The New York Polish Film Festival was founded seven years ago by Festival Director Hanna Kosińska Hartowicz, in association with FILMART Productions. The Festival aims to foster a community that encourages humanitarian and personal themes to be illuminated through the diverse yet unifying medium of artistic expression. Every year the Festival invites Poland’s talented directors, actors and young filmmakers to present their work in New York City and to meet and engage in discussions about their respective crafts with the audience. Professor Wierzbicki is one of the people behind the New York Polish Film Festival project.

Three dedicated students of Media Department at the University of Applied Sciences in Germany build-up a new EVA Management Group.  Daisy Richter, Florian Pfennig  and Elias Hlady (Head of the Group) work on the EVA dissemination strategy and on the EVA branding. The team will organize the upcoming EVA Consortium Meeting in Mittweida end of May and the International Conference in October.

The University of Appled Sciences in Tampere (TAMK) hosted the second EVA project meeting in Tampere, Finnand.

The European Virtual Academy follows the guidelines of building the European Higher Education Area as they are presented in the ECTS Users’ Guide. In autumn 2011 EVA started a series of online courses about visual culture, developed by professors from arts, media and social sciences. The present project is financed by the EU Long Life Learning Programme and will run until end of 2012. The plan is to continue the project in 2013 with more partners.

Prof. Wierzbicki presented the paper “Blended Nurture” at the FGIT 2011 conference , within the EL 2011 track.

The Third International Conference on Future Generation Information Technology, FGIT 2011 (ASEA 2011, BSBT 2011, CA 2011, CES3 2011, DRBC 2011, DTA 2011, EL 2011, FGCN 2011, GDC 2011, MulGraB 2011, SecTech 2011, SIP 2011 and UNESST 2011.), was held in Jeju Island, Korea, in December 2011. The focus of the conference was put on the various aspects of advances in information technology.

Korea’s subtropical volcanic island Jeju is located 130 kilometres off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. It is known for its scenic mountains, waterfalls, forests, caves and beaches. In 2002, Unesco declared Jeju a “biosphere reserve”, and listed it as a World Natural Heritage Site in 2007. In 2010, it was awarded “geopark” status. 2011 Jeju Island was named one of the World New Seven Wonders of Nature, an initiative led by the Swiss-based non-profit New7wonders Foundation.

The International Conference on e-Learning (ICEL-2012) invites researchers, practitioners and academics to present their research findings, works in progress, case studies and conceptual advances in areas of work where education and technology intersect. The conference brings together varied groups of people with different perspectives, experiences and knowledge in one location. It aims to help practitioners find ways of putting research into practice and researchers to gain an understanding of real-world problems, needs and aspirations.

The 7th edition of this conference is going to be held in one of the world’s most vibrant cosmopolitans. Located in the heart of Asia, Hong Kong is a metropolis with a unique mix of Eastern and Western cultures and has been a prime destination for business and tourism. The favourable location of Hong Kong has increased its desirability of being developed as an education hub of Asia, where quality educational services and diversified learning opportunities are desired by the ever-growing learning community in the present age of globalisation. The conference will bring participants valuable insights in the latest developments of e-Learning which is one of the most efficient learning modes in the fast-changing knowledge world.

Mini Track on Learning Models behind Virtual Learning Environments by R.J. Wierzbicki