Dear Reader,
The close of the year is a particularly intense time for the 3CL as we launch new projects and consolidate others and organise our last set of speaking engagements. The EdTech sector continues to adjust not only to the disruption of the pandemic, but also to the opportunities afforded by technology for new approaches to teaching and learning. We continue to focus on our core areas of expertise - from media and digital literacies to the digitalisation of skills sets and the strategic use of emerging technologies for the public good.
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GenZ MEDIA FREEDOMS PROJECT
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Supported by a grant from the British High Commission in Malta, GenZ encourages young people in Malta - the so-called 'Generation Z' - to submit ideas about the influence of old and new media on our daily lives. We want to hear their voices about the freedoms that the media provides or restricts, and the role it may play as the 'fourth estate' safeguarding democratic values. GenZ is also an opportunity for contributors to enter a competition in which the winner will receive a fully-funded internship with a major UK media outlet in 2022.
For further details, see the GenZ portal and updates on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
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MEDIA FREEDOMS WORKSHOP
JANUARY 2022, VALLETTA
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 As part of the GenZ project, we are running a morning Workshop on Media Freedoms & Digital Literacy on 15th January, 2022. Workshop leader Janette Ballard is an award-winning journalist and documentary film director with a 20-year career at the BBC.
Leading the BBC into their first external partnerships in media literacy, she has collaborated with the British Council and Internews among others. Now, as a consultant and trainer, Janette spends her time on projects which support people to seek and speak ‘truth’.
The workshop is free and open to all on a first-come-first-served basis. Details and registration here.
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DEL4ALL RESEARCH AGENDA PUBLISHED
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Our report is a project milestone levering on desk research, market intelligence and consultations with the community of practice. The primary findings challenge preconceptions about the impact of emerging technologies on the education sector and propose future research areas for the European Commission to consider in the post-pandemic era. Access the report here.
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VIRTUAL REALITY FOR TEACHERS
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Now that the metaverse is becoming part of the vernacular, virtual reality is very much back in vogue. The 3CL is a founding member of the VRTeacher Project whose mission is to modernise and transform teacher education and training and reinforce educators’ digital skills through a Virtual Reality (VR) training method and tool. Using immersive and experiential training experiences that reflect real-life scenarios and situations faced during a crisis such as Covid-19, the project addresses class management and equips teachers with key skills, including empathy, perspective-taking, self-efficacy and adaptability. VRTeacher is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU. A survey on the attitudes and opinions of educators and learners on the use of Virtual Reality for training in education will be published shortly.
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DIGITAL TEACHING & LEARNING: THE PRE-EDIT COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
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Led by Learning Science expert Dr Emma Pauncefort, our initiative has brought together over 800 educators from around the world to challenge trusted norms about the role of technology in teaching and learning. The programme is guided by The Critical & Creative Cycle™, a re-envisioning of Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy, and structured around four topics: 'The EdTech Boom’, ‘Education Heroes’, ‘Learning Revisited’ and ‘Education Hopes and Ambitions’. A special guest session introduced the work of Dr John Cook, the creator of Cranky Uncle, a book and a digital game seeking to sensitise us to false argumentation made in relation to the climate crisis. The main programme includes a MOOC and materials can be found here.
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OERcamp.global is an Unconference on OER - the first 48-hour Festival for Open Educational Resources. To be held between 9th and 11th December 2021, you may register on this link.
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On the 21st and 28th January 2022, we are holding a two-part interactive workshop called 'Cryptocurrencies, Decentralised Ledger Technologies (DLT) and Verifiable Credentials: Debunking Myths'. Dr Joshua Ellul and Dr Ioannis Revolidis from the Centre for Distributed Ledger Technologies at the University of Malta will provide much-needed clarity on topics such as investing in Bitcoin and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the smartness of smart contracts and why views on self-sovereignty and the suitability of DLTs for the education sector remain polarised. The sessions are supported by the Commonwealth of Learning.
Click the links here for registration for the first and second sessions.
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Open & Distance Learning
Guidelines on Open and Distance Learning for Youth and Adult Literacy – a new joint publication by UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning is available online.
What is the Metaverse?
So what is “the metaverse,” exactly? Will we all live in the metaverse soon? Or is the idea just SecondLife redux? This article does a deep dive into defining the term that's on everyone's lips.
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We are always on the lookout for partners for projects with an Edtech component, particularly those with the objective of improving sustainability in small states, open education and digital & media literacies. If you have a project idea and would like to join us as a stakeholder, partner and/or expert, please get in touch.
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