Inge Ignatia de Waard

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About Inge Ignatia de Waard
Inge Ignatia de Waard (1967, Belgium) is a mobile and MOOC pioneer who has investigated online learning and EdTech at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium, with projects around the world), Athabasca University (Canada) and The Open University (UK) after which she became the Instructional Design strategist for InnoEnergy, working in the field of innovative and sustainable energy. She has a background in IT and pedagogy and has been an international public speaker, addressing audiences across continents on the subject of online, MOOC, online and mobile learning. Writing has been a consistent factor, producing articles for magazines and journals such as the Learning Solutions magazine, as well as authoring research papers and chapters.
Her professional path has been eclectic, following the grand tradition of all students that do not fit universal formal education ... only to return to it later in life. Past professions include: preparing food for film crews (resulting in startlingly new dishes that surpass tasteful palettes), cleaning offices (using the dust-under-carpet method frequently) and waiting on tables for artists and art lovers in a famous Belgian theater company (being renowned for having a morning temper matching even the most fierce of actors) ... after quick iterations as a photographer, film critic and stand-up comedian, Inge finally found a place where she could voice opinions openly while lobbying for equal rights. The Vrouwen Overleg Komitee willingly employed her, which got Inge started on organizing big events, networking across political parties and online learning while using technology to disseminate content, as well as connect with peers.
In order to be able to make a difference, Inge changed jobs and started to work for one of the finest research centers on tropical diseases: the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium. After years of engaging, setting up and supporting mHealth and online projects, she decided to engage in research at the renowned Open University of United Kingdom.
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Blog postLearning and especially online and mobile learning was a passion of mine for years. Not only professionally, but also personally. I have spent many ours exploring, researching and disseminating best practices (as well as actions you better avoid 😀 ). This was an effortless and frequently non-paid activity. But now well into the Corona years, I can no longer enjoy looking at the current basic implementation of what was considered digital or online learning. My interest was waning in the7 months ago Read more
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Blog postWhile I stated that no university can afford to be an island (heavily paraphrazing John Donne) in the first post on the educational paradigm, I also wrote about the challenges of providing timely courses and trainings for emerging skills in part 2.
In this third part on the educational paradigm shift, I am gathering some pedagogies that match the challenge of providing timely learning opportunities across universities using new and tested change-friendly pedagogies. Using innovative2 years ago Read more -
Blog postMore universities are joining their efforts to meet the needs and financial demands of an increased content development in these online first learning space that has dawned in 2020. Some universities are sharing their future plans to inspire others, have a look at Stanford 2025 (thank you Frank Gielen for the link and the insights!). But as always with learning and teaching, it is the human factor that makes learning an inspiring success or a tedious process. One can clearly f2 years ago Read more
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Blog postUniversities have been around for 1000 years, it is time for the next level of education, moving beyond single universities. New learning architectures are being build, a paradigm shift is happening as course development needs to be made more efficient in keeping pace with sector innovation. This means, new alliances need to be setup across universities (see further below) and new pedagogies need to be installed (see part 2 later). This demand for change has been around for 10 years, but it seem2 years ago Read more
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Blog postAs #COVID19 seems to disrupt our teaching and learning for a longer period of time, I wrote up a document based on requests from colleagues to look into the delivery of online exams and assignments, and what the options are.
The document is entitled "Transforming face-to-face exams into online exams: considering proctoring tool security and creative pedagogical options".
The document is shared under Creative Commons Share Alike license which aligns with the EU direct2 years ago Read more -
Blog postRequest for expertise sharing on #online #exams #covid19 pro-active planning until the end of this academic year and offering #BestPractices for #OnlineExams below.
The first rumors are indicating that our international HigherEd students will not be requested to come to their guest universities to plan their exams for the end of the 2019-2020 academic year.
I am trying to find a solid online learning tool that can be used, but in the meanwhile, I want to share best practi2 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe Horizon 2020 report (58 pages) has been released by @educause on 2 March 2020 and it is an inspiring read for those of us looking at emerging learning designs and techniques. The report covers trends in the social, economical, political, technological and of course higher education realm and new in this report is a nice contextualization of all the different trends and technologies using visual supports. Educause is Northern America based, so most of the examples and projects they refer to a2 years ago Read more
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Blog postThe inspiring eLearning Guild keeps disseminating great reports in relation to learning. One of their key authors is Jane Bozarth (= director of research @eLearningGuild), who is always an inspiration. You also know that a report will be of interest if she writes it.
In the eLearning Guild's latest report (19 pages) the focus is on Generations in the Workplace: how they see each other and why this is worth all of our attention. Interestingly, the report starts out with a clear frami3 years ago Read more -
Blog postJust this morning I got a link to a video representing a new learning technology used at IMEC. As I looking into synchronous learning technology, this is of interest. But as I was watching the video, I felt a bit uneasy. This synchronous learning solution WeConnect is offered by Barco and is implemented at IMEC (which is connected to KULeuven, which will in the years become the major university in Belgium, as it is good in gaining and keeping established power).
Monitor the learner3 years ago Read more -
Blog postPreparing for my talk today at Online Educa Berlin, after a great workshop-filled day yesterday (one of the workshops was on preparing for the 4th industrial revolution guided by Gilly Salmon - https://www.gillysalmon.com/presentations.html ) and a wonderfully inspiring and ideas provoking workshop with Bryan Alexander looking at methods to predict parts of the future).
Below you can find my slides for the session at Online Educa Berlin looking at ways that Artificial Inte3 years ago Read more -
Blog postIf you have ideas on ensuring continuity in pedagogy when clustering courses (research), on certifying across corporate and university learning (blockchain/bit of trust certification), on opening up industry academies to decrease L&D costs (HR and L&D), ... please think along and respond to the challenges mentioned at the end.
People in high and common places seem to agree that the world is in transition, especially workplace learning, as innovations keep changing what is po3 years ago Read more -
Blog postRose Luckin takes the stage with a headset and immediately getting into her talk. The talk was very informative and to me it looked as though Rose is so knowledgeable about a range of topics, so I got a bit curious and envious in how her mind works [It I heard - I do not know if this is correct, will ask her ] that she only got into academic life later on in life?
Key topic: develop the right AI mindset for businesses
A perfect storm: data mass plus computing powe3 years ago Read more -
Blog postGeoff Stead (@geoffstead ) takes the stage with a headset, a black shirt and walking like a fit Californian surfer (looking great).
As chief product person of the Babbel language corporation, he talks about informal learning at scale and will offer insights. 750 people all working on 1 app, fully funded by individuals willing to pay small amounts of money to learn languages. Mostly Euro-centric coming from the organic growth of the organisation.
5000 courses => 640003 years ago Read more -
Blog postliveblog from mLearn2019, so consisting of bits and pieces and notes written during the workshop.
Part 1 by Wim de Jong (OU Netherlands)
Smart solutions for urban problems (design solutions), governance for safety (prevention of crime, policing....) and systemic challenges (eg.polution...).
Can technology foster the fears it tries to combat? (perception and condition of city safety)
How can we counterbalance the bias in current perceptions of safety? (Questi3 years ago Read more -
Blog postFrom here a couple of cases and projects (slides will follow)
Great presentation by UNED Covadonga Rodrigo: will AI be sexist? @cova_rodrigo (liveblog)
Referring to male/female recruitment of Amazon. AI had a biased in favor of men. Why?
Because the AI was trained with historical data, so more males, which made the system think male candidates were preferable.
Microsoft (2016) had the same result with their AI system: automated bots on twitter, this bo3 years ago Read more -
Blog postThis is a live blog, so bits and pieces noted.
Paco Iniesto (The Open University, IET, AIED) is the workshop lead, and he is looking good and giving a strong overview.
AI is all around us: cars, games, robotics, AlphaGo (see netflix), predictive policy, dating apps, thispersondoesnotexist.com (3 min video is of interest, how they generate these images), ...
What is AI?
It isn't easy to define AI and many people have an idea, but there is no definition.
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postIris Apfel overall fashion icon
As I am preparing to head out to mLearn/EcTel 2019, an issue turned up on potential ageism. Do you know of anyone who started their academic track at 50 or older and managed to gain access to a higher academic position? Please send me a message, I would love to interview them and know how they achieved that position. In case you have data regarding the below statements on age and academic positions, please inform me as well, would love to factualize my assum3 years ago Read more -
Blog postForget the search engine, ravel on the emergence of the Learning Engine (admittedly it is still a dream in progress, but we are getting closer)
What made search engines so innovative decades ago? They created connections. Connections between online users and content. The search engine developers did not produce a lot of content, but they referred to content from outside providers, and that was what made it special: the immediate connection. It connected supply with demand, connecting3 years ago Read more -
Blog postLet's be clear: teachers still are not transforming into guides-on-the-side, contemporary-online-learning is not a fabulous learning utopia (we can build it, but we lack whom we want to reach) and pedagogy is now debilitated through new innovations in learning. At least that is my frustration of the day. Let me explain (picture credit: PhD comics.com).
As I am getting more into the 'AI helps people to be trained in a personalized way'-project (officially called the skills3.0 project3 years ago Read more -
Blog postThis is a second post on Blockchain in learning (specifically for certification, it is referred to as Blockcerts). In the first blogpost on the subject, I took a look at some examples that are currently out there (industry/academia), but in this post, I will have a closer look at the discussions surrounding Blockchain for learning. First I will zoom in on how I see Blockchain certification being the new big brother in an already very structured dominant education system. After that I share a pra3 years ago Read more
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Blog postLive blognotes MATES workshop on future skills education needed
This blog post refers to the future of education. In the near future (now actually) we need to set up professional learning that addresses the skills needs that emerge from the innovation-driven transition affecting different jobs. As a result, learning becomes effectively lifelong learning, and it becomes mandatory, as many jobs change constantly. This means universities must make their curriculum more dynamic in roll-out to3 years ago Read more -
Blog postThis is the first part of a series on Blockchain for Learning posts. In this post I am giving my (current) overview of Blockchain options from industry, a second post will focus more on the academic side (including impact on universities), and I will add a philosophical post on it as well).
Background and project
As I am working on the learning bit of the skills 3.0 project (a multi-disciplinary project combining AI, HR, learning and learning certification, see basic slides here), I3 years ago Read more -
Blog postThis call for papers offers a mix for research papers and call for speakers, enabling more research-based or more experienced based proposals to be written. The calls are organized in order of deadline.
ECTEL2019 conferenceDeadline for submitting the mandatory abstract: 29 April 2019 (200 words using Springer template)
Deadline for submitting a full paper: 13 May 2019 (6 - 14 pages using Springer template)
When: 16 - 19 September 2019
Where: TU Delft, Netherlands <3 years ago Read more -
Blog postLast week was inspiring thanks to the company I was in and the ideas that were exchanged Thank you John Traxler for organizing this wonderful workshop! My presentation was part of a multiplier event for the European MOONLITE project, looking MOOC design for refugees and migrants. A couple of days ago I realized what an impact this event had and how it affected my well-being. So why did it feel meaningful? It was the mixture of being on the road, meeting up with like-minded peers (the importance3 years ago Read more
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Blog postLiveblog Mathias Vermeulen Ode aan Angus(Great keynote, capturing the audience first, coming to business with strong ideas)Lang leve technologie!Technologie is (ahem)· Ons LMS· Ons eLearningmodules· Onze course vending machineMacGyver is biggest inspiration of @mathiasVermeulenFabulous learning is developed by thinking ‘What would MacGyver do?”·  3 years ago Read more
Titles By Inge Ignatia de Waard
‘The Really Useful #EdTechBook‘ is about experiences, reflections, hopes, passions, expectations, and professionalism of those working with, in, and for the use of technology in education. Not only is it an insight into how, or why, we work with these technologies, it’s about how we as learning professionals got to where we are and how we go forward with our own development.
In this book respected individuals from different education sectors write about many aspects of learning technology; from Higher Education (Sue Beckingham, Peter Reed, Dr David Walker, Sheila MacNeil, Terese Bird, Wayne Barry, Inge de Waard, and Sharon Flynn), Further Education (Rachel Challen), to Museums (Zak Mensah), workplace learning (Julian Stodd, Julie Wedgwood, and Lesley Price) and primary schools / early years education (Mike McSharry). With a foreword written by Catherine Cronin, from the National University Ireland, Galway, the breadth and depth of the experiences here are second to none.
The knowledge these leading learning practitioners, researchers, and professionals, share, under the same cover, is a unique opportunity for you to read about the variety of approaches to learning technology, the different perspectives on the same technology, and how technology is impacting our culture and learning infrastructure, from early-age classrooms to leading research Universities and from museums and workplace learning providers. It is about our passion for our work and our desire to make our work better through our own learning and development.
Contributory authors:
- Catherine Cronin: Foreword
- David Hopkins: Introduction
- Wayne Barry: “…and what do you do?”: Can we explain the unexplainable?
- Zak Mensah: “Why do we do what we do?”
- Peter Reed: “The structure and roles of Learning Technologists within Higher Education Institutions”
- Rachel Challen: “Learning Technologists as agents of change? Blending policy and creativity”
- Julie Wedgwood: “Developing the skills and knowledge of a Learning Technologist”
- Dr David Walker and Sheila MacNeill: “Learning Technologist as Digital Pedagogue”
- Lesley Price: “Times they are a changing …or not?”
- Sue Beckingham: “The Blended Professional: Jack-of-all-Trades and Master of Some?”
- Julian Stodd: “How gadgets help us learn”
- Terese Bird: “Students Leading the Way in Mobile Learning Innovation”
- Inge de Waard: “Tech Dandy, or the Art of Leisure Learning”
- Sharon Flynn: “Learning Technologists: changing the culture or preaching to the converted?”
- Mike McSharry: “This is your five-minute warning!”