Innovations in Education: Introduction to the Special Section

Abstract

The conception of an ‘Innovations in Education Colloquium’ grew from a dedicated group of European dental educators in 2003 who met at the University of Brescia, Italy (Reynolds et al 2005). This meeting of minds resulted from the aspirations of the Bologna Declaration of 1999 that aimed to harmonise Higher Education (HE) across borders. http://www.ehea.info/cid100210/ministerial-conference-bologna-1999.html During the first Anglo-Italian Collaboration, it soon became apparent that the future of HE was not just European but global. Sharing the challenges of healthcare education through academic discourse and worldwide collaboration was considered essential to generate the greatest potential for a brave new educational world. There have now been 14 annual Colloquia with invited international experts, speakers, student leaders and representatives from related industry from over 20 countries. About 50 globally recognised academics have met annually from a multitude of disciplines that has included art and humanities, healthcare, the sciences and business. Collaborative new research and grant income was generated for award winning projects such as HapTEL (Haptics in TEL) and UDENTE (Universal Dental Education). (San Diego et al 2012; Reynolds PA 2011). The Colloquia moved through cycles of debate as depicted in Figures 1 & 2 with outcomes of peer reviewed publications, such as this Special Issue (Elson et al 2008, 2009; Roberts et al 2010, Dobozy and Reynolds 2011; Donaldson et al 2011). The old adage that “Necessity is the mother of invention” held true as we moved from “bored to death by lectures” to a brave new world where innovative solutions were needed to the barriers of educationally driven Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) (Reynolds and Mason 2008; Schönwetter and Reynolds 2011; Reynolds PA 2014). Given best evidence, prophesies were made, some of which have come to pass, such as the use of TEL in assessment and robotics in training (Eaton et al, 2008; Schönwetter et al, 2010; Arevalo et al 2013). The digital revolution is compelling but much of HE is still dragging behind (Schönwetter and Reynolds, 2013). This Special Issue gives a flavour of some of the innovative research and entrepreneurial activities undertaken as we try to forge best educational practices for the future