Oeiras (PT), June 2011 - The sixth EFQUEL Innovation Forum held 14-16 September 2011 in Oeiras, Portugal, focuses on accreditation, certification, and internationalisation. It invites participants to debate the value of certifications, to examine good practice examples, and to shape a future vision of how certifications can evolve to become instruments to certify the future.
In the European education-and-training arena, both learner and staff mobility and programmes delivered across borders have become reality. Universities and training providers internationally are searching for new markets, often reaching out across borders to offer their programmes.
Open education and open educational resources have unlocked new doors for formal and informal learning, and attempts to certify and recognize achievements through both these modes of learning have intensified throughout Europe and beyond.
ICT plays a major role in enabling education and training environments to travel and reach out, but also to innovate and change the educational organisation, the scope and the landscapes in which it is delivered locally. In this context certification and accreditation have to be newly discussed. The influence of Europeanization and internationalization is not just a move towards internationalizing educational offerings but also towards internationalizing certifications and recognition of degrees.
As accreditation and certification become increasingly important in all educational sectors, they are changing. Having played their role as guards to make education and training failsafe in the past, we can see that accreditation and certification of education and training are increasingly striving to recognize educational organisations' achievements as incentives to turn towards innovation and excellence. How will the certification look in 2025 or even in 2050?
The sixth EFQUEL Innovation Forum will discuss these questions and invites your participation!
