Press room

During the seminar, the results of the pilot course offered by the UOC on Facebook over the last two months will be presented. The results of this experience will serve to evaluate the possibilities of a system with a high degree of self-access learning based on peer to peer learning and on a methodology animated by interaction in one of the social networks with the greatest number of followers around the world. These results will also enable us to know how the social construction of knowledge comes about, what sort of advantages and drawbacks are offered by the use of a social network to the UOC’s students and how these tools can be used for training in formal learning environments.

At the seminar, research and practices related to OSL based on the application of new technologies in the field of online education will be presented. The work sessions will include the benefits of informal e-learning, the application of e-learning criteria to companies to improve economic performance and the professional satisfaction of workers, and the experience of e/merge in African universities.

Researchers taking part at the seminar include George Siemens, associate director of the Learning Technologies Centre at the University of Manitoba; Alejandro Piscitelli, philosopher, epistemologist and lecturer in the Faculty of Communication at the University of Buenos Aires; Stephen Downes, researcher with the National Research Council of Canada; and Laura Czerniewicz and Tony Carr, director and tenured professor, respectively, in the Centre for Educational Technology at the University of Cape Town.

After his participation at the seminar, Alejandro Piscitelli, promoter of the “Project Facebook” academic programme in Argentina, will be offering two courses on the use of Facebook in teaching. The courses are aimed at primary and secondary school teachers (2 December) and at UOC teaching staff and members of the eLearn Center (4 December).