to join but they had to cancel. In addition, we had delegates from the Netherlands. During the event the Nordic network for open online and flexible learning was launched NordFlexOn, to be hosted by ICDE.

The theme for the Multiplier event was on

”THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION IS NOT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY
– IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE ”

The President Ulf Sandström and V President Ebba Ossiannilsson for SADE in action.

See the full program here

All presentations will be available here

The main objective of the project, presented at the Portaceli school in Seville to teachers of Vocational Training, university and company trainers, is to make available to these professionals a simple tool that helps them and guides them in the design, implementation and evaluation process of blended learning courses. All this, from an innovative perspective that has as a reference modern pedagogical approaches and quality assurance systems.

In the project, coordinated by the Professional Training Department of the Central Directorate of the SAFA Foundation, the following partners also participated: La Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), Aveiro University (Portugal), European Foundation for Quality in Blended Learning (Austria) and Swedish Association of Distance Learning (Sweden).

Likewise, teachers have a transferability guide to apply the model proposed by the TIBL project to other training scenarios and to other educational stages other than Vocational Training.

Over 30 teachers and trainers from different public and private centers attended this presentation.

The intellectual outputs (IOs) of the TIBL project will be presented to the Spanish Stakeholders in Seville, on September 19th. The multiplier event will take place at the famous Colegio Inmaculado Corazón de María, often referred to as Portaceli.

This school belongs to the Loyola Foundation, a network of 6 Jesuit schools which are run by the same General Manager of Fundación SAFA’s.

Portaceli school has just been awarded the title of “Google for Education Reference School” due to its extensive use of the Google for education tools and its commitment in the training process of their staff in the use of technologies. So it is indeed a truly appropriate venue for this multiplier event.

The presentation will be held from 16:00 to 21:00 and will include a network cocktail. All interested stakeholders are kindly invited to the event.

In Swedish

Read more here

SVERDs höstkonferens äger rum i Stockholm under två dagar 12-13 2019 i samverkan med två EU ERASMUS+ projekt, där SVERD är parter (2017-2019). Temat är:

THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION IS NOT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY – IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE

Årets konferens är därmed förlängd till två dagar och har ett något annorlunda program. Konferensen  är också tidigarelagd (brukar annars årligen genomföras i mitten av oktober), då projekten avslutas 30 september 2019. Årets förändring beror på att SVERD deltar i två EU projekt med vardera  dissemination i form av Multiplier Events. Projekten är VTT-Box  (Virtual Teachers Toolbox vänder sig mot skolan, ERASMUS+2017 -1ES01-KA201-038199) och TIBL Technical Innovation in Blended Learning) som vänder sig till C-VET (Continious Vocational Training, ERASMUS+2017-1-ES01-KA202-038256 ). Första dagen ägnas åt VTT-Box (förmiddag) och  TIBL  (eftermiddag) där projekten presenteras och det ges möjlighet att i Workshopformat laborera med den MOOC och toolbox som utvecklats inom båda projekten. Denna dag kan konferensspråket bli på engelska. Dag två ägnas åt intressanta sessioner relaterat till konferensens tema.

Varmt välkomna, mer information kommer löpande här på SVERDs hemsida och i sociala medier, samt direkt inbjudan i särskild ordning

eXe-Learning – a tool developed for learning platforms – will be used in the TIBL Project

The open issues were the translation of the MOOC content as well as the pre-decision for a technical tool to create the content of the MOOC.

The product finally selected was eXe-Learning. eXe-Learning is a free software tool under GPL-2 that can be used to create educational interactive web contents in XHTML or HTML5 format. It allows to create easily navigable web pages including text, images, interactive activities (created for example in H5P), image galleries or multimedia clips. All the educational materials generated with eXe-Learning can be exported in different digital formats, to be used independently or to integrate them into a LMS (Learning Management System) like Moodle.

eXe-Learning will be used to provide the content in each chapter.

The chapter structure is developed using the same pattern with an introduction, the pre-information, the content, and a self-evaluation unit. This pattern follows he TIBL-training concept as developed in the project.

______________________________________
Technical background

eXe-Learning id developed in Python, a web-based programming language. The development tool runs in any modern web browser and offers a rich toolbox of activities.

The Interim report Promoting online training opportunities for the workforce in Europe (2017-2019) was published 30 October 2018. The report of this new European initiative has been prepared for the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) and the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) of the European Commission.

Peter Mazohl from the EFQBL reported from the TIBL-Project in Brussels in March 2018.

The work was carried out by PwC, EDEN (the European Distance and E-learning Network) and Espace Mendès France, together with an expert group. Associate Professor Dr. Ebba Ossiannilsson (partner in TIBL-Project) has been involved as an expert and evaluator in the project, which is a very interesting and promising initiative. Read her own blog post. The report gives a deep overview of the field and addresses a number of recommendations.

One of the key conclusions is that existing policies and programmes have been mainly supply-oriented and mostly led by the academic sector, while there is now a clear need for more demand-based and industry-led initiatives. The latter implies initiatives aiming at providing enterprises and SMEs with much better solutions, information, and guidance and at increasing their interest, benefits, and motivation to use new and relevant online training platforms.

Read the full report here

Thursday 8 November 2018 the theme is on Quality considerations in e-learning provisions

Presenters:

• Esther Huertas Hidalgo, AQU Catalunya, Spain, The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)
• Ebba Ossiannilsnon, EDEN Executive Committee Member, EDEN Fellow Council Member, Chair of the EDEN SIG on TEL & QE

Register and read more here 

Within a context of globalization and the knowledge economy, the quality of higher education is increasingly regarded as strategically important for national economic development and competitiveness. High quality and relevant higher education equip students with the knowledge, skills and core transferable competencies they need to succeed after graduation, within a high-quality learning environment which recognizes and supports good learning and teaching. The recommendations in the occasional paper on Considerations for quality assurance of e-learning provision by ENQA are applicable to all forms of e-learning, i.e. learning which is facilitated through the use of ICT. Besides examining the applicability and relevance of the standards defined in the ESG 2015, this document is meant to initiate discussion and the thinking processes of stakeholders involved, e.g. HEIs, QA agencies, etc. Read more https://enqa.eu/indirme/papers-and-reports/occasional-papers/Considerations%20for%20QA%20of%20e-learning%20provision.pdf

Moreover, the TeSLA project will be discussed. The TeSLA system is a project funded by the European Commission. It will follow the interoperability standards for integration into a different learning environment and it will be developed to reduce the current restrictions of time and physical space in teaching and learning, which opens up new opportunities for learners with physical or mental disabilities as well as respecting social and cultural differences.https://tesla-project.eu

In addition, the EDEN SIG on TEL and quality enhancement will be presented, which aim is to advocate and work for renewing the quality agenda in education. Read more on EDEN SIG TE QE

For NDLW events, see the USDLA web page:  https://www.usdla.org/2018-ndlw-2018/

Each webinar will take place in the same webinar room:

https://eden-online.adobeconnect.com/EuropeanDLW