"Background“MOOCs are online courses designed for large numbers of participants, can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as they have an internet connection, are open to everyone without entry qualifications, and offer a full/complete course experience online for free."" (HOME project, 2015).Increased access to the internet means increased access to MOOCs, and in this context, MOOCs have been heralded by many as having the potential to revolutionise technology-enhanced learning – scaling up access to affordable educational opportunities for everyone on the planet. The cost of actually producing MOOCs was identified by the LoCoMotion project group, as a barrier which would prevent the majority of educational institutions from participating in the expansion of education through the MOOC medium. While many MOOCs are available free of charge to participants, they cannot be produced for free. In 2013, the most widely promoted MOOCs were reported to cost anywhere from USD 45,000 to USD 200,000 to develop (Peterson, 2013 https://goo.gl/aKpRL9 ) – beyond the budgets of most institutions. The project group believed that if these high costs of producing MOOCs could not be overcome, the majority of institutions could well be excluded from developing MOOCs for their needs. They would be excluded from using MOOCs to cater for minority languages, specialist topics or topics that change quickly over time, and could eventually develop an over-reliance on MOOCs produced by big-brand, big-budget institutions rather than having the possibility to develop MOOCs themselves - more relevant to their needs and contexts.ObjectivesThe LoCoMotion project aimed to develop and disseminate methodologies for low-cost production of MOOCs. By investigating and verifying the cost-effectiveness of a range of low-cost production techniques, it set out to increase the capacity of institutions to develop MOOCs and reduce the barriers they faced in relation to the affordability of developing them. The project thus set out to contribute to an increase in the development of MOOCs in Europe, improving the sustainability of MOOCs, and increasing the range of topics available from those of general interest to more specialised audiences, minority languages and topics that change quickly over time.OrganizationsFive institutions took part in the project.Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland (Coordinator) - a higher educational institutional with over fifteen years' experience in online distance learning using low-cost development methods, and experience in MOOC production. The Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands – a university which is very active in Open Education, being a key member of the Open Courseware Initiative in Europe and active in the production of MOOCs for Coursera and edX; The University of Girona, Spain – a university which is active in the development of MOOCs and has run training courses on ""DIY"" MOOC production; Fachhochschule Bielefeld, Germany - active in the rapid low-cost development of e-learning content; and Bath Spa University - a university with extensive experience in distance learning and e-learning research.Main activitiesThe core activities in this project included development of a 'primary' MOOC by the project team; development of 'secondary' MOOCs using low cost approaches; and identification and dissemination of low-cost methodologies for MOOC production.ResultsThe primary MOOC, 'Making MOOCs on a Budget' was designed using direct instruction, constructivist and connectivist techniques to actively engage participants in testing the recommended methodologies for their cost-effectiveness and to collaboratively identify others. The MOOC was delivered 3 times, to a total of approx. 1,000 registrants.Ten secondary MOOCs were developed by the partners of the project. An extended virtual symposium was held over a 4-week period which provided an opportunity to engage with leading figures in the area of MOOCs and technology-enhanced learning. Dissemination of low-cost approaches to MOOC development took place through more than 50 in-situ/online presentations. The team collaboratively developed a low-cost MOOC development guidelines tool based on the experience of the project.An important conclusion of the project is that more needs to be done to support the creation of an enabling environment for MOOCs within institutions (provision of facilities, support and freeing up academic time). If this happens over time the results of this project will become more useful and relevant.Long term benefitsThe 'MOOCs4ALL Making MOOCs on a Budget' MOOC and all other outputs of the project have been made available on WikiEducator, where they can be accessed and further built on as a support to people who wish to make low-cost MOOCs in the future."

Context Consider a typical image or description of an innovation in social robotics; There is always much attention paid to the newly-developed robot, to the team of researchers that has contributed to its development, and to the service user/patient/pupil/client that is interacting with the robot. Yet often, at the side or back of the picture, is the social professional (teacher, nurse, social pedagogue, occupational therapist ...) who will, in the future, work alongside the social robot. What is the impact of this innovation on their day-to-day work, their relationship with the client, with the robot, and on their own professional identity? Has their education and training even prepared them for this eventuality? How should they react? The use and potential use of artificial intelligence, decision support systems and social robotics is increasing across Europe. While the technological challenges are substantial, progress is being made in key areas and numerous prototypes and marketable products have been developed; and discussions and debates have commenced on the ethical, economic, philosophical and social challenges. While acknowledged that these technologies will be used by, or alongside, a broad range of social professionals, there has been little consideration of how this might impact on the everyday work, career development and professional identity of such professionals. Minimal consideration has been given to how these challenges can be incorporated into the education and training of such professionals, including curriculum content; pedagogy and standards. Objectives This project sought to draw on a broad range of experiences across Europe to address this deficit, and to generate tangible and useful outputs that will support innovative curriculum and pedagogical development in this field. ParticipantsThe participants are six HEIs in Ireland, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Denmark, a Danish local municipality and an Irish national social care organisation in the field of dementia. There is a broad span of expertise and knowledge across the consortium, in the fields of social robotics, social care, social service delivery and pedagogy, as well as in participation and management of EU projects. Description of undertaken activitiesThis project has undertaken a number of activities and produced a number of resources that have and will contribute to a broader understanding of the use of social robotics in the field of social care. Scoping reviews of existing knowledge; active workshops including a user-centred design workshop; case studies; position paper; academic articles; curriculum design and development of two (1x10; 1x20 ECTS) module descriptors; public symposia, project website. Results/impactA considered response and contribution to key European policy debates; at the local and national levels, an increased critical knowledge of the potential use of social robotics in the social care field, and how to organise/facilitate teaching, learning and development in the field. Long term benefitsA social professional workforce in Europe that is better placed to respond to the development of social robotics in the care field, with better outcomes for practitioners, service users and developers within Europe's emergent robotics industries.

Institutions of professional higher education (PHE) play more and more an important role in enhancing European competitiveness and innovation capacity, especially on the regional level where PHE institutions act as connectors and crucial links between the regional SMEs, regional organisations and the society. In addition to this role of PHE, the applied research activities play an important role in developing students' skills including their innovative thinking and enterpreneurship and contribute thus to further economic growth and jobs within the regions.Despite the wide benefits of PHE institutions activities within society and their region and the fact that in many regions they act as the connecting link between the regional actors (authorities, employers, organisations), their full potential is still to to be revealed. The wide range of activities falling within applied research, innovation and regional engagement and their relatively small scale make it relatively difficult to address them as a whole when it comes to support, assessment and recognition. Due to its practice-oriented approach and specific characters, the applied RDI and regional activities do not fit the same metric as the reaearch and activities done at the more traditional universities.Therefore there is a need to support further development and enhancement of the PHE institutions staff capacity to engage into applied research activities, link these to teaching and develop relevant ways for engagement of students in these activities.The main objective of the project is to strengthen the profile of applied RDI in PHE in Europe - both within the institutions, as well as towards the regions they operate within.Specifically, the project intends to- gain an insight into the scope and nature of applied RDI activities within PHE institutions in Europe- clearly distinguish the different competences required of applied researchers- assist researchers in RDI to enhance their capacities (also on involving students into applied RDI activities and cooperating with small businesses)- provide a clear future vision for applied RDI in Europe, together with a strategy on how to achieve it.From the research perspective, the project will produce an overview or RDI activitiesFrom a practice perspective, it will design a competence framework for researchers.The teaching component of the project will design a modular online course on applied research skills.The policy component of the project will concisely explain the distinct profile of RDI research, and use scenario-building methodologies to forecast possible futures for the areas, so as to make recommendations as how to strengthen the profile mof RDI within PHE institutions, through funding, training and regulations.The impact of RECAPHE will be most felt at local and regional levels via enhanced capacity of staff of concrete PHE institutions within the project or benefiting from the project outputs. EURASHE participation will give to the project European dimension (also through EURASHE RDI Work Group).