Keynote Speakers

Prof. Hiroshi Ueda

Hosei University

Necessity and Future Prospects of Policies for Utilization of Educational and Learning Data

As the use of LMSs such as Moodle continues to advance, educational support based on the utilization of educational and learning data, including that stored in LMSs, is expected. In this presentation, I will argue that this requires (1) the design of a process for utilization of educational and learning data and (2) a documented policy that learners, faculty members, and other stakeholders agree on and protect each other. As a concrete effort to implement these policies, I will introduce the "Model for Educational and Learning Data Utilization Policy" developed and published by the Academic eXchange for Information Environment and Strategy (AXIES). The model was revised in 2022 based on the revision of Act on the Protection of Personal Information and the feedback from various organizations. Through this presentation, I will raise discussions on "relationship between LMS and human learning" and "to whom educational and learning data belong to.” (presented in Japanese with some English slides)

Martin Dougiamas

Moodle’s role in the future of education

Thursday, Feb. 16, 13:00-13:50

Founder and CEO of Moodle, Martin Dougiamas is best known as leading the team of software developers at the heart of the Moodle project. Martin has an academic background in Computer Science and Education, and his major goal for the future is to improve the quality of education by encouraging social constructionist and collaborative practices within online learning communities. Martin will give an online presentation about Moodle's overall roadmap, changes happening at Moodle.org, and collaborative projects for 2023, such as with the Asian Association of Open Universities, as well as news about OpenEdtech.Global. More information available soon...

Dr. Thierry Koscielniak

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris (Le Cnam)

The dawn of La Métaversité - Connecting Moodle to the Metaverse

The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris (Le Cnam) is France's open university. Dr. Koscielniak will demonstrate projects that have been developed and illustrate how XR (immersive reality) can be employed in higher education. These are all in practical disciplines – chemistry, nuclear science and engineering. However, some fields, such as those involving radioactivity, would be too dangerous for students to try out in ‘real life’.

Students accessing the chemistry lab simulation first enter a ‘waiting room’ where they choose a module and where their avatars don lab coats, gloves and glasses before they are allowed to enter the virtual lab. Within the lab, they may select pieces of apparatus and either grab them for use or just read the associated information. The instructions for completing each module, which will include about 20 minutes of immersive virtual reality, are worn like a watch on the avatar’s wrist. Students can be ‘marked’ on their performance in the scenarios, and there is an associated analytics platform that can be used by students as well as staff. These scenarios may be used to replace experiments that are too dangerous or expensive for students to perform; as an orientation before they enter a real lab; or as a taster for school students who are considering studying chemistry.

The logical extension of this is a complete ‘immersive campus’ as part of a ‘higher education metaverse’. The term ‘metaverse’ is used, most often, to mean a network of 3D virtual worlds, encompassing many areas of human endeavour. This is called ‘La Metaversité’: an open source, open access virtual higher education system - interconnected with Moodle, of course.

Dr. Melinda dela Pena Bandalaria

University of the Philippines--Open University

"The Future Collaboration of Asian Open Universities and Moodle LMS Open Development"

Dr. Bandalaria is the Chancellor of the University of Philippines, Open University (UPOU). She is representating a large delegation of faculty and staff attending the MoodleMoot Japan from UPOU. In this presentation, Dr. Bandalaria will introduce the Asian Association of Open Universities and how the Moodle Project is a critical collaboration for these mega-universities--with student bodies in the millions across the most populated nations in the world. She will summarize a recent survey of needs for the Moodle LMS of all the AAOU member universities. This survey will serve as a basis for developing a roadmap for the Moodle LMS, including the field of learning analytics.