UNESCO Chair International Seminar 2012
1 December, 2012‘Transformative Changes in Education: System-Wide Approach’
The 2012 International Seminar of the UOC UNESCO Chair in e-Learning was focused on the much needed reforms of the education system. While paying attention to each level of education, the seminar analyzed issues that are identifiable across all levels. By doing this, we were inspired by the vision of UNESCO:
“…to address education in a holistic manner, by promoting a vision of inclusive life-long learning that spans each of different levels of education and considers both formal and non-formal approaches.” ( 35 C/5 Approved Programme and Budget 2010-2011, p. 36, 35th General Conference of UNESCO, Paris, May 2009)”
Some of the questions addressed in the seminar were how do we articulate the goal of education, what do we need to teach learners in a global context, what can education learn from neuroscience research, how to connect informal and formal learning and what are the trends in educational evaluation systems.
Speakers
- Manuel Castells, Professor and Director of the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), UOC, Spain.
- James Tooley, Professor of Education Policy and Director of the E. G. West Centre, Newcastle University, UK.
- Kurt Fischer, Bigelow Professor of Education and Human Development; Director of Mind, Brain, and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA.
- Paula Jackson, Senior Lecturer in Education (Art and Design & Technology), York St John University, UK.
- Yong Zhao, Presidential Chair, Associate Dean and Professor of the College of Education at the University of Oregon, USA and Director of its Centre for Advanced Technology (CATE).
- Peter J. Wells, Programme Specialist, Division for Teacher Development and Higher Education, UNESCO Paris, France.
- Azra Naseem, Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED), Aga Khan University, Pakistan.
- Cathy Ellis, North Hertfordshire College, UK.
- Montserrat del Pozo and Monika Horch, Col·legi Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain.
- Rosanna de Rosa, University of Naples Federico II, Italy.
- Jim Lengel, School of Education, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA.
- Tíscar Lara, EOI – Escuela de Organización Industrial, Madrid, Spain.
Presentations
- Manuel Castells, “Creative Education for the Information Age: Mission Impossible?”
- Azra Naseem, “Changing Pedagogy Through Faculty Professional Development in Blended Learning”.
- Kurt Fisher, “Connecting Mind, Brain and Education”.
- Yong Zhao, “World Class Education: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students”.
- Rosanna de Rosa, “Federica Project: A web learning for higher education”.
- Paula Jackson, “Cry Freedom: Autonomous Opportunities for Personalised Engagement”.
- Cathy Ellis, “Self-Organised Learning in the Context of Vocational Education and Training (VET)”.
- James Tooley, “Frugal Innovation: The Case of Chains of Low Cost Private Schools”.