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Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence

Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence Concepts and methods for exploring the future of learning with digital technologies
 European Community, Sixth Framework Programme,
Information Society Technologies, IST-2002-2.3.1.12
Technology-enhanced learning and access to cultural heritage,
Project No 507838, 2004-2007

Identity:

  • Title: Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence - Concepts and methods for exploring the future of learning with digital technologies.
  • Funding: European Community, Sixth Framework Programme, Information Society Technologies, IST-2002-2.3.1.12 Technology-enhanced learning and access to cultural heritage, Project No 507838, 2004-2007).
  • Project Coordinator: FIST, S.A. - France Innovation Scientifique et transfert, Paris (FR).
  • Scientific Manager: Sten Ludvigsen, Intermedia, Norway (NO).
  • Consortium: Networks of excellence were instruments designed primarily to overcome the fragmentation of European research and strengthen scientific and technological excellence on a particular research topic by integrating at European level a critical mass of resources and expertise. Thus, the Kaleidoscope Project involved more than 90 partners and teams in 24 countries. The whole list and the map showing the distribution among the countries is available here.

Aim:

Kaleidoscope was the European Research Network shaping the scientific evolution of technology enhanced learning. It integrated the leading research teams in the field, who worked collaboratively across educational, computer and social sciences to transform the quality and reach of the learning experience. Kaleidoscope fostered innovation and creativity through the development of new technologies, methodologies and concepts, defining the challenges and solutions for interdisciplinary research. Kaleidoscope’s goal was to inform knowledge transfer between education, industry, and the wider society. Through its scientific programme, Kaleidoscope attempted to help in building a dynamic knowledge-based economy for Europe, engaging with social, economic and political stakeholders at all levels.

Joint Activities:

The Kaleidoscope Research activities were multidisciplinary, spanning the fields of computer and social sciences and education.

      • European Research Teams - ERTs were integrating activities, which targeted networking European excellence at the level of specific research challenges. The key idea of creating an ERT was to stimulate the mutualisation of knowledge and know-how of the best research teams on the identified issues, and then to favour the construction of a shared scientific policy, building up complementarities and common priorities. A committee built a map of strategic research issues to be addressed by ERTs, in order to organise competitive calls within the NoE.
      • Special Interest Groups - SiGs were the basic community-building tools of Kaleidoscope. They allowed individual researchers and PhD students from all the partner institutions to organize themselves around a problem or a project that they felt was at the forefront of the TEL research scene.
      • Jointly Executed Integrating Research Projects - JEIRPs encouraged the cross-fertilisation of the research of the partner institutions by focusing on the key issues of the field—issues which were intrinsically multidisciplinary. A committee defined provisional “topics of integrated research” for the formulation of JEIRPs, and JEIRPs were also created following calls for proposals to the Kaleidoscope community.

Apart from these content-based activities, Kaleidoscope also included transversal (backbone) activities such as the foundation of a Virtual Doctoral School and a Shared Visual Laboratory.

ETL's Role and activities:

The ETL director Prof. Chronis Kynigos has been a member of the Governing board of Kaleidoscope (Core Group), the group in charge of the Consortium’s decision-making and arbitration, and of the overall direction and major decisions with regard to the NoE, from 01/01/2004 until 31/12/2005. ETL was a partner team in two European Research Teams (ERTs):

one Joint Executed Integrating Research Project (JEIRP)

and has been a partner in Users’ Group.

Update:

 The Technology Enhanced Learning European Advanced Research Consortium (TELEARC) has been created with the mission to keep on the legacy of the Kaleidoscope NoE.

Therefore its key objectives are: to contribute to the shaping of the scientific evolution of technology enhanced learning, to strengthen the scientific collaborations between research teams and foster integration of European research teams in the field of technology enhanced learning, to promote the excellence of European research in the area of technology enhanced learning, and to raise awareness in the area toward the scientific community, policy-makers and the general public.

ETL is a TELEARC member (Telearc's Reseach units).