The world in Berlin

Around the World has been travelling the globe in search of e-learning stories for several months now. This week it’s a bit different: the world has come to us! More than 90 different countries are represented at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN – and here are some of the things they have taught us. Read on for some of the stories that have been showcased at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN – snapshots of the e-learning scene in today’s changing world…

06.12.2013

UGANDA: The falling cost of fibre-optic cables offers a fascinating insight into technological progress in the host country of eLearning Africa 2014 (LINK)

EU: MOOC hype is a fact in the e-learning sector – but astonishingly, one third of Europe’s 4,000 universities have never even heard of them! It’s part of a digital divide across the EU that the European Commission is anxious to address, launching several projects to do so (LINK)

WORLD: why shouldn’t corporate e-learning appeal to a wider audience? asks Christian Kuhna of Adidas. Why shouldn’t companies’ internal online courses become MOOCs? (LINK)

UAE: where are the largest user bases for YouTube located? On the Arabian peninsula. No wonder flipped learning is manifesting itself there in such innovative forms (LINK)

AUSTRALIA: it’s difficult setting up an online university – and government regulation can get in the way. Many countries have a cap on maximum student enrolments that rules out the creation of massive online courses. The removal of this cap in Australia led to the creation of Swinburne Online, a successful Public-Private Partnership (LINK)

and in other news…

SAUDI ARABIA: it is a much-repeated misconception that Eskimos have rather a lot of words for snow. Saudi Arabia, however, genuinely does have over 300 types of dates, each with their own texture and flavour: and 150 of those types are represented at OEB’s exhibition!

GERMANY: Today is St Nicholas’ day, when Germans everywhere eat chocolate out of shoes and dress up as 4th-century bishops. A special greeting to all children, coopers, sailors, fishermen, merchants, broadcasters, the falsely accused, repentant thieves, pharmacists, archers and pawnbrokers at OEB: St Nicholas is your patron saint!