Collaborative lifelong learning and professional transfer. Case study: ECO European Project

This research reviews the formative model of the sMOOCs (social MOOC) characterized by the interaction and the implication of the participants who, relying on collective intelligence, look for the co-creation of knowledge in every educational action. The fieldwork focuses on the analysis of the “Step by Step” sMOOC of ECO Project (the second and third editions), that aims at the training of e-teachers and the transfer of learning to the professional field. The research methodology is mixed, with quantitative and qualitative techniques: it uses a semi-structured questionnaire, in order to compare possible bivariate correlations between the different variables; it conducts a content analysis of the fragments of messages written by the participants in the forums of the course. One of the most significant conclusions is the high degree of satisfaction of the participants with regard to the value of the course for their professional life. This form of transfer of the learning process leads to the proposal of a new modality for MOOCs, the tMOOC as “transferMOOC”

Children’s rights and digital technologies

Digital technologies have reshaped children’s lives, resulting in new opportunities for and risks to their well-being and rights. This chapter investigates the impact of digital technologies on children’s rights through the lens of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Up until now, not all rights have received the same level of attention in the digital context. Legal and policy discourse in the area of children and digital media predominantly focuses on ‘protection’ rights, albeit with a growing awareness of the tension between ‘protection’ and ‘participation’ rights. ‘Provision’ rights are not often emphasised, other than in the important domain of education. However, all children’s rights should be supported, valued and developed in both online and offline spheres of engagement. Governments, parents, educators, industry, civil society and children’s rights commissioners or ombudspersons should all take up their responsibility to enhance children’s rights in relation to digital technologies, while actively listening and taking account of children’s views when developing laws, policies, programmes and other measures in this field