Digital Education Policies in Europe and Beyond: Key Design Principles for More Effective Policies

This report offers policy-makers in digital education evidence on how, at the national or regional level, policies can be designed and implemented to foster digital-age learning. The presented findings are the result of a mixed methodological design comprising four parts: desk-research on digital education policy, the identification of national and regional policies worldwide, six in-depth case studies, and an expert workshop. The discussion of the cases identified and studied in depth leads to the formulation of eight core-guiding principles, which can serve as a reference point for policy-makers for the design and implementation of digital education policies: 1. Follow a holistic approach targeting systemic change; 2. Establish both a long-term vision and short-term achievable goals; 3. Deploy technology as a means not an end; 4. Embrace experimentation, risk-taking and failure; 5. Consider the importance and the limits of impact assessment; 6. Involve all stakeholders in a structured dialogue; 7. Let schools and teachers have a say; 8. Build up teaching competence.JRC.B.4-Human Capital and Employmen

Evidence of Innovative Assessment : Literature Review and Case Studies

Non peer reviewe

Evidence of Innovative Assessment: Literature Review and Case Studies

This report presents the outcomes and analyses of the study Evidence of Innovative Assessment. It provides an overview of innovative (digital and non-digital) assessment approaches and evidence on how these have been implemented to various settings. The first part describes the rational of the study, defines innovative assessment and gathers evidence on the effectiveness of a variety of assessment practices such as self- and peer-assessment, open badges, simulation and learning analytics. The second part presents eight case studies that have integrated innovative assessment approaches from a range of different contexts (formal, non-formal learning, employment, elderly care), covering different age groups, assessment purposes and implementation strategies. Through cross comparisons, the report identifies the challenges and success factors and the replicability of these cases. The report ends with recommendations for research, educational policy and practice.JRC.B.4-Human Capital and Employmen

Study on the Evaluation of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security

The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) was established in 2004. The Agency provides advice and recommendations, data analysis, and supports awareness raising and cooperation by the EU bodies and Member States in the field of cybersecurity. ENISA uses its expertise to improve cooperation between Member States, and between actors from the public and private sectors, as well as to support capacity building. The present study involves the evaluation of ENISA over the 2013-2016 period, assessing the Agency’s performance, governance and organisational structure, and positioning with respect to other EU and national bodies. It assesses ENISA’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOTs) with regard to the new cybersecurity and digital privacy landscape. It also provides options to modify the mandate of the Agency to better respond to new, emerging needs and assesses their financial implications. The findings of the evaluation study show that ENISA has made some important achievements towards increasing NIS in the EU. However, a fragmented approach to cybersecurity across the EU and issues internal to the Agency, including limited financial resources, hinder ENISA’s ability to respond to the ever growing needs of stakeholders in a context of technological developments and evolving cybersecurity threats

QDB: A new database of plasma chemistries and reactions

One of the most challenging and recurring problems when modeling plasmas is the lack of data on the key atomic and molecular reactions that drive plasma processes. Even when there are data for some reactions, complete and validated datasets of chemistries are rarely available. This hinders research on plasma processes and curbs development of industrial applications. The QDB project aims to address this problem by providing a platform for provision, exchange, and validation of chemistry datasets. A new data model developed for QDB is presented. QDB collates published data on both electron scattering and heavy-particle reactions. These data are formed into reaction sets, which are then validated against experimental data where possible. This process produces both complete chemistry sets and identifies key reactions that are currently unreported in the literature. Gaps in the datasets can be filled using established theoretical methods. Initial validated chemistry sets for SF 6 /CF 4 /O 2 and SF 6 /CF 4 /N 2 /H 2 are presented as examples

Entrepreneurship Competence: An Overview of Existing Concepts, Policies and Initiatives - In-depth case studies report

Entrepreneurship is recognized by the European Union as one of the eight key competences for lifelong learning, and thus necessary for all members of a knowledge-based society. It is also regarded as an enabler for economic recovery, growth, job creation, employment, inclusion, poverty reduction, and also innovation and productivity. As such, it has become a policy priority and measures have been taken to incorporate entrepreneurship into different policy fields, including education. Education and training systems across Europe are indeed taking entrepreneurship progressively into account. This report presents 10 case studies, which address how entrepreneurship as a key competence is taught and learnt in real settings across all levels of education (i.e. primary, secondary, tertiary) and learning contexts (i.e. formal, non-formal and informal) in Europe. The in-depth analysis of the 10 cases was carried out through several rounds of desk research, direct enquiries and face-to-face or telephone interviews, and expert consultation. This comparative analysis highlights similarities and differences in the development of entrepreneurship competence in terms of pedagogical approaches, assessment practices, evaluation strategies, impact, factors of transferability and sustainability. This report is an interim output of the JRC-IPTS funded study 'Entrepreneurship Competence: An overview of existing concepts, policies and initiatives (OvEnt)' conducted by CARSA. The OvEnt study is part of the wider research agenda of JRC-IPTS on 'ICT for Learning and Skills' that aims to provide evidence on how skills and key competences that our digital society needs are acquired, certified and recognised.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Analysis of relative bacterial activity and lactate dehydrogenase gene expression of caries-associated bacteria in a site-specific natural biofilm: an ex vivo study.

OBJECTIVES Detecting bacterial activity is considered a promising approach to monitor shifts from symbiosis to dysbiosis in oral microbiome. The present study aimed at investigating both the relative bacterial activity and the lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) gene expression of caries-associated bacteria in a site-specific natural biofilm. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sixty subjects (age, mean ± SE: 30.1 ± 1.4) were allocated to two groups: caries-free subjects (CF) or caries-active subjects (CA). CF presented one sound surface (CFS, n = 30). CA presented two donor sites: a cavitated caries lesion (CAC, n = 30) and a sound reference surface (CAS, n = 30). Real-time quantitative PCR (q-PCR) on species or genus level and total bacteria was performed targeting the 16S gene, the 16S rRNA, the ldh gene, and the ldh mRNA (increasing 16S ribosomal RNA copy numbers can function as an indicator of increased energy metabolism). As the 16S rRNA abundance represents the number of ribosomes, while the 16S gene abundance represents the number of genomes, the quotient of the relative abundances functions as a measure for the relative bacterial activity (%). RESULTS Both lactobacilli and S. mutans showed the highest relative bacterial activity in CAC ((mean ± SE) 218 ± 60% and 61 ± 16%, respectively) and the lowest values for both sound reference surfaces (69 ± 48%; 8 ± 3%). Significant differences were found between CAC and CAS as well as between CAC and CFS for both lactobacilli and S. mutans (p < 0.05). The ldh gene expression of lactobacilli and S. mutans only showed moderate values in CAC (1.90E+03 ± 2.11E+03; 2.08E+04 ± 4.44E+04 transcripts/μl) and CFS (2.04E+03 ± 2.74E+03; 8.16E+03 ± 6.64E+03 transcripts/μl); consequently no significant differences were detected. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Caries-associated bacteria (lactobacilli and S. mutans) showed the highest relative bacterial activity in plaque of cavitated lesions, the lowest in sound surfaces, allowing the detection of a significant activity shift in health and disease for caries-active patients. However, no significant differences in ldh gene expression could be determined