A Supporting Architecture for Generic Service Integration in IMS Learning Design

De la Fuente Valentin, L., Miao, Y., Pardo, A., & Delgado Kloos, C. (2008). A Supporting Architecture for Generic Service Integration in IMS Learning Design. In P. Dillenbourg & M. Specht (Eds.), Times of Convergence. Technologies Across Learning Contexts - Proceedings of the Third European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, EC-TEL 2008 (pp. 467-473). September, 16-19, 2008, Maastricht, The Netherlands: Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5192 Springer 2008, ISBN 978-3-540-87604-5.Learning Design offers the possibility of capturing the process, activities, user organization and resources used in a learning experience. But a wider set of scenarios appear when generic services are considered. Integrating such services in a Unit of Learning is difficult due to the lack of a defined bi-directional protocol for information exchange. In this paper the Generic Service Integration paradigm is presented. It extends the Learning Design specification to use generic services, first at the design stage of a Unit of Learning, and then at the deployment and run times. The framework allows for bi-directional exchange of information between a Unit of Learning and a service. The consequences of the approach are that services can be configured to suit the needs of activities in a learning environment, and a Unit of Learning may adapt its behavior based on the events that took place in any of the used services

Implications of writing, reading, and tagging on the web for reflection support in informal learning

Glahn, C., Specht, M., & Koper, R. (2008). Implications of Writing, Reading, and Tagging on the Web for Reflection Support in Informal Learning. In P. Dillenbourg & M. Specht (Eds.), Times of Convergence: Technologies Across Learning Contexts – Proceedings of the Third European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, EC-TEL 2008 (pp. 110-121). September, 16-19, 2008, Maastricht, The Netherlands: Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5192 Springer 2008, ISBN 978-3-540-87604-5.The use of tags as user generated meta-data as well as the visualisation in tag clouds has recently received a lot of attention in research and practice. This paper focuses on supporting reflection of learners by using different presentation approaches of user-generated meta-data for reflection support. Previous research has shown that implicit interest expression can be a valuable source for reflection support. Visualising implicit or “tacit” interest in tag clouds could help learners to understand the connections of their content related activities to the tags that are assigned to the content. For grounding this potential in the social practice of using tags in teams and small communities, we conducted a three month experiment. This experiment focused on the social practices of using tags explicitly and implicitly. In this paper we analyse the data of the experiment with regard to social navigation of teams and small communities, relations of implicit and explicit interest in tags, and usages of tags on different participation levels. The findings on these dimensions of the social practice of using and sharing tags in groups help to develop a better view on the requirements of providing reflection support.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org

Voluntary agreements and community development as CSR in innovation strategies

The present paper examines how an innovating firm decides between two forms of voluntary agreements (VA) in a context, where a non-governmental organization (NGO) rather than a regulator watches over citizens' interests. The innovation generates profit and consumer surplus as well as environmental damage. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the innovation process is considered in terms of a redistribution of profit towards community development, with or without additional abatement efforts via a VA. Bargaining between firm and NGO yields the amount allocated to community development. The model demonstrates that the firm's choice of VA hinges on the tradeoffs between appropriating the full innovation profit and paying a higher lump sum towards community development or sacrificing some of the innovation profit by lowering innovation effort, but gaining in terms of paying a lesser amount towards community development. CSR with abatement is unlikely in the case of radical innovations. There is also a clear divergence of interests between the firm, the NGO and the State for some parameter configurations, which are duly identified.Corporate social responsibility, voluntary agreements, community development, donations, innovation

ReMashed – Recommendation Approaches for Mash-Up Personal Learning Environments in Formal and Informal Learning Settings

This article presents the ReMashed system that recommends learning content from emerging information of a Mash-Up Personal Learning Environment. ReMashed offers advice to find most suitable learning content for individual competence development of lifelong learners. The ReMashed system was initially designed to offer navigational support to lifelong learners in informal learning settings. In this article we want to discuss its ability to be used also in formal learning settings. For this purpose, we discuss the use of two different recommendation approaches for formal and informal learning within ReMashed

Promoting return and circular migration of the highly skilled

Migration of skilled workers from developing countries has increased substantially in recent years. Traditionally, such patterns raised fears on the ground of the associated 'brain drain' as human capital formation is considered to be of central importance to the development and reduction of poverty levels. Therefore, any loss of skilled workers through migration was considered harmful to the achievement of development goals. In contrast, the new body of literature emphasizes the positive incentive and feedback effects which skilled migration has on sending countries' development as well as on other stakeholders. While most papers on the impacts of migration on development focus on remittances and low-skilled migration, we emphasize the effects of skilled return migrants which bring about the transfer of knowledge and skills. This paper examines five levels of policy concerning the mobility of skilled workers. Because of their differing positions, we examine the position of sending and receiving countries with regard to skilled migration separately. We look at receiving country policies, sending country policies, bilateral approaches, regional approaches and global approaches. This paper first explores what options are theoretically discussed at the five levels of analysis. Secondly, we observe what kinds of policies are actually used in practice and which policies show some evidence of success. We also systematically discuss the advantages and disadvantages (or limitations) of each policy option.return migration, highly skilled, migration, immigration, skilled migration, developing countries, human capital, skills

New Europe's Promise for Life Sciences

The life sciences sector (and biotechnology in particular) has emerged as a prospective area, and attracted a lot of attention recently. Multinational companies in the life sciences seek to explore new markets, and, on the other side, governments strive to develop the life sciences sector perceiving it as a basis for long-term development. Whilst the R&D activities of global multinationals in life sciences still remain concentrated in the Triadic economies, these companies increasingly seek for new location to tap the knowledge. New EU member states emerge as such prospective locations. Notwithstanding the interest towards this sector, the body of literature on the development of life sciences in new EU member states, and particularly, the role of multinational companies, remains scant. In this explorative study we attempt to fill this gap and focus on the role of multinational companies in the Czech life sciences sector.Life Sciences, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Multinational Companies, European Union

Europeanisation Strategy of Chinese Companies: Its Perils and Promises

The magnitude of outward FDI from China over the recent years has been impressive. It is widely acknowledged that China's government plays an active role in encouraging its companies to go global and become multinational as they realise the value of outward FDI. The paper traces the development of China's outward direct investment policies and discusses the various motives of Chinese companies' internationalisation. More specifically, in this paper we look at the European continent as the emerging destination for Chinese outward direct investment and analyse the implication this trend has for European companies and governments.China, multinational companies, emerging economies, outward investment, public policy

Developing internationally comparable indicators for the commercialization of publicly-funded research

It is a common perception that European public-funded research fails to commercialize their discoveries, in contrast to the perceived success of their American counterparts. This resulted in policies aimed at improving the commercialization of European publicly-funded research, including the establishment of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). Recent surveys on the activities of these TTOs show that although European public-funded research lags behind the United States in patent applications and grants, they produce more start-ups, and have comparable results for the number of licenses executed. Steps to improve the international comparability of TTO surveys could provide useful new indicators for policy development. However, this will also require indicators for knowledge transfer through informal 'open science' methods.Public R&D, Commericalization, Research Indicators, Open Science, Europe

ReMashed – Recommendation Approaches for Mash-Up Personal Learning Environments in Formal and Informal Learning Settings

Drachsler, H., Peccau, D., Arts, T., Hutten, E., Rutledge, L., Van Rosmalen, P., Hummel, H. G. K., & Koper, R. (2009). ReMashed – Recommendation Approaches for Mash-Up Personal Learning Environments in Formal and Informal Learning Settings. In F. Wild, M. Kalz, M. Palmér & D. Müller (Eds.), Proceedings of 2nd Workshop Mash-Up Personal Learning Envrionments (MUPPLE'09). Workshop in conjunction with 4th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2009): Synergy of Disciplines (pp. 23-30). September, 29, 2009, Nice, France: CEUR workshop proceedings, http://sunsite.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/Publications/CEUR-WS/Vol-506 .This article presents the ReMashed system that recommends learning content from emerging information of a Mash-Up Personal Learning Environment. ReMashed offers advice to find most suitable learning content for individual competence development of lifelong learners. The ReMashed system was initially designed to offer navigational support to lifelong learners in informal learning settings. In this article we want to discuss its ability to be used also in formal learning settings. For this purpose, we discuss the use of two different recommendation approaches for formal and informal learning within ReMashed.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org