Each year the EMINENT conference is an occasion to reflect on the most recent trends related to the new technologies and teaching, bringing together special guests from Ministries of Education, European institutions, industry and schools, and connecting a large number of relevant stakeholders from Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and educational fields. With more than 300 participants registered, once again the meeting promises to be a great success and to raise global interest in the educational sector.

EMINENT 2009 will mainly focus on new skills required by teachers and students to face the challenges brought by the Internet and ICT. The conference will cover three main tracks, embracing the importance of accreditation schemes, the necessity to support digital learning resources, and the possibility of addressing competency gaps through European networking, centred on eSafety and eSkills development. These three main areas will be introduced and explored by highly specialised European Schoolnet speakers.

With the support of Elluminate, EMINENT will provide a live webcast, offering everyone the chance to watch live the conference plenary sessions. To follow the speakers’ speeches and debates, just click on the links below:

Plenary session 1

Plenary session 2

Plenary session 3

Plenary session 4

In its first day, EMINENT will dedicate a special space to the eLearning Awards, an international prize aiming to reward the most innovative projects using ICT for learning. The eLearning Awards constitute a highlight of the conference and are organised annually by European Schoolnet, with the support of leading industry partners. For the current edition, the eLearning Awards are sponsored by ACER, Promethean, SMART Technologies, eInstruction,   Elluminate, Intel,   Young Digital Planet, CISCO, and Microsoft.

Part of the EMINENT programme will be dedicated to eSkills, in preparation for the pan-European eSkills week (March 2010). Finally, the event will include a small exhibition area for showcasing ICT in education tools and applications.

Background information:

EMINENT
Organised  annually by European Schoolnet, EMINENT engages experts in high-level reflection and planning in the field of ICT in education in Europe. In 2009, the event is co-hosted by the Lithuanian Centre of Information Technologies of Education (ITC).

e-Skills Week
European e-skills week highlights the growing demand for skilled ICT users and professionals to drive a competitive and innovative Europe. This exciting campaign seeks to inform students, young professionals and SMEs about the vast range of opportunities that ICT-related jobs present.  Throughout the coming months, public authorities, ICT companies, education institutions and students will engage in hundreds of activities, training events, competitions and much more.  The awareness campaign will culminate in a dedicated European e-Skills Week from 2 to 6 March 2010. This ground-breaking initiative of the European Commission’s DG Enterprise and Industry is coordinated by DIGITALEUROPE and European Schoolnet in conjunction with twenty national partners.

European Schoolnet
European Schoolnet (EUN) is a unique not-for-profit consortium of 31 ministries of education in Europe created in 1997. EUN provides major European education portals for teaching, learning and collaboration and leads the way in bringing about change in schooling through the use of new technology.

Further information:
Paul Gerhard (paul.gerhard@eun.org), Alexa Joyce (alexa.joyce@eun.org) or by phone at +32 27907575