The BLENDI platform given the Best Demo Award at the 16th European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning
Contra el genocidi i contra la violació dels drets humans, a Gaza i arreu del món
Peace comes when you talk to the person you most hate. And that’s where the courage of a leader comes.
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021), first recipient of an honorary doctorate from UPF
These words, spoken by Desmond Tutu, the first person ever to be awarded an honorary doctorate by UPF, are more applicable today than ever. The UPF condemns, and will always condemn, the use of violence to settle disputes. At UPF, we advocate approaching political or territorial conflicts based on dialogue and respect for all peoples and minorities.
As a university, we also want to show our support to the academic community in countries at war. Universities and scientific institutions are more necessary than ever in these regions. Access to education and the promotion of critical thinking, in the context of strong independent institutions, are the way to ensure the informed debate and reflection that can open the door to new avenues for finding solutions.
At UPF, we are aware of the university community’s concern for the human rights violations we are seeing in the conflicts around us. That is why on this website you will find information about campaigns and actions related to current conflicts, as well as opinion pieces and institutional statements. We also offer a dedicated e-mail address – [email protected] – to contact the university and let us know about your interests and concerns.
The BLENDI platform given the Best Demo Award at the 16th European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning
The BLENDI platform given the Best Demo Award at the 16th European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning
The e-learning tool allows teachers to co-create learning activities and blended lesson plans together with students
BLENDI, an e-learning platform developed within the UPF Education Technologies Research Group (TIDE), has been awarded the Best Demo Award at the 16th European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2021), held from 20 to 24 September online.
The UPF researchers Laia Albó, Max Dieckmann and Davínia Hernández-Leo, together with others from the European University of Cyprus and the Athens Lifelong Learning Institute, presented their proposal at the conference in the form of a demonstration article.
The BLENDI platform, explains Albó, “supports teachers in order to include the voices or opinions of students to define the main components of the lessons and activities conducted in or outside the classroom”. The researchers have developed a mobile application that enables collecting students’ feedback to enrich the learning design process, define its goals, activities and tools, and procedures or strategies for reflection and assessment.
The researchers have developed a mobile application that enables collecting students’ feedback to enrich the learning design process, define its goals, activities and tools, and procedures or strategies for reflection and assessment.
The tool has been developed under the BLENDI European research project (Blended Learning for Inclusion), coordinated by the Diaconia University of Applied Sciences in Finland, together with partner organizations from Ireland, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.
Technically, the BLENDI tool is built on the LdShake/ILDEplus platform developed by the TIDE group in previous projects. “Technology provides social functions that allow the activities designed on the platform to be shared and edited collaboratively”, Davínia Hernández-Leo explains. The adaptation to the BLENDI project was conceptualized and designed by the consortium partners, together with the support of students and teachers from schools in the participating countries. Specifically, in Catalonia, La Immaculada (Vilassar de Dalt), Institut-Escola Daniel Mangrané (Tortosa) and Institut-Escola Greda (Olot), are the three Catalan schools participating.
Reference works:
Albó, L., Stylianidou, N., Chalatsis, X., Dieckmann, M., & Hernández-Leo, D. (2021, September). Including Students’ Voices in the Design of Blended Learning Lesson Plans. In European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (pp. 419-423). Springer, Cham.
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