Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University

The 1st International Workshop on Cloud Education Environments (WCLOUD 2012) took place in Antigua, Guatemala on November 15-16. The event was organised by Rocael Hernandez Rizzardini (Galileo University, Guatemala), Hans-Christian Schmitz (Fraunhofer FIT, Germany), and Alexander Mikroyannidis (The Open University, UK). It was attended by approximately 50 participants.

On the first day, 14 peer-reviewed papers were presented, covering a wide range of topics around Cloud Education Environments, including tools, methodologies, pedagogical issues and visions. Geographically speaking, Europe and Latin America were equally represented.

The second day was dedicated to a hands-on ROLE workshop. Alexander Mikroyannidis introduced the concepts behind Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) and presented the lessons learned from experimenting with and evaluating PLEs in the context of the ROLE project. Hans-Christian Schmitz presented the challenges and opportunities of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) in a variety of learning contexts and within ROLE. The participants also had a chance to try out some of the ROLE tools and discuss their perceptions about PLEs and SRL.

The event was deemed to be quite successful. It enabled a fruitful exchange of experiences, best practices, and visions between representatives from Europe and Latin America. A representative from the Guatemalan Ministry of Education who attended the event noted that Cloud Education Environments, as well as PLEs and SRL mark the way forward for education in Guatemala and in the wider region.

The workshop proceedings will be published online with an ISSN from CEUR Workshop Proceedings. Extended versions of selected papers will also be published in an upcoming special issue of the Journal of Universal Computer Science (JUCS).

The 2013 instalment of this event will be organised in Europe. More details to follow soon!