Plenary D
Limitless Learning
Date Friday, Dec 2 Time – RoomPotsdam I
Who owns learning? Who should own it? Can it be owned? How should it be controlled? Or regulated? As learning moves towards the learner, new forms of collaboration and content-creation are pushing the boundaries of what is possible. How far can the transfer of ownership go? What are the implications for the nature and quality of education? Will educators and learners be empowered by change? Or will they be enslaved by it?
Alec Couros
Professor of Educational Technology & Media, University of Regina, Canada
Moving Beyond Techno-utopian Narratives of Open & Networked Learning
Alec Couros is an associate professor of educational technology and media at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina, in Saskatchewan, Canada. An award-winning educator, Alec helps his undergraduate and graduate students take up the incredible affordances of our connected world through the integration of educational technology in teaching and learning. Alec is also a well-recognized scholar and researcher who has given hundreds of keynotes and workshops around the globe on diverse topics such as connected/networked learning, digital citizenship, social media in education, and critical media literacy, providing educators, students, and parents with the knowledge necessary to take advantage of and thrive in our new digital reality. Finally, Alec is a passionate advocate of openness in education and demonstrates this commitment through his open access publications, considerable digital presence and contributions, and highly successful MOOCs and open boundary courses.
Links
http://www.uregina.ca/education/faculty…http://www.educationaltechnology.ca/cou…
Martin Eyjólfsson
Botschafter, Embassy of Iceland, Germany
Iceland - Challenges and Opportunities for Education
Professional Experience
• Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary to Germany August 2016
• Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Geneva 2012-2016
• Ambassador to the Holy See, since December 2013
• Ambassador to Liechtenstein, since December 2012
• Director General MFA – External Trade and Economic affairs, 2007-2012
• Director MFA – European affairs, 2007
• Deputy Director MFA, Department of External Trade, 2007
• Head of Overseas Business Services MFA, 2003-2004
• Head of Unit MFA – International Trade Agreements, 2002-2003
• Embassy of Iceland in Brussels – First Secretary 1998-2002
• Legal expert EU and EEA law – MFA 1996-1998
Other Activities
• LDC Facilitator WTO Ministerial Meeting, Nairobi 2015
• Chairman of the WTO Council for Trade in Services, 2015-2016
• Chairman of the WTO Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions, 2014-2015
• Member of Chief Negotiation Committee on Iceland's Membership to EU, 2009-2012
• IMF Programme of Iceland - Negotiations, 2008
• Icesave Negotiation Committee, 2008-2009
• Negotiations with various countries on Foreign Currency Reserves, 2009
• Negotiations on various Air Services Agreements from 2002-2011
• EEA Enlargment negotiations, 2007
• EEA Enlargment negotiations, 2004
• Legal pleadings before the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the EFTA Court on behalf of the Government of Iceland
• Various articles on EU law in Iceland and International Academic Journals and lectured in Universities in Iceland on EU law
Education
• Cand. Juris. University of Iceland, Faculty of Law, Reykjavík, Iceland
• Languages: Icelandic, English, German, French and Danish
Personal Information
• Born 18 May 1971 in the Westman Islands, Iceland
• Married to Eva Thengilsdóttir (cand.oecon, MPA). Three children; Thengill (1991), Sylvía (1999) and Tinna (2001)
• Played football in the Icelandic Premier League for 5 years with IBV
Diana Laurillard
Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies, UCL Knowledge Lab, UK
Owning Learning: Whose Responsibility Is It
Diana Laurillard is Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies at the London Knowledge Lab, UCL Institute of Education, leading research projects on developing the Learning Designer suite of tools and online community for teachers and trainers, on adaptive software interventions for learners with low numeracy and dyscalculia, and on the use of MOOCs for CPD.
Previous roles include: Head of the e-Learning Strategy Unit at the Department for Education and Skills; Pro-Vice-Chancellor for learning technologies and teaching at The Open University; the Visiting Committee on IT at Harvard University; Royal Society Working Group on Educational Neuroscience.
Most recent book is Teaching as a Design Science, 2012. Previous book, Rethinking University Teaching, Routledge, 2002, is one of the most widely cited in the field.
Links
Mark Surman
Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation, Canada
Web Literacy Empowers People - and Keeps the Internet Healthy
The web is one of our most valuable public resources -- it’s Mark Surman’s job to protect it. Mark serves as Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation, a global community that does everything from making Firefox to taking stands on issues like online privacy. Mark’s biggest focus is building the movement side of Mozilla: rallying the citizens of the web, building alliances with likeminded organizations and leaders, and growing the open internet movement. Before Mozilla, Mark was the Managing Director of telecentre.org and president of boutique consulting firm Commons Group. In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Shuttleworth Foundation fellowship, where he explored how to apply open source approaches to philanthropy. Mark lives in Toronto with his wife Tonya, founding Executive Director of the Centre for Social Innovation, and his sons Tristan and Ethan.
Links
Moderator
Jan Pakulski
Head of Unit (Studies, Impact Assessments, Analysis and Statistics), European Commission, Belgium
Mr. Pakulski joined the European Commission in September 2009. Prior to taking his current assignment he worked for 16 years for the World Bank in WashingtonDC where he held numerous positions in the Bank's operational complex as well as the external affairs and operational services vice-presidencies. He has an extensive track record of project management, primarily in social sectors, held management as well as advisory positions related to Bank-funded operations in the Europe and Central Asia region.
Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked as expert in the area of social development for the Netherlands Government, the European Commission Phare program, the Council of Europe and other agencies. Following his university graduation, he worked as Executive Director of a Netherlands-based international NGO network, working in the area of development education and social justice, traveling extensively through the developing world.
Mr. Pakulski holds a M.A. degree in economics from the Warsaw School of Economics and a doctorandus degree in development economics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam.