Active learning methodologies, hybrid educational formats, evaluation strategies, teacher professional development, the calculation of teaching dedication or the design of educational spaces and resources were some of the key aspects addressed during the symposium organized by UPF’s Center for Learning Innovation and Knowledge.

Josep Lluís Martí, the UPF’s Vice Chancellor for Innovation, and Manel Jiménez, the CLIK’s Academic Director, started their keynote speeches explaining EDvolution, the UPF’s ongoing project to launch a new education model. Martí and Jiménez encouraged the guest speakers of the day to share their most successful educational innovation experiences.

The change starts in schools

Coral Regí, director of the Virolai school, spoke about the great transformation process happening now in elementary schools. "We need to change the role of the teacher so that he becomes a learning generator," she claimed. According to Regí, “schools no longer only teach, they also try to transform students into autonomous individuals with a thriving potential to learn."

Technology as an ally

Carlos Scolari, professor at the UPF’s Communication Department and Director of the European Project Transmedia Literacy, stressed out that educational platforms should be used to connect human and institutional actors with technological actors. "We need to redefine the educational interfaces at all levels in order to generate innovation," he concluded.

We must revolutionize both classrooms and teachers

Ismael Peña, Professor of Law and Political Science at the UOC and senior researcher in open evidence, intervened in favor of an educational revolution. "The new teacher must help students to developing a self-diagnosis, convey knowledge in context and set appropriate learning paths," he said. According to Peña, the educational system needs a full paint job because it “needs to accommodate non-formal learning and take students out of the physical classroom."

Catalan universities in constant updating process

Josep Eladi Baños, professor of the Department of Health and Life Sciences and director of the Margalida Comas Grant Scheme of the Generalitat of Catalonia, explained how the Margalida Comas Programme aims to influence the transformation of Catalan universities until they become European education benchmarks. To this end, Baños proposed a set of measures: (1) to identify teacher quality indicators, (2) to create an interuniversity programme for initial teacher training, (3) to create spaces to discuss teaching innovation experiences; and (4) to look for funding programmes that support research and innovation.

What should a digital teacher know?

Manuel Area, doctor in Pedagogy and professor of the Department of Didactics and Educational Research of the University of La Laguna, talked about the “paidocentric approach” in education, that is, how to adapt a learning methodology based on your students’ characteristics. "The teacher must be able to design online learning scenarios: select the appropriate digital tools, know how to use technology in face-to-face situations and tutor and give feedback also in virtual environments," he said.

Learning in a changing ecosystem

Davinia Hernández-Leo, professor of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies and coordinator of the TIDE research group in educational technologies, spoke about learning design, a methodology that allows teachers to design the best teaching methodology for a certain subject so that students make the most of it. According to Hernández-Leo, "it is important that all “class designs” are documented in order to be transferred and reused in the future."

The importance of teaching methodologies

Eliud Quintero, specialist in curriculum design and development at the Technological Institute of Monterrey (Mexico), explained the TEC 21 education model. This model encourages teachers to acquire training in learning methodologies such as blended learning and gamification, as well as to collaborate with other teachers.

After the talks followed an enlightening debate on the importance of several key aspects of the new educational paradigm: to train teachers in innovative learning methodologies, to redefine the number of hours that students need to be at university, to improve the balance between teaching and research and to revise evaluation systems.

The resulting ideas of this symposium will be used as food for thought for the EDvolution project, UPF’s new education model. UPF’s model wants to educate students who will be able to easily adapt to the future needs of professionals, companies and social agents. With it, students should obtain a global vision of the world and be able to face it in an autonomous, proactive way, with a high technological competence and an excellent communicative capacity. Currently, the Vice-Rector for Innovation and the Center for Innovation in Learning and Knowledge (CLIK) are working on the design of this project, due for the 2019-2020 academic year.

• EDvolution Symposium Programme