Education+, where learning and technology partner for the future, at the Open University of Catalonia

Founded in 1994, the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) has since led the way to online learning, making possible to take learning to a higher level, away from the four walls and for a diversity of communities. It is in this realm where the Office of Learning Technologies (OLT) at UOC operates, designing and developing more immersive, open, accessible and engaging learning experiences for its more than 50.000 fully online students.

In its latest 2010 Projects Report, the OLT outlines a list of thirty projects, classified according to whether they are related to educational content (eContent), learning spaces (eLearning Spaces), affective computing (Emotions), sense of community (i-Community) or educational technologies. All projects are executed with UOC faculty, as well as in collaboration with other universities and companies from the technological field (i.e., Universidad Carlos III, Serious Games Institute, UC Berkeley and MIT).

Education+: Immersive, engaging, web, mobile and social learning

The OLT at UOC believes in a world enriched by the effective design and development of learning technologies, open and accessible environments and applications, and standardization.

Following, please, find some of the 2010 OLT projects:

• SpeakApps, a European funded project, aims at creating a free and open source online platform that gathers ICT-based applications and pedagogies to practice oral skills online (see the SpeakApps video and website)
• iUOC, a native application for the iPad to access the UOC campus. With this application, the UOC became the first university to have a virtual learning environment adapted to the iPAD. This project has been implemented in collaboration with mobile phone operator, Orange (see the iUOC video).
• Kronos, a tool that records and limits the time students spend doing a continuous assessment activity (see the Kronos video).
• Multimedia Language Materials brings together a new generation of multimedia exercises compatible with the iPAD device, besides the PC.
• Present@, an easy to use modified blog that uploads and displays presentations in video format.
• What's Up?, a microblogging tool to promote communication among members of the UOC community. It also synchronizes with Twitter. (see the What's Up? video).
• LaboLang, a tool that compares the pronunciation of a foreign language and transforms voice into text.
• Learning Apps, an on-line site where teachers and educational organisms will easily build a personalized learning environment with only a few clicks (more info).
• SimAULA, a simulation environment for virtual practicum training of future teachers (more info).

A multidisciplinary team, open to collaboration.

The OLT team is comprised of 45 professionals from different disciplines such as computing, psychology, pedagogy, design and economy, and leaded by Llorenç Valverde (vice-rector for Technology, UOC) and Magí Almirall (director from the OLT).

Far beyond, the OLT also works closely with other universities and companies in the advancement of education through the implementation of new technologies. Some of the members of the OLT extended team are the MIT, NMC, University of California at Berkeley, Ericsson, Orange, Hewlett Foundation, University of Cambridge, Open Courseware Consortium or the University of Toronto, among others.

The objective of disseminating this 2010 Projects Report is to spread the word about the benefits and current works on technology enhanced learning and to also help identify potential people and partners with whom UOC could collaborate to continue innovating in the learning scenarios of the future.

Would like to receive a copy of the 2010 OLT Projects Report? Then, please, send your request at learningtechnologies@uoc.edu.