A total of 130 experts from 15 countries came together at the University of Hradec Králové
Author: Věra Palánová, FIM UHK
People attending 3 international conferences filled the premises of the Faculty of Informatics and Management on 2nd – 4th July 2019. Many interesting topics were uncovered by 130 experts from 15 countries. They focused on the use of modern technologies in adaptive and game-based learning, virtual reality and smart forms of education.
The three international conferences were The International Conference on Blended Learning 2019 (ICBL 2019), The International Symposium on Educational Technology 2019 (ISET 2019) and the 20th eLearning Conference, along with an eLearning competition. It was a very prestigious event because it was the first time in history that the ICBL and the ISET were held on European soil. In years past experts met in Toronto (Canada), Beijing and Macao, for example.
Hradec Králové picked up the mantle from Kansai University, Japan, and in 2020 the conference will be held in July in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Conference is even more interesting because its co-organiser, i.e. partner university, is the City University of Hong Kong (CU HK). It was named the fifth best university in the world under 50 years old in the Young University Rankings 2019 (THE) in June of 2019. Vice-Rector of CU HK, Horace H.S. Ip, one of the people invited to the conference, commented on why he thinks the university is so successful: “In my personal opinion, there are two main reasons why. The first is setting the main objective that everyone moves toward in unison. And when I say everyone, I don’t just mean the school management. I mean every faculty. Every individual. And when I say in unison, I underline mutual cooperation. In evaluating our efforts, so-called KPI, i.e. Key Performance Indicators, are applied and as I have already said, all levels are placed under assessment. And the second, no less important reason, lies with our talented students. We keep an eye on all our students and try to pick out the talented ones, and then we work with them and develop the exceptional skills they have.”
Andrea Benn, University of Brighton, Great Britain, and Harrison Yang, State University of New York, USA, opened this year's summer triple conference. The many topics were divided thematically and almost a hundred contributions were presented; all were published by Springer in a journal.
The eLearning 2019 Competition saw a panel of experts evaluate the competition products presented and a Programme Committee selected and awarded financial prizes to the best papers; they will be published in the world’s most prestigious scientific journals.
The article written by Professor Kenichi Kubota, a Japanese teacher based in Osaka, on how modern tools are used in blended learning, was selected as the very best article.
The fact that the University of Hradec Králové did an excellent job of this prestigious event organisation and programme-wise is confirmed by some who attended the Conference: “We are amazed at how well the University managed to organise everything. The people are very pleasant. The countryside is picturesque. The weather is beautiful and the food is great. The nice and relaxed ambience of the Faculty made active interaction between the participants easier. Especially people from Asia found their stay memorable: the Conference at the University is in itself an experience, as is the accompanying programme, like the visit to Castle Karlova Koruna in Chlumec nad Cidlinou,” says Mr Kwok Lam For, Director of Business and Industrial Club City University of Hong Kong.
Petra Poulová, ICBL Organisation and Programme Committee Chairlady and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Králové, commented as follows: “It took a big international team almost 24 months of intensive work to organise this 12th Conference. And that is why kind words of support and appreciation from participating universities have made us so happy. And we are also very glad that the Conference facilitated cooperation with several internationally based centres, which will enhance the already extensive network of institutions partnering the Faculty of Informatics and Management.”
