Who are we?

EDEN is the smart network for the professional community and a professional community for smart learning.

The European Distance and E-Learning Network exists to share knowledge and improve understanding amongst professionals in distance and e-learning and to promote policy and practice across the whole of Europe and beyond. With more than 200 institutional members and over 1200 members in the Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP), EDEN assists a wide range of institutions, networks and individuals to become involved in professional information and networking activities. It does so through the organisation of acknowledged European conferences, its publications and information services, and by taking an active role in a wide range of important EU projects. EDEN has also proved successful with thematic activities such as the Open Classroom Working Group (school level distance education), and by contributing to, and promoting, ‘cutting edge’ research in the field. In addition, EDEN has also provided extensive secretarial support to the European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning (EURODL).

EDEN is open to institutions and individuals dealing with e-learning, and – more broadly speaking – open and distance education. As a key asset, EDEN has a strong and active membership. By joining EDEN you become part of the largest, most dynamically developing professional community of experts and practitioners of electronic distance education representing 55 countries and over 430 institutions from Europe and other continents.

Providing versatile expertise, the Association embraces all levels of formal and non-formal education and training.

Why we are participating in the project

EDEN thrives to support the

• acquisition of relevant and high quality skills to promote employability,
• recognition of skills to promote mobility,
• expansion of high quality and innovative teaching practices.

EDEN has got a leading role in the open education movement: regularly participates in the Open Education Week, its original initiative is the European Distance Education Week (EDLW), and took part in several projects related to the open education movement. On the one hand we realised that one of the main barriers to the more widespread use of open educational resources is the lack of a mechanism to credential and recognition of skills acquired through informal learning. It also prohibits mobility. On the other hand EDEN has expertise in using micro-credentials by being an issuer and promoter of open badges.

Our role in the project

EDEN contributes to the project using its own strength: dissemination of concepts and results through its own channels, expert review of concept papers using its knowledge base, literature surveys on selected topics, workload assessment in connection with managing a reliable micro-credential service, development of quality assurance methodology to support the micro-credential system.

More specifically, EDEN contributes to the

• Research to practice of HEIs’ practice in offering credentials;
• Review the design of the learning passport;
• Research into technologies used for awarding credentials including digitally signed documents, block-chain, open badges;Assessment of adequacy of current technological solutions for issuing credentials;
• Research meta-data standards describing open credentials in a standardised way to be used for digital credential issue;
• Review of ontology, contribute to roadmap, review publication, publish locally and disseminate through own network;
• Research on concept of workload as applied in ECTS – recommendations as to (a) setting, (b) monitoring and (c) evaluating workload in such environments;
• Creation of a list of methods for identity-verification and preventing cheating during assessment;
• Co-development of a set of factors for the internal quality assurance system of HEIs;
• Identification of key driving forces thought to be important to the future of credentialing.

Our Team