ICT and learning : policy &research

Javier Hernandez-Ros Head of Unit E3

Cultural Heritage and Technology-enhanced Learning UnitInformation Society and Media Directorate General

Overview of the presentation

• Digital Agenda: policy & research• Policy actions• TEL research in Europe • Call 8 – closing Jan 2012• Horizon 2020 and CEF

European CommissionInformation Society and Media DG

DIGITAL AGENDA FOR EUROPEhttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/index_en.htm

DG Information Society and Mediahttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/index_en.htm

ICT RESULTS http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm

The European Digital Agenda

- Europe's strategy for a flourishing digital economy by 2020

- Policies and actions to maximise the benefit of the digital revolution for all

- Digital Single Market ; - Interoperability and Standards; - Trust and Security; - Very Fast Internet; - Research and innovation; - Enhancing digital literacy, skills and inclusion; - ICT for Societal Challenges; - International aspects

Education and Training at EU level

- Policy work with MS (OMC); act 68- TEL research and technological development- Best practices, innovation (LLL, CIP)

• Member States retain responsibilities - principle of subsidiarity – DAE action 68

• EU actions are geared towards supporting MS in improving the quality of our education and training systems

Action 68

Mainstream eLearning in national policies for the modernisation of education and training, including in curricula, assessment of learning outcomes and the professional development of teachers and trainers.”

Digital Agenda Assembly

Workshop Mainstreaming eLearning in Education and Training

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/cf/daa11/item-display.cfm?id=5989

Change is necessary – inevitable – but difficult and too slowNeed to scale up, learn from each another

Be clear about the vision and the goalsGrassroots reforms

Top/bottom approaches…

Key data on Learning and Innovation through ICT at School in Europe 2011

• Although ICT as a subject or as a tool for learning within other subjects is recommended in almost all countries,

• international survey data reveal a different picture of classroom practice.

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice

• ICT is playing a central role in cooperation between schools and the community and to engage parents in the learning process

• ICT is widely promoted by central authorities as a tool for teaching and learning but large implementation gap remains

• ICT is often recommended for assessing competences but steering documents rarely indicate how it should be applied

• teachers usually acquire ICT teaching skills through their initial education but further professional development is less common

Key data on Learning and Innovation through ICT at School in Europe 2011

Innovation in Education & Training through ICT

• Improve effectiveness and efficiency

• Build flexible and responsive learning environments

• Meet different learning styles/needs

• Engage and involve learners, teachers, parents, …

• 21st century skills

• Provide stimulus and support

• Demonstrate potential benefits (NEW TOOLS, NEW PARADIGMS) and raise awareness

• Support capacity building

• Disseminate best practices

• Engage and involve stakeholders (ACTORS OF CHANGE)

• Create new opportunities for enterprises

Commission contributions (through policy actions and programmes)

Technology-enhanced Learning in Europe

Research and Innovation

• R&I key to strengthen the transformative role of ICT in education and training

• Global patterns from demonstration to adoption

• Implementation, take up, deployment, scale up!!!!!

• FP7 and CIP

RTD at EU level

• European Community Framework Programmes for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (RTD).

• A collection of the actions at EU level to fund and promote research.

• Participation from countries outside the EU, enabling international co-operation, foreseen.

RTD on Technology-enhanced learning

• Research aims at improving our knowledge of how ICT enhances learning and teaching.

• The work on learning draws on different research disciplines (computing, technological, pedagogical, cognitive and psychological sciences)

• Focus on how technology-enhanced learning can better facilitate the learning process, in different learning situations, for individuals or groups of learners, motivating and supporting people who learn on their own or collaboratively with others.

Cognitive aspects

Target Groups…….

Organisational aspects

Pedagogical aspects

Technical aspects

Focus on the learning processIntertwined relationship between learner and organisation

RTD on Technology-enhanced Learning

Main characteristics

• Researching & understanding learning problems

• Realistic assumptions about the systemic changes needed to realise the potential benefits of ICT for learning

• Focus on key areas where impact is more likely

• 32 projects resulted from the 2 Calls in FP6

• 26 projects resulted from the first two calls for proposals under FP7

• 13 projects resulted from FP7 Call 5 (started July-October 2010)

Project portfolio

• Technology blending learning and knowledge

management @ workplace

• Supporting individualisation in learning/

adaptive systems, diagnosis and guidance

• Engaging learners in science and maths

• Creativity and learning

• Serious games

Project portfolio

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/telearn-digicult/telearn-projects_en.html

Technology-enhanced Learning in Europe

FP7 Call 8 (Jan 2012)Challenge 8

Objective ICT-2011.8.1 Technology-enhanced learning

a) Technology Enhanced Learning systems endowed with the capabilities of human tutors

b) Educational technologies for science, technology and maths

c) Advanced solutions for fast and flexible deployment of learning opportunities at the workplace (targeting, in particular, SMEs) Computational tools fostering creativity in learning processes

d) Exploratory activities

Target outcome 8.1 a) Technology Enhanced Learning systems

endowed with the capabilities of human tutors

Focus:

Advance systems’ capabilities to react to learners’ abilities and difficulties and systems’ understanding and use of the appropriate triggers (praise, constructive comments, etc.) influencing learning.

Part 1/2

Target outcome 8.1 a) Technology Enhanced Learning systems

endowed with the capabilities of human tutors

Characteristics: • use of systematic feedback based on innovative ways

of interpreting the user's responses - particularly in relation to deep/shallow reasoning and thinking.

• improve learners’ metacognitive skills, understand and exploit the underlying drivers of their learning behaviours.

Technologies:

Natural language interaction (dialogues); rich and effective user interfaces; pedagogically sound; smart and personalised instructional design

Part 2/2

Target outcome 8.1 b1) Educational technologies

for science, technology and maths

Focus:

Supporting students to understand and construct their knowledge and meanings of scientific, technological and/or mathematical subjects.

Characteristics of the solutions:

- accompanying the learners through the complexity of a subject (technologically and methodologically)

How? - activating and feeding curiosity and reasoning- support the creative applications of the theory

Target outcome 8.1 b2) Educational technologies

for science, technology and maths

Focus:

Supporting European wide federation and use of remote laboratories and virtual experimentations for learning and teaching purposes.

Output: - Services enabling online interactive experimentations accessing and controlling real instruments, or using simulated solutions - Stimulus to the growth of the network of labs- Open interfacing components for easy plug-and-play of remote and virtual labs

Research characteristics: user interfaces mediating the complexities of creation and usability of experiments, in pedagogical contexts - in primary and secondary schools, universities, etc..

Target 8.1 c)Advanced solutions for fast and flexible

deployment of learning opportunities at theworkplace (targeting, in particular, SMEs)

Context:

networking/fostering (cross-) organisational learning and help SMEs to adopt and sustain effective learning attitudes.

Characteristics:

• faster, situated, just-in-time up-/reskilling

• lower the costs/efforts of production quality instructional material - in continuing education and training processes.

• novel business training models – understanding overcoming barriers to adoption - take up of the technologies

Part 1/2

Target 8.1 c)Advanced solutions for fast and flexible

deployment of learning opportunities at theworkplace (targeting, in particular, SMEs)

Focus:

specifically on the needs of SMEs - in sectors without an established tradition in the adoption of learning solutions and - facing innovation and competitiveness challenges deriving from efficiency needs or new processes/products development.

Partnership:

include SMEs /professional associations. SMEs users actively involved in pilots.

Part 2/2

Target d)Computational tools fostering creativity in

learning processes

Context: Creativity in the learning environments

Focus: innovative tools encouraging – nonlinear, non-standard thinking and problem-solving– exploration and generation of new knowledge, ideas and

concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts.

Application: supporting people’s learning as well as the formation and evolution of creative teams

Approach: technological solutions that facilitate questioning and challenging, foster imaginative thinking, widen the perspectives and make purposeful connections with people and their ideas.

Target e)Exploratory activities

Looking ahead – specific exploratory actions – 10+ years horizon - for: Fundamentally new forms of learning through ICT

Networking and test-beds: Establishment of a pan-European network of living schools for validations, demonstrationsand showcases

Budget and call planning

• Budget: – 60 M€

• Call 8– opens 26/7/11 – closes 17/1/12

• More Information onhttp://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/telearn-digicult/

Call 8 – some tips

Make well your case

• - what’s the problem

• - why can’t it be solved today

• - what would be the benefit in 5 y.

• - where is the research/innovation bit

Right mix of partners

Impact, implementation

Technology-enhanced Learning in Europe

FP7 Work Programme for 2013 New Financial Framework 2014-2020:

–Horizon 2020–Connecting Europe Facility

FP7 Work Programme - 2013

• Drafting will start in the next months

• Based on the results and outcomes of previous years

• It will pave the way to Horizon 2020

The New Financial Framework(2014 -2020)

• In June 2011, the Commission's proposed a multi-annual budget for 2014-2020.

• It includes a significant increase to Research and Innovation funding (Horizon 2020).

• It also proposes to support a Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) that would fund cross-border projects in energy, transport and information technology to strengthen the backbone of the internal market.

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/reform/

Horizon 2020: a Common Strategic Framework for research,

innovation and technological development

• Future research and innovation funding should be based on three main areas: – excellence in the science base; – creating industrial leadership and boosting

competitiveness– tackling societal challenges.

• Commission proposes to allocate €80 billion for the 2014-2020 period.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/

ICT: An enabling technology for Horizon 2020

• ICT will be a key component in all three parts of the H2020 Programme.

• ICT underpins innovation and competitiveness across a broad range of private and public markets and sectors, and enables scientific progress in all disciplines.

• ICT is also indispensable in contributing to key societal challenges.

Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)

• Accelerate the infrastructure development that the EU needs.

• Europe-wide availability of high-speed ICT networks and pan-European ICT services will overcome the fragmentation of the single market and assist SMEs in their search for growth opportunities beyond their home market.

• The ICT part of the CEF will fund pre-identified ICT priority infrastructures of EU interest, and both physical and information technology infrastructures .

• The Commission proposes to allocate €40 billion to the CEF including €9.1 billion for ICT networks and pan-European services ICT for the 2014-2020 period.

State of play and next steps

• Horizon 2020 and CEF are now in its final phase of preparation of the legislative proposal.

• The package is scheduled for adoption by the Commission on November 2011.

• They will be presented to the Council on December 2011

• Legislative decisions on Horizon 2020 and CEF by the Council and European Parliament will take place in the course of 2013

• Programmes launch: 1 January 2014

To know more

ICT research results

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/

Technology Enhanced Learning Research

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/telearn-digicult/telearn_en.html

Digital Agenda for Europehttp://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/

Thanks !