WHAT IS LEA?
The LEA (Learning Technology Accelerator) project is a European project within the framework of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme. It seeks to serve as an accelerator of learning technology while fostering innovative public procurement practices.
CONTINUITY OF THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM IMAILE
IMAILE paved the way for pre-commercial public purchasing in the field of education with the development of two personal learning environment prototypes equipped with artificial intelligence whose goals included personalising students’ learning process.
The LEA project makes use of all the knowledge acquired in the past 4 years, but it is going from being a specific experience like IMAILE to mobilising a critical mass of public purchases in Europe. To this end, LEA’s main objective is to raise awareness of the need for dialogue between the educational community and the learning technology industry by creating a space of dialogue among clients and suppliers so that business initiatives in the field of education meet real classroom needs.
A EUROPEAN NETWORK OF KNOWLEDGE
The presence in the partnership of European networks SERN (Startup Europe Regions Network) and ICLEI, as well as Jyväskylä and Oulu Universities in Finland and Otto von Guericke University in Germany, will provide a broad scope and foster LEA’s participation in forums, conferences and talks around Europe.
These new spaces of participation will also enable another of LEA’s key objectives to be met: the creation of a network of public administrations and other followers. This network, which has been planned to cover all the European Union member states, will act to receive the advances and lessons learned in the project and provide training in the field of public procurement of learning technologies.
The project is made up of 3 universities (University of Jyväskylä, Finland; University of Oulu, Finland; Otto von Guericke University, Germany), 7 public purchasers from 6 EU countries (Halmstad, Sweden; Region of Gothenburg, Sweden; Konnevesi, Finland; Region of Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany; Turin, Italy; Braga, Portugal; and Viladecans) and 7 European partner entities (Innova+, Portugal; ENTER, Austria; ICLEI, Germany; Sara Bedin, Italy; Innova Esak, Hungary; and EU Projekkonsult, Sweden).
LEA seeks to act as an accelerator of learning technologies by fostering innovative public procurement systems.
This is a kind of purchasing geared toward developing innovative solutions from the demand side. It is the purchase of a good or service which does not exist at the time of purchase, and where the purchaser (and/or end user) “guides” the development of the end good or service. That is, the purchasers and/or end users act as engines of innovation.
Months – project duration, from March 2018 to March 2020
Euros – project budget
Universities: University of Jyväskylä (Finland), University of Oulu (Finland) and Otto von Guericke University (Germany)
Public purchases from 6 EU countries: Halmstad, Konnevesi, Sachsen-Anhalt, Gothenburg, Braga, Turin and Viladecans
Partner entities: Innova+, ENTER, ICLEI, Sara Bedin, Innova Esak and EU Projektkonsult Ellinor Wallin
WHAT THE PROJECT OFFERS
The webinars are held the second Wednesday of every month at 10:30 am.
Would you like to participate in the next one? LEA Webinars
The goal of this network is to share all the lessons learned with anyone interested.
Do you want to keep abreast and become a follower of the LEA project? Follow LEA
For those of you already familiar with IMAILE, this is the second part of the procurement to develop personal learning environments for end users.
The outcome will be a technology solution which will support students and teachers in working and evaluating transversal competences such as communication skills, critical thinking, interpersonal relationships, teamwork, etc.
More information on the LEA project: https://www.learntechaccelerator.eu/
