System upgrade: realising the vision for UK education

A report summarising the findings of the TEL programme in the wider context of technology-enhanced learning and offering recommendations for future strategy in the area was launched on 13th June at the House of Lords to a group of policymakers, technologists and practitioners chaired by Lord Knight. The report – a major outcome of the programme – is written by TEL director Professor Richard Noss and a team of experts in various fields of technology-enhanced learning. The report features the programme’s 12 recommendations for using technology-enhanced learning to upgrade UK education

Good practice report : student transition into higher education

This good practice report, commissioned by the ALTC, provides a summative evaluation of useful outcomes and good practices from ALTC projects and fellowships on student transition into higher education. The report contains: a summative evaluation of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from completed ALTC projects and fellowships a literature review of the good practices and key outcomes for teaching and learning from national and international research the proposed outcomes and resources for teaching and learning which will be produced by current incomplete ALTC projects and fellowships identifies areas in which further work or development are appropriate

Load flow studies on stand alone microgrid system in Ranau, Sabah

This paper presents the power flow or load flow analysis of Ranau microgrid, a standalone microgrid in the district of Ranau,West Coast Division of Sabah. Power flow for IEEE 9 bus also performed and analyzed. Power flow is define as an important tool involving numerical analysis applied to power system. Power flow uses simplified notation such as one line diagram and per-unit system focusing on voltages, voltage angles, real power and reactive power. To achieved that purpose, this research is done by analyzing the power flow analysis and calculation of all the elements in the microgrid such as generators, buses, loads, transformers, transmission lines using the Power Factory DIGSilent 14 software to calculate the power flow. After the analysis and calculations, the results were analysed and compared

The aspects of competency in the context of education situation in Latvia

Competency approach is a useful tool for various organisations and, in particular, academic institutions in order to develop qualitative education programme based on the up-to-date skills and behaviours that are currently required from employees. The goal of the research was to identify the main aspects of competencies in the field of higher education in Latvia as a result of which it would be possible to determine the possibilities for competency approach development. The research methods used are as follows: literary review, document analysis, data processing methods, statistical analysis and case study. The results of the analysis showed that competency-based approaches evolve in academic environment, the development of competency approach influenced significantly the form of study programmes at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics. On average, problem solving, communication and information skills of people in Latvia are at an appropriate level while digital and software skills are averagely lower than average in the EU. The results of the research can be applied in the academic field by developing educational programmes that would be based on today’s crucial key competencies. It was concluded that regardless of current difficulties in the field of education, knowledge of foreign languages is a competitive advantage of people of Latvia. Support should be provided to the digital and software skills. As well it is essential that institutions of higher education understand the aspects of competency, because they have to adapt their study process implementation according to new legislation related to competency approach

Nuevas tecnologías e innovaciones en la educación superior y el desarrollo regional

Según la Academia de Finlandia y Tekes, la agencia finlandesa de financiación de tecnología e innovación, existen dos fuerzas motrices que destacan dentro del entorno operativo global actual: la primera es la tendencia a una movilidad cada vez mayor y la segunda, la progresiva interdependencia de las diferentes partes del mundo, su paulatina interacción y colaboración en la economía, producción, desarrollo social, comunicaciones e intercambio humano. En el mundo global y tecnológico de hoy día, el aprendizaje ha ido cobrando cada vez más relevancia para todos los pueblos y comunidades. Las aptitudes para la comunicación serán consideradas, sin lugar a dudas, las habilidades más importantes en el futuro. En la actualidad, todo el mundo es capaz de acceder a una gran cantidad de información sin la necesidad de un mediador. Es por ello por lo que se requiere la capacidad de pensamiento crítico para que la actividad resulte productiva a la vez que positiva. El pensador crítico percibe el futuro como algo abierto y maleable y no como algo cerrado y fijo. Como apunta el informe de la Unesco "Hacia las sociedades del conocimiento" (2005), hay una aceptación general en cuanto a la adecuación de la expresión sociedades del conocimiento, aunque no se puede decir lo mismo de su contenido. No obstante, algunas de las tendencias que encontramos al describir las sociedades del siglo XXI parecen tener consecuencias en todos los ámbitos de la vida. Por ejemplo, la globalización y la digitalización conllevan efectos importantes en las actividades educativas y de aprendizaje, en la vida laboral así como en el Gobierno. Lo ideal es una sociedad que progrese y sepa aprovechar aquellas oportunidades intrínsecas a la sociedad de la información para mejorar así su calidad de vida, los conocimientos, la competitividad internacional y la interacción de una forma ejemplar, versátil y sostenible. Éstas son las ideas que han servido para desarrollar el Sistema Universitario Global (GUS) dentro de la Cátedra Unesco de e-learning global en la Universidad de Tampere. Debido a la importancia de la alfabetización y competencias tanto digitales como de los medios de comunicación, el Gobierno de Finlandia publicó en el año 2007 una propuesta para un programa de acción destinado al desarrollo de las habilidades y conocimientos de los medios como parte promocional de una sociedad civil y del conocimiento. La razón para establecer este comité fue la actualidad y repercusión de la enseñanza de los medios de comunicación dentro de las capacidades para la ciudadanía y los problemas encontrados para su consecución