awards

The first meeting for the MEDEA:EU project took place in Roosbeek on 2-3 February involving the three project partners, UNI-C in Denmark, IADT in Ireland and ATiT in Belgium. MEDEA:EU which is supported under the Lifelong Learning Programme is a dissemination activity aimed at making the MEDEA Awards available to a wider European audience.

The project will do this by making information about the MEDEA Awards available throughout Europe through a network of National Contact points as well as by making materials including the MEDEA web site available in French and German as well as in English.

MEDEA:EU will also support a European Collaboration Award, aimed at recognising excellence in the use of multimedia in Education realised through cooperation between organisations in 2 or more countries. More information about MEDEA:EU will be available from 28 February from the MEDEA web site.

The 6 finalists for the annual MEDEA Awards 2008 have been announced. They are Anti-Anti by Sint-Lievenscollege Gent (Belgium), ArtisanCam by Artistsatwork.org (UK), Canal Educatif (France), Patient Safety - Mildred's Story by University of Leicester (UK), Pronunciation Tips by BBC Learning English (UK) and Rättegångsskolan på webben/Court introduction by Brottsoffermyndigheten Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority (Sweden).

This year, the MEDEA Awards received more than 100 entries from 25 different countries. Entries came from all types of organisation including professional production facilities, schools, audio-visual departments of universities, training providers, public authorities, public service broadcasters and content providers.The overall winner will be announced during the MEDEA Awards ceremony on 4 December 2008 in the Hotel InterContinental in Berlin. More information from the MEDEA Awards web site.

Judging for the MEDEA Awards 2008 is now in full swing and the Secretariat is on target to announce the 5 finalists at the beginning of November.

Meanwhile the specially commissioned bronze MEDEA Statuette has been delivered which was created by Belgian artist Mariek Vanbuel and which will be given to the winner scoring the highest marks in the judging process.

For the latest news about MEDEA, visit the MEDEA web site.

In a dramatic effort to remind everyone about the closing date for the MEDEA Awards - ATiT recently launched a massive advertisement and promotional campaign in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on the Acropolis, Athens ... seriously though - don't forget - the last date for receipt of entries is 30 September!

Finalists will be announced at the beginning of November, for more information about how to enter, visit the MEDEA web site.

For the third year in a row, Mathy Vanbuel was invited to serve as a judge in the Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards this year. Judging for these awards is now completed and the winners will be announced later in September. These well known awards have been in existance for 14 years now and recognise the best in innovative learning content, technology, and initiatives in workplace learning. For more information about these Awards, see http://www.brandon-hall.com/awards/awards.shtml

Two members of our Organising Committee, Clive Young (University of St Andrews, United Kingdom) and Helle Meldgaard (The Danish IT Centre for Education and Research (UNI-C), Denmark) gave an engaging and excellent presentation about the MEDEA Awards 2008 at the DIVERSE 2008 Conference.

In this presentation Clive and Helle look at the trends in video and multimedia and how we can use new technologies and media for education.

They also refer to the MEDEA press release (23th May 2008) in which the Prize Sponsorship was announced. Five finalists will be invited to the Award Ceremony that will take place on 4 December in Berlin and 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.

The recorded presentation can be viewed online thanks to Collegerama, where a list of all presentations is available.

ATiT, in collaboration with several partners has recently launched the MEDEA AWARDS to encourage innovation and good practice in the use of digital moving images and sound in education. The award will also recognise and promote excellence in the production and pedagogical design of media-rich learning resources. These materials will typically be delivered online via internet or virtual learning environment and used as an integral part of a programme of study. The award is open to anyone working with or in European education at all levels. We welcome participation from producers, teachers, academics, support staff and students. Find out more on the MEDEA web site http://www.medea-awards.com