News Archives

Extension of UNESCO Chair @ Jozef Stefan Institute

In light of the very good results achieved by our Chair, the UNESCO Director-General confirmed by the positive report on the evaluation of our activities, that she is pleased to inform us that UNESCO agrees to renew the Chair for an additional period of four years, until September 2022.

The Director-General mentiones she is confident that the Chair will continue implementing capacity building and research in OER, including the OER for a Better World Project, within the framework of the 2nd World OER Congress.

Course in Open Education Design

UNESCO Chair on Open Technologies for Open Educational Resources and Open Learning at the Jožef Stefan Institute and University of Nova Gorica organized a 5-day course on Open Education Design in Lanthieri Mansion in Vipava.

The aim of the course was  to equip the participants with basic knowledge, practical advice and hands-on experience to prepare them for their own design of Open Educational Resources (OER).

Lecturers and participants came from 17 countries (Slovenia, Brazil, Fiji, France, Greece, India, Italy, South Africa, Canada, Kenya, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Germany, Uzbekistan, United Kingdom, USA) .

UNESCO OER Recommendation presented at Open Education Global 2018

The UNESCO Chair and its team with colleagues from UNESCO HQ presented the UNESCO Recommendation in OER at the 2018 Open Education Global conference hosted by the Open Education Consortium and Delft University of Technology at the University in Delft, The Netherlands.

erlands on 24-26 April 2018.

UNESCO Chair contributing to global OER policy instrument

The Chair and its team have been working with UNESCO Headquarters in preparing the drafting of the UNESCO Recommendation in Open Educational Resources (OER). The draft was formunated with a group of open education experts from UNESCO, researchers and practitioners from all world regions. The OER Recommendation builds on the Ljubljana OER Action Plan, a product of the 2nd World OER Congress.

Educational policy evaluation helps to identify how and which policies work; and what their contribution can be for improving our educational systems. This is the reason we are inviting you to the online consultation process to contribute to the draft which is now open until 1 June 2018.  The text is available for download in English and French.

Presentation at Mobile Learning Week 2018

Our Chair had a presentation at the Mobile Learning Week with the title “Landscaping global jobs and skills dynamics”. The Mobile Week is UNESCO’s flagship ICT in education conference and is being organized in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for ICT.

UNESCO Chairs presentations at 2nd World OER Congress

The UNESCO Chairs in OER together with Open Education Consortium and Creative Commons have been presenting their work at the 2nd World Open Educational Resources (OER) Congress.

The congress was organized by UNESCO and the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport in close collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning, Creative Commons, the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO and the UNESCO Chair on Open Technologies for OER and Open Learning (Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia) with the generous support of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The Chairs presenting the role of the OER Community:

  • Ms Jane Agbu, National Open University of Nigeria
  • Mr Tel Amiel, Universidade Estaduale de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
  • Mr Daniel Burgos, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Spain
  • Ms Mary Lou Forward, Open Education Consortium, USA
  • Mr Cable Green, Creative Commons, USA
  • Mr Colin de la Higuera Université de Nantes, France
  • Mr Mitja Jermol, Jozef Stefan Institute. Slovenia
  • Mr Rory McGreal, Athabasca University, Canada
  • Mr Robert Schuwer, Fontys University. Netherlands
  • Mr Maria Soledad Ramirez Montoya, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, Mexico
  • Chair: Professor Fred Mulder, Emeritus UNESCO/ICDE Chair in OER at the Open University Netherlands

Launching “Open Education for a better world” international online mentoring programme

 

Launching "Open Education for a better world" international mentoring programme
Launching “Open Education for a better world” international mentoring programme

University of Nova Gorica and UNESCO Chair on Open Technologies for OER and Open Learning are launching a new, free and exciting international online OPEN EDUCATION FOR A BETTER WORLD mentoring programme.

The first round will take place from January to July 2018. Candidates with concrete ideas for open e-learning courses aligned with SDG goals are invited to apply by 20 October 2017. Fifteen candidates will be chosen to be guided on-line towards the implementation of their course.

Design and implement an open e-learning course that will unlock potentials and bring benefits to many at no cost for participants. Applications from all over the world for courses in different languages are expected.

Call for nomination: UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education

The Call has been launched for nominations for the 2017 edition of the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize, and the theme for this edition of the Prize is the use of ICTs to increase access to quality education.

ICTs have the potential to accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities.” This comprehensive goal, taken forward through the Education 2030 Agenda, recognizes the necessity to focus on both access and learning. Quality education must ensure that all students acquire the foundational skills of literacy and numeracy as well as a range of cognitive, interpersonal and social skills, in order that they might be able to lead fulfilling lives, contribute fruitfully to their societies and cope with rapid change.

Funded by the Kingdom of Bahrain, the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize was established in 2005 to recognize innovations in teaching and learning that leverage technology to improve outcomes. Since then, the increasingly powerful capacities and lower costs of ICTs have led to the rapid diffusion of digital devices and applications, as well as to freely accessible digital content, with direct impact on education, including in low-income countries.

The 2017 edition of the Prize will reward the organizations and individuals that are carrying out innovative practices to leverage ICTs so that they can significantly increase access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities, including for out-of-school children and youth, internally displaced persons and refugees, persons with disabilities, illiterate populations, adults who cannot access relevant skills development or higher education opportunities, and other socio-economic disadvantaged groups. The winning project also should promote the values that underpin Education 2030 and the broader Sustainable Development Agenda.

Two prizewinners shall be designated by UNESCO’s Director-General on the basis of the recommendations of an international jury, and each will receive a monetary award (US $25,000) and a diploma. They will be announced during a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in early 2018. The Statutes and financial regulations of the Prize, approved by the 195th session of UNESCO’s Executive Board, are attached herewith for your ease of reference.

To prepare a nominated proposal, your Government may wish to consult with your country’s National Commission for UNESCO. The deadline for submission of all nomination files is 20 October 2017.

Visiting the German Commission for UNESCO

The UNESCO Chair in OER had a meeting with the German UNESCO National Commission on contributions to the official programme of the 2nd World OER Congress as well as the organisation of the Congress and especially running a parallel OER BarCamp.

Sucessful 1st Regional Consultation in Asia in lead up to 2nd World OER Congress

The UNESCO OER Chair together with the Government of Slovenia and the Slovenian UNESCO National Commission was present at the Asia Regional Consultation on Open Educational Resources (OER) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 1 and 2 December 2016. This is the first in the series of six in the lead up to 2nd World OER Congress.

THe Slovenian representatives presented  the invtation by the Slovenian Minister of Education, Science and Sport, dr. Maja Makovec Brenčič, to join us at the “2nd World Congress on Open Educational Resources (OER)” which will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 18 – 20 September 2017.

The presentations at the Asia Regional Consultation were recorded and wil be officially published on the world’s largest public educational platform VideoLectures.NET which is run by the UNESCO Chair on Open Technologies for Open Educational Resources and Open Learning.