A Design-Based introduction to learning centres

In the last decades, outskirt areas in Denmark have suffered from depopulation and economic decline, a development that has led to a centralised education system where higher education institutions are vested in a central body in urban areas rather than in rural communities. University College Zealand has initiated a research project in collaboration with three municipalities in the region of Zealand and partners from the Nordic countries, which investigates the potential of municipal learning centres as a means to solve educational challenges in outskirt areas. A municipal learning centre is a physical location owned by a municipality, which offers (a)synchronous courses through digital couplings to higher education institutions. The paper presents research findings showing that the development of an ecosystem based on collaboration between municipalities, higher education institutions and private and public businesses is pivotal for achieving a sustainable model for online education in rural areas. Furthermore, the paper presents a series of thinking technologies in the form of models and categories, which can be used as tools for establishing learning centres and designing learning activities for learning centres. --- Kommuner placeret i yderområder i Danmark har i de seneste årtier oplevet affolkning og økonomisk nedgang, og denne udvikling har medvirket til et centraliseret uddannelsessystem, hvor videregående uddannelsesinstitutioner flyttes fra yderområder til større byer. University College Sjælland har igangsat et forskningsprojekt i samarbejde med tre kommuner i Region Sjælland og partnere fra de nordiske lande, som har til formål at undersøge hvorvidt uddannelseskonceptet kommunale læringscentre kan medvirke til at løse uddannelsesudfordringer i landets yderområder. Et kommunalt læringscenter er en fysisk lokation som ejes af en kommune, som gennem læringscenteret kan give borgere mulighed for at tage et kursus eller en uddannelse via synkrone og asynkrone koblinger til en uddannnelsesinstitution. Artiklen præsenterer forskningsresultater, som viser at udviklingen af et økosystem, som fordrer samarbejde mellem kommuner, videregående uddannelsesinstitutioner og private såvel som offentlige virksomheder, er en forudsætning for at opnå en bæredygtig model for online uddannelse i yderområder. Artiklen præsenterer desuden en række tænketeknologier i form af modeller og kategorier, som kan anvendes i arbejdet med at etablere læringscentre og udvikle læringsdesign til konceptet

Organic Food and Health: A new project to study the effects of plant cultivation methods (organic and conventional) on nutritional value, health and reproduction in an animal experiment

Many consumers believe that food from plants grown under certain conditions, such as organic agriculture, will benefit health more than conventional food. This cannot be determined simply by analysing the material, since our understanding of the connections between food components and health is still to imprecise for such a purpose. Rather than waiting until basic research provides the knowledge needed for this approach, in the spring of 2001 we have initiated a project to study physiological effects of plant quality directly, in an animal experiment. The following cultivation treatments are used to grow plants that are typical ingredients for a human diet (potato, mature peas, kale, spring wheat, oilseed rape, carrots and apples): 1. A model of a distinct conventional cultivation system, with high input of mineral nutrients and use of as much pesticides as is allowed. 2. A model of a distinct organic cultivation system, with low input of organic plant nutrients and no use of pesticides. 3. A combination of model 1 and 2, with low input of nutrients and use of pesticides. The materials from each cultivation treatment will be thoroughly characterised, by measuring contents of nutrients (protein, minerals, energy content, vitamins), the biological value of major protein sources of feed plants will be assessed, selected secondary metabolites including known anti-nutrients will be measured and other quality indicators will be assessed including biocrystallization. Based on these results, 3 feed mixtures will be prepared, either based on defined weight percentages of each material from each treatment, or, if large variation in biological value is found, one or two feed mixtures can be adjusted to provide the same availability of protein and energy as the reference treatment (model 1). Potato, mature peas and kale will be cooked and freeze-dried, wheat is ground and baked to biscuits, oil is produced from the rapeseed, and raw carrots and apples are shredded and freeze dried, before feed pellets with the desired composition are prepared from the material. Three groups of rats are each provided one of the dietary treatments during 2.5 generation, and reproductive characteristics and performance are recorded. Subgroups of the last generation are selected for an intensive study in which uptake and excretion of energy and protein and selected micronutrients are determined. Respiration trials are performed to assess the energy metabolism, and simultaneous measurements of the activity levels of the rats are performed. In addition, blood and tissue samples of the rats will be obtained to study the effect of the dietary treatments on the immunological and antioxidant status of the rats. Data from the experiments are assembled and analysed using relevant statistical models, and the relationship to the nutritional characteristics of the plant material is described. Funding for the core project for a 4-year period is secured from the Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF). However, the intention is to provide a platform for international collaboration, since the well-documented material of plants and animals can provide multiple opportunities for associated projects. To investigate other aspects of plant composition or health than what is foreseen in the present project, or to follow up on it with additional experiments

Studieaktivitetsmodellen redesignet

This article offers a redesign of the Danish university colleges’ common model for relevant study activities, the so-called Study Activity Model (SAM). In recent years, this model has been criticized from various perspectives, and especially the quadrants, which do not include teacher participation, cause problems and continue to receive low priority from the students. To solve a number of these challenges, all quadrants in the redesigned study activity model are designed by teachers, and the concept of teacher participation is rethought and revitalizedthrough digital remediation. The redesigned model thus challenges the concept of participation, as the teacher is seen as participating with students both through physical/synchronous presence but also asynchronously and mediated presence in a study activity e.g. in a video. In the article, the redesigned model is exemplified by the inclusion of digital learning environment such as MOOCs, since MOOC environments in particular are places where teaching formats with a physically absent teacher can be experimented with.Denne artikel giver et bud på et redesign af professionshøjskolernes fælles model for relevante studieaktiviteter, den såkaldte Studieaktivitetsmodel (SAM). Gennem de seneste år er modellen blevet kritiseret fra forskelligt hold, idet særligt de kvadranter, der ikke inkluderer underviserdeltagelse, volder forståelsesmæssige problemer og prioriteres lavt af studerende. For at løse en række af disse udfordringer er alle kvadranter i den nedenfor redesignede studieaktivitetsmodel didaktisk designede af undervisere, ligesom begrebet om underviserdeltagelse nytænkes og udfoldes. Den redesignede model udfordrer således deltagelsesbegrebet, idet underviseren ses som deltager både gennem fysisk/synkront tilstedevær med studerende men også asynkront og medieret til stede i en studieaktivitet fxgennem video. I artiklen eksemplificeres den redesignede model gennem inddragelse af digitale læremidler som MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), idet netop MOOCs i højeste grad inddrager undervisningsformater, hvori underviseren som udgangspunkt er fysisk fraværende