Abstracts

report was grounded on on-site visits of leading Portuguese Universities, Polytechnics and Business Schools as well as on written statements of the institutions visited. Additional material has been provided by the Ministry of Education. The article tries to give an appraisal of the actual state of the art of university level distance education in Portugal covering issues such as spread of distance learning so far, attitudes towards distance learning, pedagogical models, access, funding and quality issues. On the basis of this analysis some policy recommendations are formulated by the authors

The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU: eLearning in Malta

In 2005, IPTS launched a project which aimed to assess the developments in eGoverment, eHealth and eLearning in the 10 New Member States at national, and at cross-country level. At that time, the 10 New Member States were Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. A report for each country was produced, describing its educational system and the role played by eLearning within both the formal education system and other aspects of lifelong learning. Each report then analyzes, on the basis of desk research and expert interviews, the major achievements, shortcomings, drivers and barriers in the development of eLearning in one of the countries in question. This analysis provides the basis for the identification and discussion of national policy options to address the major challenges and to suggest R&D issues relevant to the needs of each country - in this case, Malta.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

E-Governance, Metropolitan Governance and Development Programming. The Case of the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area

e-Governance has recently emerged as a new field of interest for both researchers and public policy makers. This has to do in the first instance with the rise of information and communication technologies and with the strategy for promotion of the information society. It also reflects growing interest in the capacity of various forms of governance to manage complex development issues and facilitate decision-making in the era of globalization. The potential of e-Governance extends from improvement of public services at the various levels of administration to empowerment of community engagement within decision-making processes. e-Governance is also of manifest relevance to questions such as the digital divide and democratic participation. Metropolitan areas in particular are considered to be at the centre of the developmental process. They thus become the appropriate spatial level for the implementation of development programmes aimed at enhancement of competitiveness and employment. New forms of multilevel metropolitan governance emerge, in response to the economic and institutional transformations occurring in them. e-Governance represents a new challenge for metropolitan governance and in particular for development programming. In the context of the EU structural regional policy, development programming in Greece identifies the development of metropolitan areas as one of its main policy objectives. e-Governance is in any case a basic component of the Information Society strategy. This paper examines the implementation of e-Governance in the Thessaloniki metropolitan area, in the specific context of development programming. From this starting point, lessons are drawn for the necessity of e-Governance as an element of metropolitan governance.

The Industry and Policy Context for Digital Games for Empowerment and Inclusion:Market Analysis, Future Prospects and Key Challenges in Videogames, Serious Games and Gamification

The effective use of digital games for empowerment and social inclusion (DGEI) of people and communities at risk of exclusion will be shaped by, and may influence the development of a range of sectors that supply products, services, technology and research. The principal industries that would appear to be implicated are the 'videogames' industry, and an emerging 'serious games' industry. The videogames industry is an ecosystem of developers, publishers and other service providers drawn from the interactive media, software and broader ICT industry that services the mainstream leisure market in games, The 'serious games' industry is a rather fragmented and growing network of firms, users, research and policy makers from a variety of sectors. This emerging industry is are trying to develop knowledge, products, services and a market for the use of digital games, and products inspired by digital games, for a range of non-leisure applications. This report provides a summary of the state of play of these industries, their trajectories and the challenges they face. It also analyses the contribution they could make to exploiting digital games for empowerment and social inclusion. Finally, it explores existing policy towards activities in these industries and markets, and draws conclusions as to the future policy relevance of engaging with them to support innovation and uptake of effective digital game-based approaches to empowerment and social inclusion.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU: eLearning in Hungary

In 2005, IPTS launched a project which aimed to assess the developments in eGoverment, eHealth and eLearning in the 10 New Member States at national, and at cross-country level. At that time, the 10 New Member States were Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. A report for each country was produced, describing its educational system and the role played by eLearning within both the formal education system and other aspects of lifelong learning. Each report then analyzes, on the basis of desk research and expert interviews, the major achievements, shortcomings, drivers and barriers in the development of eLearning in one of the countries in question. This analysis provides the basis for the identification and discussion of national policy options to address the major challenges and to suggest R&D issues relevant to the needs of each country ¿ in this case, Hungary.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience

The design and implementation of an in-application automated testing and evaluation system for computer literacy skills based on the European and international computer driving licence (ECDL/ICDL)

models which, in turn, contributed to the development of the corresponding assessment tools and systems. With the ECDL at the forefront of the international computer literacy skills market and with its important role in the specification of digital literacy agenda, it becomes vitally important to ensure that assessment systems leading to this qualification are of the highest technical and pedagogical quality. This paper presents the experiences gained from the design, testing and implementation of such an assessment system and its deployment in a big-bang approach on a national basis in Cyprus. It explains the system’s technical architecture and components, its functionalities and services and discusses the pedagogical and educational aspects embedded in the design and highlights the pitfalls and lessons learned in the areas of team building and project

Open educational resources for all? Comparing user motivations and characteristics across The Open University’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform.

With the rise in access to mobile multimedia devices, educational institutions have exploited the iTunes U platform as an additional channel to provide free educational resources with the aim of profile-raising and breaking down barriers to education. For those prepared to invest in content preparation, it is possible to produce interactive, portable material that can be made available globally. Commentators have questioned both the financial implications for platform-specific content production, and the availability of devices for learners to access it (Osborne, 2012). The Open University (OU) makes its free educational resources available on iTunes U and via its web-based open educational resources (OER) platform, OpenLearn. The OU’s OER on iTunes U reached the 60 million download mark in 2013; its OpenLearn platform boasts 27 million unique visitors since 2006. This paper reports the results of a large-scale study of users of the OU’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform. A survey of several thousand users revealed key differences in demographics between those accessing OER via the web and via iTunes U. In addition, the data allowed comparison between three groups: formal learners, informal learners and educators. The study raises questions about whether university-provided OER meet the needs of users and makes recommendations for how content can be modified to suit their needs. As the publishing of OER becomes core to business, we reflect on reasons why understanding users’ motivations and demographics is vital, allowing for needs-led resource provision and content that is adapted to best achieve learner satisfaction, and to deliver institutions’ social mission

The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU: A Synthesis Report on eLearning

In 2005, IPTS launched a project which aimed to assess the developments in eGoverment, eHealth and eLearning in the 10 New Member States at national, and at cross-country level. At that time, the 10 New Member States were Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. A report for each country was produced, describing its educational system and the role played by eLearning within both the formal education system and other aspects of lifelong learning. Each report then analyzed, on the basis of desk research and expert interviews, the major achievements, shortcomings, drivers and barriers in the development of eLearning in one of the countries in question. This synthesis report developed in the final phases of the project offers an integrated view of the developments of eLearning in the New Member States. Furthermore, the project has prepared a prospective report looking across and beyond the development of the eGoverment, eHealth and eLearning areas to summarize policy challenges and options for the development of eServices and the Information Society towards the goals of Lisbon and i2010.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

Implementing an information society in Central and Eastern Europe: the case of Hungary

Zunächst definiert der Autor den Begriff der Informationsgesellschaft und geht dann auf deren Einfluss auf Ökonomie, Bildung und öffentliche Verwaltung ein. Im Anschluss daran wird die Politik der Europäischen Union in diesem Kontext zwischen 1994 und 2002 beschrieben. Der Autor berücksichtigt dabei besonders den 'eEurope Action Plan' aus dem Jahr 2000. Der nächste Abschnitt widmet sich der Ausgestaltung der Informationsgesellschaft in Osteuropa. Danach wird die auf die Informationsgesellschaft bezogene Zusammenarbeit zwischen zentral- und osteuropäischen Ländern und der EU beleuchtet. Schwerpunkte sind die abgehaltenen Konferenzen und Foren sowie der 'eEurope Action Plan' aus dem Jahr 2001. Im Anschluss daran untersucht der Autor detailliert die Informationsgesellschaft in Ungarn. Es wird auf die historischen und zukünftigen Entwicklungen sowie auf die Probleme, Chancen und Herausforderungen eingegangen. (ICD