The European Scene

A Presentation byProfessor Morten Flate Paulsen,

President of EDEN

At a seminar organized by the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE) and the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions (UHR), in cooperation with Norway Opening

Universities (NOU).

Oslo, February 27-28, 2012

• 20th anniversary in 2011, 8 in the Budapest secretariat, 11 in EC• EDEN members from 400 institutions in 56 countries• 200 institutional members• 2000 potential members in NAP - Network of Academics and

Professionals

• Conferences– EDEN conferences: 35 major academic

and professional events in Europe;

• European Journal of Open, Distance and E-learning www.eurodl.org

• About 60 EU-projects with 168 institutions

• Fellow Awards – 40 Fellows and 13 Senior Fellows

Respected scheme of recognition

www.eden-online.org

The 13 Norwegian EDEN members

– Folkeuniversitetet Nettstudier – Globalskolen AS – Lillehammer University College – NKI Nettstudier– NKS Online Studies – Norway Opening Universities – Norwegian Association for Distance and Flexible Education -

NADE

– Norwegian Institute for Adult Learning - VOX – Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research – Norwegian Networked University – Sogn og Fjordane University College – Studiesenteret.no – University of Nordland

Annual Conferences21. Oporto 201220. Dublin, 201119. Valencia, 201018. Gdansk, 200917. Lisbon, 200816. Naples, 200715. Vienna, 200614. Helsinki, 200513. Budapest, 200412. Rhodes, 200311. Granada, 200210. Stockholm, 20018. Moscow, 19997. Bologna, 19986. Budapest, 19975. Poitiers, 19964. Birmingham, 19953. Tallinn, 19942. Berlin, 19931. Krakow, 1992

Open Classroom

9. Athens, 20118. Oporto, 20097. Stockholm, 20076. Poitiers, 20055. Copenhagen, 20024. Barcelona, 20003. Balatonfüred, 19992. Crete, 1997

1. Oslo, 1995

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Research Workshops

7. Leuven, 20126. Budapest, 20105. Paris, 20084. Barcelona, 20063. Oldenburg, 20042. Hildesheim, 20021. Prague, 2000

The EDEN Fellows met in Dublin to celebrate EDEN’s 20th anniversary and to reflect on the remarkable developments in e-learning and the challenges ahead.

The workshop concluded that all major developments during the last five years had been predicted, although not by all. Even so, the Fellows agreed that resistance to educational innovation persists. In fact, developments are mostly substantial slower than foreseen because educational institutions inertia is much more effective than hoped.

Important emerging technologies pointed out by the Fellows were: social media; open educational resources and practices; mobile learning and personal learning environments.

The Fellows also focused on the financial constraints facing the European countries and their impact on learner support, curriculum restraints, new developments etc. So, EDEN used the political and economical situation in Athens as backdrop for the Open Classroom conference: Never Waste a Crisis.

The delegates focused more on opportunities for change than on the dire economic situation in Europe. Several of the presenters argued that an educational crisis will spur innovation and that the need for cost-effective education will result in many opportunities for e-learning.

Several colleagues reminded me that the financial situation will enforce more competition, mergers and new financial models. This will create both opportunities and challenges for ODL providers which need to find sustainable and large-scale solutions in more competitive markets.

In its Europe 2020 strategy, the EU Commission stressed the importance of healthy and active ageing, and 2012 will be The European Year of Active Ageing and the Solidarity between Generations.

EDEN has therefore chosen Open Learning Generations as the theme for its annual conference in Porto in June.

Some personal thoughts

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Ipads and other mobile gadgets in combination with the growing culture for sharing through social media were promising developments in 2011. In addition, video lectures seem to pop up all over the Internet.

After the July 22 massacre in Norway, we should remind both young and mature learners of the dangers of unlimited and unattended access to extreme networks and resources on the Internet.

Planning for Oslo EDEN’s Annual Conference,17-21 June 2013

Thank youI care, so I share:

http://home.nki.no/morten

https://twitter.com/MFPaulsen

http://www.slideshare.net/MortenFP

http://www.facebook.com/mfpaulsen

Morten Flate Paulsen, NKI Nettstudier

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http://www.eden-online.org/blog