Editorial. Industry partnership and third mission as allies for educational research

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The great potential of mobile learning devices hooks up these new contexts that are, above all, cultural and social, but also organisational and relational, forcing us to reconsider fundamental themes of pedagogical discourse. Among these themes, the first must be the construction of the student’s identity and, connected to this, the issue of personalised education. Let us consider, for instance, the by-now familiar distinction between formal, informal and non-formal. Compared with formal learning, we have always considered the two conditions of informal and non-formal education as independent or at least parallel, but essentially distinct and fundamentally different. In the moment in which teaching is done through mobility, and therefore with the effects of interference in contexts completely different from those that are somewhat predictable by the designer of distance learning, can we still think of a "distinction" between formal and informal or, at least, should we not assume a sort of context cross-breeding? The question does not arise from considerations of quantitative, but instead arises from qualitative, evaluations. In our opinion, here exists a paradigm: the learning context not only escapes the teaching team’s realm of predictability, but somehow eludes even the predictability of the learner, and indeed, it is the very nature of the context that takes completely different characteristics and connotations. We are on the verge of justifying a major revision of some paradigms that relate to the nature of the context, the role of the teacher and the position (in the sociological sense) of the student, which also affect the nature of the message and, more generally, the “entire educational setting”. It means working in this direction.</abstract>

Educational research between on devices and mobile learning

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The university has been called to run a Third mission of a socio-entrepreneurial nature that deals with the interaction in communities favouring the use of knowledge to contribute to social, cultural and economic development in society. This study case can fit in the main objectives of the mission in which public and local assets, such as museums, become accessible to everyone. The ModE project - the Musueum Laboratory of Education of Bologna University - has been included in this context with reference to the widespread diffusion of the teaching of cultural heritage. Summing up, the aim of the project “I giovani per la cultura” is to prepare and strengthen the professional profiles of cultural heritage, in particular by museum educators, cultural mediators and teachers, who, according to a training plan “domino effect”, become educators themselves and, along with young people, achieve high-quality experiences with our wealth of museums.</abstract>

University museums and the Third Mission: the project “Young people for culture” in the Museum Laboratory of Education of Bologna University

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> As a result of enactment of Law 297/1999, many Italian universities could improve the opportunities in applied research, activating spin-offs and start-ups in conformity with those regulations. This is a new challenge in the universities’ mission: universities are capable (and therefore they are asked) to generate not only new knowledge and competent professional profiles, but also to make a new effort in implementing the “third mission” for promoting social innovation. Considering this background, we present a research project - a training intervention named “Participatory culture, personal branding and organisational wellness” - by Espéro Pvt, a spin-off of the University of Salento, for Geodata Engineering Ltd., located in Turin, Italy. Presented below are the theoretical framework (learning organisation, empowerment evaluation and organisational wellness) and the methodology, as well as the first results.</abstract>

Spin-offs of the Third Mission and social innovation: the case study of the research–training–intervention project of Geodata Ltd

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In this article, we present the collaboration between the Quality, Hygiene, Security and Training department of the service provider of the Coop-branded cooperatives and the Human Sciences and Education Department of the University of Perugia, the objective of which was compulsory training in the fields of Job Security and Food Hygiene, provided by the company in e-learning, and addressing the employees of several cooperatives operating in the largescale organised distribution sector. The collaboration contemplates two steps. The first one consisted of the certification of compliance according to certain quality criteria. Course evaluation and certification were therefore assigned to an external institution that researches these subjects and thus was able to provide the training governance team with matter for reflection on the implemented training path, also indicating some potential aspects that needed to be further developed. The second step consisted of a wide-ranging, articulated empirical research that, on the one hand, enabled the university to cast light on a phenomenon that has been studied little or not at all from an educational viewpoint and, on the other, has enabled the Consorzio Interprovinciale di Servizi-Quality, Hygiene, Security and Training department (CIS-QuISF) to enhance its professional perspective and the e-learning mode to gain increasing recognition.</abstract>

Consorzio Interprovinciale di Servizi - Coop,

Evaluation of an e-learning device for workers’ compulsory training: an example of collaboration between university and company

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In this article, we present a rationale for investigating the role and contributions of universities to growth and sustainable development within the framework of the Europe 2020 Strategy (EU2020). To this extent, the literature suggests that the contemporary universities’ mission in the knowledge society relies on their capacity to promote knowledge exchange. This allows expansion of the degree of intervention of universities in society and broadening of the institutional and policy frameworks within which they operate, opening to a wider range of possible contributions of social science and humanities to the EU2020 objectives, which are not limited to education and research policies. We present the Short supply chain Knowledge and Innovation Network (SKIN) project (H2020-2016)1 as an example of a systemic approach to university-business-society dialogue, based on the role of universities as “knowledge hubs” (Yusuf, 2008) and aimed at promoting knowledge exchange and multi-actor cooperation. One of the main challenges of the project relies on the capacities of the involved actors to cooperate and, thus, on the mechanisms activated in order to ensure such collaboration. To this extent, the role of humanities and social sciences, in particular multidisciplinary and participatory research, is crucial for the success of the process of knowledge circulation within and for society.</abstract>

University of Foggia, Department of Humanities,

University of Foggia, Department of Economics,

University knowledge exchange and the SKIN Project

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The need to address generational change and the challenges of a global market in terms of maintaining productivity require small and medium enterprises, mainly of an artisanal nature, to rethink training. The challenges mainly concern production capacity, which is increasingly problematic given that demand does not allow for long-term schedules and enhancement of human resources. There are many tensions and just as many needs for improvement, and training is therefore the space in which to collect and rework in order to restore a new perspective of sustainable and quality change. This study presents a process of collaboration between universities and businesses, in which the former provide the framework for the activation of mechanisms that make use of work analysis, while the latter provide the appropriate support (time and opportunities for discussion) to allow for a review of the proposed training model and trainer functions in a dynamic and complex production environment.</abstract>

Approaches to training in companies

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The aim of this research paper is to compare the quality of education delivered at the undergraduate level in the public and private institutions of the Twin Cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi) in Pakistan. Data is collected with the help of questionnaires from 246 students. The data was collected from three public and three private educational institutions of the Twin Cities, and the age of students ranged from 18 to 27 years. The research instrument used in this paper is the independent sample t-test to find the difference between the three private and three public educational institutions selected in Rawalpindi and Islamabad in terms of different variables that are very important in measuring the quality of education. For analysis, Levene’s test was adopted, which reflects the variations in educational quality with respect to academic staff availability in the twin cities. The differences in close supervision of students by academic staff between public and private sector educational institutions were also analysed, and the results reflected a difference between private and public educational institutions with respect to close supervision of students. The results also highlighted the factors that are involved in higher performance of students in private institutes as compared to that of students in public institutes. These factors can be implemented in the public sector to increase student performance.</abstract>

School of Communication & Information Engineering, Shanghai University,

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology Islamabad,

School of Finance & Management, Shanghai Normal University,

Comparative Study on Educational Management in Public and Private Institutions in the Twin Cities of Pakistan

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The purpose of this article is to highlight the state of the art of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality technologies and their applications in formal education. We also present a selected list of case studies that prove the utility of these technologies in the context of formal education. Furthermore, as byproduct, the mentioned case studies show also that, although the industry is able to develop very advanced virtual environment technologies, their pedagogical implications are strongly related to a well-designed theoretical framework.</abstract>

Virtual realities and education

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Due to the increasing growth in available data in recent years, all areas of research and the managements of institutions and organisations, specifically schools and universities, feel the need to give meaning to this availability of data. This article, after a brief reference to the definition of big data, intends to focus attention and reflection on their type to proceed to an extension of their characterisation. One of the hubs to make feasible the use of Big Data in operational contexts is to give a theoretical basis to which to refer. The Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom (DIKW) model correlates these four aspects, concluding in Data Science, which in many ways could revolutionise the established pattern of scientific investigation. The Learning Analytics applications on online learning platforms can be tools for evaluating the quality of teaching. And that is where some problems arise. It becomes necessary to handle with care the available data. Finally, a criterion for deciding whether it makes sense to think of an analysis based on Big Data can be to think about the interpretability and relevance in relation to both institutional and personal processes.</abstract>

Think big: learning contexts, algorithms and data science

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 15 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

Volume 15 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023)

Volume 14 (2022): Issue 2 (December 2022)

Volume 14 (2022): Issue 1 (June 2022)

Volume 13 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)

Volume 13 (2021): Issue 1 (June 2021)

Volume 12 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

Volume 12 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

Volume 11 (2019): Issue 2 (December 2019)

Volume 11 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Volume 10 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

Volume 10 (2018): Issue 1 (June 2018)

Volume 9 (2017): Issue 2 (December 2017)

Volume 9 (2017): Issue 1 (June 2017)

Volume 8 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 8 (2016): Issue 1 (June 2016)

Volume 7 (2015): Issue 2 (December 2015)

Research on Education and Media

 REM - Research on Education and Media is devoted to research on Education and Media in the broadest sense: Media Education, e-Learning, Education Technology, Teaching and Learning with Technologies, Digital Citizenship, Youth Media Consumption. The journal serves the interest of researchers, educators and teachers, and publishes original research works, case studies, systematic reviews, along with editorials and brief reports, covering recent developments in the field. Issues on Education and Media are discussed with the aim to encourage debate and stimulate new research.  Rejection Rate   10%   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 