UNESCO Chair in Education and Technology for Social Change

The UOC UNESCO Chair in Education and Technology for Social Change (formerly the UOC UNESCO Chair in E-Learning) was created in 2002 to promote research, learning, information and documentation activities on the use of ICTs in education.

The Chair keeps a close eye on world trends in education, appropriate technological resources, open content and the leading experts and institutions in the field. The Chair disseminates the knowledge acquired to the communities of educators and practitioners in related fields, both nationally and globally, paying special attention to disadvantaged and information-needy social groups.

 

Academic Council
  • The Chair’s new Academic Council was formed on 14 March 2012. The council members include (in alphabetical order):
     
  • Brenda GOURLEY, Former Vice-Chancellor, Open University, UK
  • Sugata MITRA, Professor of Educational Technology, Newcastle University, UK; Visiting Professor, MIT Media Lab, USA
  • Josep A. PLANELL i ESTANY, President of the UOC
  • Ferran RUIZ TARRAGÓ, President of the Education Council of the Generalitat de Catalunya
  • Albert SANGRÀ, Academic Director, UNESCO Chair in Education and Technology for Social Change;  Vice-President of EFQUEL (European Foundation for Quality in e-Learning)
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Organization

Albert Sangrà
Academic Director

Alicia Puig
Coordinator

 

Areas of activity

The UNESCO spirit can be seen in all of the Chair’s activities, giving voice to institutions and individuals engaged in educational practice and promoting the intensive use of technology for the public benefit and development:

  • Creation and dissemination of knowledge
  • Research applied to the fields of Open Educational Resources (OER), and gender and technology.
  • Training workshops specializing in relevant subjects of e-learning.
  • Attendance of and participation in congresses, conferences, and national and international forums.

Activities

Workshops

The workshops are sessions with live demonstrations or training content in which one or more experts share their knowledge and allow the attendees to learn new competences and acquire new knowledge on a specific topic.

The workshops are similar to roundtables as they offer forums for debate and the sharing of case studies, best practices and experiences.

Roundtables

These are forums for debate where the work dynamic consists of case studies, best practices and the exchange of experiences, letting internationally acclaimed experts share their knowledge and experience with the University’s teaching and administrative staff.

The roundtables focus on topics arising from the Chair’s areas of activity.

International Seminar

The International Seminar has been designed to provide a framework for the dissemination and exchange of knowledge and experience linked to the relationship between ICTs, education and development all over the world.

Its aim is to look in greater depth at and analyse the main elements and challenges we currently face.