video

The MEDEA Awards team has been busy with redesigning the MEDEA website and producing a media gallery with best-practice showcases that, thanks to the MEDEA:EU project, includes recorded interviews with the 2009 award winners, finalists and participants in the Highly Commended category. These interviews are now available on the  MEDEA YouTube Channel.

Visit this channel to see excerpts from 2009 winners and interviews with the representatives of Know IT All for Primary Schools, Daisy and Drago, Traditions across Europe, Eyes on the Skies, Planet SciCast, INgeBEELD and Neu in Berlin. You can embed the interviews on your own website or blog and by logging in you can subscribe to our channel, rate the interviews and let us know what you think of them by adding your own comments!

WEBstroom, a Special Interest Group of the Dutch SURFfoundation that focuses on streaming media in higher education, organised a meeting in the Netherlands on 11 February 2010 about user generated content. Among other highly interesting and relevant presentations about best-practice examples, Nikki Cortoos presented the MEDEA Awards and included a selection of online showcases featuring user generated online video.

WEBstroom is a MEDEA National Contact Point in the Netherlands and has recently moved its discussion group to LinkedIn.

The 25th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology taking place in Amsterdam from 28 June - 1 July 2009 included a series of live surgery sessions, sponsored by Storz and realised by a team from ATiT.

These sessions featured four operations, broadcast live by satellite from the Heilig Hart Hospital in Leuven to the conference site in Amsterdam. Satellite uplink services were provided by Headline, the Brussels based SNG specialists.

The operations were related to laparoscopic myomectomy, endometriosis, operative hysteroscopy and transvaginal laparoscopy. Between 500 and 600 participants attending the conference site could interact with the surgeons during operations and in this way were able to follow the very latest reproductive surgical operational practices and procedures.

On Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 March 2009, ATiT provided the video production services for a successful training session of the European Academy for Gynaecological Surgery (EAGS) at +heAcademy House in Leuven. Endoscopic as well as other camera images were transmitted via IP videoconferencing as well as terrestrial microwave links between the operation theatres of the Hospitals of Zuid Oost Limburg (Genk) and Heilig Hart (Leuven) and the EAGS Auditorium in Leuven (Belgium).

ATiT is working closely with +heAcademy to research and develop new methods to reliably distribute high quality images of live surgery at acceptable cost to support professional training for surgeons. ATiT uses appropriate technologies such as satellite, microwave and telecommunication networks. 

ATiT organised the production and the videofacilities to support the 7th Biennial Meeting of the Endoscopic Training Centre Antwerp (ETCA) which took place from 29 till 31 January 2009 at the CC Elzenveld. During this conference, ATiT produced over 6 hours of live interactive video demonstrations of surgical and endoscopic procedures, with medical centres and hospitals in four different locations: Antwerp and Brussels (Belgium), Villach (Austria) and Geneva (Switzerland). Connectivity with these remote centres was guaranteed via broadband IP and multichannel ISDN as well as with CCTV. Storz, the endoscopic company, provided the additional equipment in all operation theatres and supported the whole production.

On Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 October 2008, ATiT provided the video production services for a successful training session of the European Academy for Gynaecological Surgery (EAGS). Endoscopic as well as other camera images were transmitted via IP videoconferencing as well as terrestrial microwave links between the operation theatres of the Hospitals of Zuid Oost Limburg (Genk) and Heilig Hart (Leuven) and the EAGS Auditorium in Leuven (Belgium). An additional connection transmitted the same programme for part of the day to the ESGE Live Demonstration Workshop 2008 in the Military Medical Academy in Sofia (Bulgaria).

ATiT is a proud founding member of the MEDEA Awards 2008, which just announced its last Call for Participation in a press release.

The MEDEA Awards 2008 is entering its final weeks for accepting submissions as the closing date for submissions is 30th September 2008. The MEDEA Secretariat, which is organised by ATiT, has already received submissions from 15 countries and the number is growing. This is the final chance for those among Europe’s educational and creative professional producers, amateurs, supporting staff, students and teachers to submit an educational project in which media (moving images, sound, media-rich applications, virtual simulations …) plays a vital role.

Five finalists will be invited to Berlin for the Awards Ceremony on Thursday 4th December 2008, where they will have the chance to win the first MEDEA Award. Prizes for 2008 will include the award itself and hardware to the value of 6,000 Euro.

You can download the press release (PDF) and visit the web site for more information:

http://www.medea-awards.com

1449 Participants from 83 countries – almost 80% of whom were African - took part in the 3rd eLearning Africa Conference which took place in the Accra International Conference Centre from 28-30 May. Wednesday 28th of May saw a well attended pre-conference programme with many workshops and sessions, the conference exhibition also opened on Wednesday and attracted lots of visitors.

On Thursday, May 29th the event was officially opened by His Excellency Alhaji Aliu Mahama, the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana. Speakers in the Opening Plenary included The Hon Prof Dominic K. Fobih, Minister for Education, Science and Sports, Ghana and Prof Osei Darkwa, Ghana Telecom University College, Ghana, who talked about “eLearning, the New Educational Paradigm, and the Promise of Open and Distance Learning”. George Siemens, Lecturer at University of Manitoba Learning Technologies Centre, Canada, who is one of the most innovative thinkers in the field of eLearning presented his thoughts on “A Narrative of Learning for a World Without Boundaries”; Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director ICT, Science and Technology Division with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Ethiopia, gave a very interesting presentation about the UN-led practical strategies and programmes that will help lead Africa towards the realisation of digital inclusion: “Creating the Enabling Environment for eLearning in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities”; finally Kuno Jung, CEO of the Swiss eLearning technology provider Eduvision, outlined the educational vision of his company: “The Lost Footage of Back to the Future Part II: The Classrooms in 2015”.

Thursday's Opening Plenary marked the kick-off for two more days of sessions, discussions and debates around ICT-supported education and training in Africa. 315 speakers and chairpersons from 54 countries offered an abundance of opportunities for participants to learn, share and network with colleagues from all over the world. With 4 plenary sessions, 66 sessions in 11 parallel conference strands, 48 demonstrations and best practice examples, 15 Nnobia networking sessions, 14 pre-conference events and a number of exciting new features, eLearning Africa 2008 was an important landmark in pan-African capacity building for ICT-enhanced education and training.

See the conference website for more information: www.elearning-africa.com

The campaign for the MEDEA Awards 2008 is in full motion and we're still welcoming participants, partners and sponsors! The aim of the MEDEA Awards is to encourage innovation and good practice in the use of sound, video or media-rich applications in education. If you're interested in becoming a sponsor and supporting this competition, please download our PDF with conditions and benefits for our different sponsoring categories. For more information you can visit the website  http://www.medea-awards.com.