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ACA Newsletter nr 323 February 2001
On 12 February 2001, the European Commission adopted a report on the implementation of the first phase of the Socrates programme (1995-1999). This document encompasses all available analyses, in particular the conclusions of four external evaluations: * a global evaluation; For reasons of transparency, all reports have been published on the
Europa server:
On 21 February 2001, the European Commission presented a proposal for a four year Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities in Europe 2002-2006. "Europe has set out to become the most successful and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world. Research and innovation are the keys to success in achieving this goal," Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin stated at the presentation. The research and innovation programme is part of a wider political initiative aiming at creating a European Research Area, as endorsed by the Lisbon Summit in March 2000. Reflecting the increased priority given to research and innovation, the Commission is proposing a budget of € 17.5 billion for the new programme. Seven key emerging technologies and research priorities are proposed, and among the goals are also to double in size the highly successful mobility programme for researchers. The final decision on the new programme lies jointly with the Council and the European Parliament. Read more at http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/press/2001/pr2102en.html
Cirius (The Danish centre for international cooperation and mobility in education and training) has brought forward the idea to study the impact of mobility in the framework of the European educational programmes. Mobility among young people and students is seen as an important part of the efforts at European level to enhance the intercultural understanding and to internationalise the qualifications of the workforce in general in Europe. However, the impact of mobility has so far not been systematically studied. Cirius is therefore interested in performing a study of the impact of the mobility programmes Leonardo, Socrates and Youth. The purpose is to identify specific recommendations within the framework of each programme, to supportive measures for mobility actions and concrete suggestions of establishing IT-based evaluation procedures for beneficiaries, providing better opportunities for future research. It is also the ambition of the study to identify recommendations in a broader perspective. Cirius has asked ACA (Academic Cooperation Association) to organize and lead an expert meeting to discuss state of the art in existing research and to identify relevant objectives for the present study. ACA will draw up the terms of reference for the study.
In the context of the ongoing Bologna process in European Higher Education, CRE (in association with the EC) recently hosted the conference "Towards Accreditation Schemes for Higher Education in Europe?" in Lisboa. 200 leaders of higher education institutions and representatives of accreditation and quality assurance agencies and major European organisations participated. A large part of the meeting was dedicated to group discussions on accreditation. The participants agreed that accreditation on a European level should be developed within the national frameworks, and that existing organisations like CRE, ENQA and NARIC's should be consulted during the whole process. The conference led to a recommendation for the Salamanca event in the end of March. For more information on the Lisboa conference, please refer to http://www.unige.ch/cre/activities/accreditation/validation_seminar.htm
The World Organization for Distance and Virtual Learning, ICDE, will organize the 20th World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education in Dusseldorf, Germany, 1-5 April 2001, under the general theme "The Future of Learning - Learning for the Future: Shaping the Transition". This conference is the official world forum of distance and virtual learning. Leading experts, companies, governments, university leaders, etc. from approx. 100 nations will participate. More than 350 presentations are expected in nearly 140 Plenary, Panel, Parallel, Poster Sessions, Extension Events, Workshops, Discussion Groups, and Subject Oriented Meetings. For registration or more information (including the continuously updated program), please refer to http://www.icde.org (click ‘2001 World Conference’)..
The European Distance Education Network (EDEN) has recently published the book "New Learning". It contains the inputs from the Lisbon 2000 European Conference, "ODL Networking for Quality Learning", organised by the European ODL Liaison Committee (www.odl-liaison.org). The publication gives a critical review on trends in ODL evolution providing a wide-ranging panorama of the state-of-the-art in open and distance learning for different kinds of organisations and for an extended variety of learners’ profiles. For more information about the publication, contact the EDEN Secretariat by e-mail: eden@khmk.bme.hu or by fax +36 1 468 1858.
U.S. Senators John Kerry (Democrat) and Richard Lugar (Republican) introduced February 1 a resolution in the Senate urging the United States to forge an international education policy. The two senators state in their resolution that it is "the sense of Congress" that the U.S. should establish an "international education policy to enhance national security and significantly further U.S. foreign policy and global competitiveness." Furthermore, the resolution says that the proposed U.S. international education policy would seek to "invigorate citizen and professional international exchange programs and to promote the international exchange of scholars". It is noted that the U.S.' competitiveness in the international student market is declining, and also that less than 10 percent of U.S. students graduating from college have studied abroad. Among the goals suggested are invigorating exchange programmes, raising the number of outgoing students from the U.S, and capture 40 percent of the international student market for the U.S.
"The E-learning E-volution in Colleges and Universities: A Pan-Canadian Challenge" The Advisory Committee for Online Learning in Canada recently presented a report urging governments, universities, colleges and businesses to coordinate and accelerate effort to offer online post-secondary learning in Canada. The report also encourages the further advancement of the learnware industry based on Canadian educational applications. It is stated that one needs more research and comparative studies on traditional education and the IT-based alternatives. The report can be found at http://www.cmec.ca/releases/20010208.en.stm |
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