Schlagwort: european

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[publication] Usage of (federated) Learning Management Systems in European University Alliances #tugraz

We made a contribution about our outcomes of the European alliance titled „Usage of (federated) Learning Management Systems in European University Alliances„

Abstract:
In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, European universities are increasingly relying on digital technologies for collaboration and learning. European Universities, as transnational alliances, aim to reshape higher education by fostering academic exchange and innovation across borders. With over 40 alliances in existence, enhancing virtual mobility and exchange through interconnected learning infrastructures has become imperative. This paper provides insights into Learning Management System (LMS) adoption within European alliances, focusing on the Unite! alliance as a case study. While Unite! demonstrates successful implementation of Moodle as its central LMS, challenges persist in achieving uniformity across all partners. A desktop analysis of European alliances reveals that Moodle might be the most often used LMS in February 2023. A description of the LMS implementation within the Unite! analysis shows as well that a majority uses Moodle – at least as a second LMS. So, although the decision for a federated LMS based on Moodle might be the right one, these results as well indicate the need for tailored technical solutions for future developments for some partners and disparities in lecturers‘ and students‘ concerning a Moodle so that pre-emptive measures to ensure equitable participation are important. Despite these challenges, Unite!’s experience underscores the potential of Moodle as a widely adopted platform, prompting further exploration into solutions like LTI integration.

[article @ proceeding’s homepage]
[article @ ResearchGate]

Citation: Ebner, M., Schön, S., Alcober, J., Bertonasco, R., Herczak-Ciara, A., Hoppe, C., Martikainen, J., Muchitsch, M., Petersson, J. and da Silva, F.M. (2024) ‘Usage of (federated) Learning Management Systems in European University Alliances’, Ubiquity Proceedings, 4(1), p. 37. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5334/uproc.159.

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[mooc] Week 2: Open Educational Resources in Higher Education #tugraz #unite! #imoox #OER

Our MOOC on „Open Educational Resources in Higher Education“ for the European alliance UNITE! is reaching the second week. This time we are talking about how to find and use OER. There are some useful hints – so join us for free 🙂

And don’t to forget to change the language, all videos are offered in 11 different languages: [free registration link to the open course]

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[report] Aligning IT infrastructures for digital learning amongst the European university alliance Unite! – The Unite! digital campus framework and requirements #unite

After more than one year of exciting work in our community we are a little bit proud to present our first technical report about „Aligning IT infrastructures for digital learning amongst the European university alliance Unite! – The Unite! digital campus framework and requirements„:

The European university alliance „Unite!“ has embarked on a mission to bring together their higher education landscape. As part of this ambitious endeavour, the Erasmus+ Work Package 2, called “Community 2 Digital Campus” or „Cm.2“ for short, was established to shape and implement a cutting-edge digital campus framework within the alliance. The purpose of the present requirement analysis is to collect and list all the key technological, organizational, and legal needs and requirements for an up-to-date European digital campus. This analysis is built upon desk research, utilizing additional methods such as an online survey and stakeholder discussions within the entire Unite! alliance. The requirements analysis results are provided against the background of a short introduction (chapter 1), an overview of platforms for learning management in European university alliances (chapter 2), and a description of the analysis’ procedures, which are the development of descriptions of digital learning and teaching infrastructures of all partners, a survey of the status quo concerning European Student Card Initiative, a survey amongst e-learning support teams, an interactive event for stakeholders and literature and projects desk research (chapter 3). Chapter 4 introduces the federated infrastructures of the Unite! alliance, especially the Metacampus as a federated learning management system based on Moodle. Chapter 5 provides detailed descriptions (including visualizations) of all partners’ digital infrastructures for learning and teaching. Chapter 6 then shares the status quo of the European Student Card Initiative implementation by all partners. Chapter 7 presents five core requirements identified through the analysis, which are the requirements of (a) interoperability between the digital infrastructures of partners and with European standards, (b) the implementation of decision-making concerning IT infrastructure for the digital campus: the Technical Commission, (c) the strategic support for the effective utilization of existing IT systems, especially the Metacampus, (d) clarifying future (learning) scenarios, mobility, and other issues relating to development of the IT infrastructure, and (e) budgetary considerations for the development and maintenance of federated systems. Finally, chapter 8 sketches the next steps and the future of Community 2 Digital Campus and its tasks, and presents (a) the work plan and organisational structure for Community 2 Digital Campus, (b) further development of Metacampus support and resources (T2.3), (c) update of Metacampus and organisational development of support requests, (d) ESCI: improvement of service, (e) eduGAIN maintenance and further development (T2.6), (f) piloting of LTI and integration of MOOCs (T2.6), (g) implementation of meta-data standards for course description (T2.5, T2.6), and (h) support of openness and innovation (T2.1).

The report is open licenced available here:
[repository @ TU Graz]
[ResearchGate]

Furthermore find here some few slides acting as a kind of summary:

Reference: Ebner, M., Schön, S., Alcober, J., Bertonasco, R., Bonani, F., Cruz, L., Espadas, C., Filgueira Xavier, V., Franco, M., Gasplmayr, K., Giralt, J., Hoppe, C., Koschutnig-Ebner, M., Langevin, E., Laurent, R., Leitner, P., Martikainen, J., Matias, J., Muchitsch, M., … Würz, A. (2024). Aligning IT infrastructures for digital learning amongst the European university alliance Unite! – The Unite! digital campus framework and requirements (1.0). Unite! Community 2 Digital Campus, Graz University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.3217/36yen-0wy21

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[mooc] Mental borders, physical borders and the shaping of modern European identity and citizenship #imoox #unigraz

Another interesting MOOC started last week at the platform iMooX.at called „Mental borders, physical borders and the shaping of modern European identity and citizenship„:

Since the early descriptions in the Greek chronicles, the foundational myths of Europe as a cultural and civilizational entity have been reshaped throughout medieval, modern, colonial and contemporary history. The mental borders framing European-ness inform discourses around typical European and non-European cultures, which have deeply influenced the socio-politics of inclusion and exclusion within and across European countries. This has led to advances in policies and attitudes that promote and value cultural diversity, but also to the recent resurgence in populist, far-right activity documented in many countries across Europe and beyond.
Consequently, the MOOC explores the advantages of asserting and defending hegemonic cultural notions of European identity from different geographical perspectives. In doing so, it seeks to inform contemporary debate on diversity and contribute to developing inclusive European identities which are truly open to the world.
The course is made up of four units, each of which has been designed to provide a multidisciplinary approach to the topic. Over four weeks, you will be introduced to the challenge of narrating Europe from different angles; you will learn more about the concepts of citizenship in relation to identity and border and about the complex idea of a “humanitarian border”. You will also approach, from the perspective of international relations, the role of the European Union as a global player.

The registration as well as the participation is completly free: [Link to registration for the free online-course]

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[mooc] The European Neighbourhood Policy and Cross-Border Cooperation #imoox

We are happy to announce that today a new MOOC is starting titled „The European Neighbourhood Policy and Cross-Border Cooperation„:

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) has increased the reach and clout of the EU beyond its borders into the immediate vicinity. Yet, the EU vs. non-EU discrepancies at the economic and political level are still very much visible in the eastern borderlands of the EU which comprise areas of land under the jurisdiction of both the EU and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) states. Thus, in line with the 2015 ENP Review and the subsequent 2016 Global Strategy for the EU’s Foreign and Security Policy (EUGS), which both emphasised the urgent need for reconsideration of the EU’s neighbourhood and external instruments, the role of borderland regions has also been seen as prominent for enhancing cooperation between Eastern European EU and non-EU members and for strengthening regional stability and security.
This course addresses all students interested to enhance their knowledge in issues ranging from the EU’s actorness, the ENP and the EaP to cross-border cooperation.
This MOOC aims at equipping students, young professionals, civil society representatives, public servants, etc. with basic knowledge and practical experience in the (geo)political, economic and social processes occurring in European Union (EU)’s eastern neighbourhood. 

As usual the participation is completly free, so just register and have fun with this online course.

[Join free course on „The European Neighbourhood Policy and Cross-Border Cooperation“]

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[publication] Open Educational Resources on the Road to the Best Case Scenario – Guidelines for Centres for Academic Instruction

Togehter with Sebastian and Sandra I wrote a short vision paper for Open Educational Resources in Hihger Education for the year 2030. Our contribution was submitted to the Joint Research Centre of the European Comission. We would love to her your opinion 🙂 .
Vision:

Worst and best case scenarios in the year 2030 are the two antipodes for the future development of open educational resources (OER) in higher education (HE). As additional (realistic) vision we develop guidelines for centres for academic instruction, aiming at a systematic implementation and distribution of OER related to HE.

Here you can find the full publication [Link]
Reference: Ebner, M.; Kelle, S.; Schön, S. (2013) Open Educational Resources on the Road to the Best Case Scenario – Guidelines for Centres for Academic Instruction. in: Open Education 2030 / Higher Education. p.94-99