Universitatea „Al. I. Cuza” expertizează Corpul B cu 420.000 de lei

 Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iaşi a început o serie de expertize necesare pentru a putea realiza un proiect de reabilitare a Corpului B, cel aflat vizavi de Palatul Universitar, construit încă din secolul trecut. 

Conform unei licitaţii, UAIC vrea să achiziţioneze servicii de expertiză tehnică a clădirii pentru stabilirea riscului seismic şi soluţiilor necesare pentru reabilitarea sau consolidarea obiectivului, conţinând ridicare topografică, studii geo, relevee, probe şi expertiză tehnică. UAIC pune la bătaie circa 420.000 de lei pentru a realiza lucrările. Ofertele pot fi depuse până la data de 18 ianuarie, iar acestea trebuie să fie valabile pentru trei luni de zile, toată documentaţia tehnică fiind disponibilă pe SEAP. Criteriile de atribuire nu sunt doar preţul cel mai mic, ţinându-se cont şi de implicarea în proiect a unui expert tehnico-profesional pe construcţii, cât şi experienţa acestuia, aceleaşi criterii fiind atribuite şi experţilor din domeniul instalaţiilor sau instalaţii de utilizare a gazelor.

Publicație: Ziarul de Iași

UK to pay more than £100m a year to fund study abroad after Brexit

 Turing scheme for British students is claimed to be ‘truly international’ replacement for EU’s Erasmus programme

More than £100m will be spent on the post-Brexit replacement of the Erasmus exchange programme for UK students next year, it has been announced.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the Turing scheme will provide funding for about 35,000 students to go on placements around the world from September.

The DfE said the scheme, named after Bletchley Park codebreaker Alan Turing, will cost £100m in 2021-22 but that funding for subsequent academic years will be set out in future spending reviews.

The government’s decision to end involvement in the European Union scheme has proved controversial, particularly as Boris Johnson had previously said Brexit did not threaten participation.

But the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, said: “We now have the chance to expand opportunities to study abroad and see more students from all backgrounds benefit from the experience.

“We have designed a truly international scheme which is focused on our priorities, delivers real value for money and forms an important part of our promise to level up the United Kingdom.”

The DfE said the new scheme will be targeted at students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

About 35,000 British students annually are said to study in the Erasmus programme, which the UK joined in 1987 to allow students to study and work across Europe.

The prime minister told MPs in January there was “no threat to the Erasmus scheme and we will continue to participate in it”. But after negotiating a trade deal with Brussels, Johnson said that he had taken the “tough decision” to pull out of the scheme for financial reasons.

In response, SNP MP Douglas Chapman accused the prime minister of “lies and bluster”.

A senior member of the UK negotiating team earlier said remaining in Erasmus would have cost “in the hundreds of millions each year”.

“That was a significant cost and we believe we can achieve something better, still allowing exchanges to Europe but [which] allows exchanges around the world as well,” the official said. “That’s why that particular decision was taken and we believe it’s still going to offer huge opportunities for British students to study around the world in the future.”

Vivienne Stern, director of Universities UK International (UUKi), which promotes and represents UK universities abroad, said her organisation was “obviously disappointed” the UK would no longer be part of Erasmus, but described the Turing scheme as a “fantastic development”.

She said it must now be a “priority” to work internationally to sort the funding of foreign students studying in the UK under Erasmus.

“Inbound exchange students contributed £440m to the UK economy in 2018 and there are real concerns about whether the UK will see a decrease outside of the Erasmus scheme,” Stern added.

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, previously described the decision to leave Erasmus as “cultural vandalism”, while former prime minister Gordon Brown also called for the UK to remain part of the scheme.

In Northern Ireland, third level college students will be able to continue studying under the Erasmus scheme after the Irish government agreed to fund them, said the Irish education minister, Simon Harris.

UK institutions will be asked to bid to join the Turing scheme in the new year. Successful applicants will receive funding for administering the scheme and students will receive grants to help cover the costs of studying abroad.

Publicație : The Guardian

« Etudier à distance fonctionne mal, voilà tout »

Même en temps ordinaire, les meilleures universités du monde gardent difficilement leurs inscrits à des cours en ligne. En fermant les établissements du supérieur, on compromet à court terme la réussite d’une part importante de la jeunesse, alerte, dans une tribune au « Monde », le mathématicien Serge Cantat.

Tribune. En janvier 2019, la revue Science publie un article de Justin Reich et José A. Ruipérez-Valiente. Leur but : analyser le succès des cours en ligne dispensés par l’université Harvard et le Massachussets Institute of Technology, cela à partir des données couvrant la période 2012-2018 et regroupant plus de cinq millions d’inscrits. Cinq millions et six cent trente mille, pour être plus précis.

Ce chiffre montre un réel engouement, mais engouement initial ne signifie pas réussite finale. Parmi ceux qui, à l’inscription, affirment avoir l’ambition de suivre l’intégralité du cours, seuls 17 % parviennent effectivement au terme des leçons. Ce pourcentage s’élève difficilement à 50 % parmi ceux payant pour obtenir un diplôme certifié. Et la part des « learners » s’inscrivant à nouveau à un cours un an après leur première expérience ne cesse de diminuer durant la période scrutée, pour se situer finalement aux alentours de 7 %.

Comme le disent les chercheurs Reich et Ruipérez-Valiente, il semble que cette offre en ligne ne soit utilisable qu’en complément, pour des « apprenants » déjà insérés dans un système existant, par exemple des professionnels en quête d’un complément de formation. Comme le soulignent les chercheurs Di Xu and Shanna S. Jaggars dans un article publié en 2014 par The Journal of Higher Education, ce constat n’est pas surprenant.

Acquérir un savoir requiert un temps long

Si l’apprentissage à distance offrait une qualité comparable à l’enseignement en face-à-face, la télévision se serait déjà emparée de cette aubaine. Elle aurait ainsi suivi les recommandations qu’André Malraux, convaincu que « la prochaine alphabétisation, plus tôt ou plus tard, ici ou ailleurs, sera le fait de l’enseignement audiovisuel », détaillait déjà à la commission des libertés de l’Assemblée nationale en 1976.

Mais l’étude n’est pas le divertissement. Acquérir un savoir, maîtriser une pratique, confronter ses compétences à la réalité du terrain, cela requiert un temps long en présence de ses camarades d’apprentissage et des « sachants », que ces derniers soient professeurs, artisans, chercheurs, médecins ou musiciens.

Les succès en ligne ou télévisés existent, mais se déclinent sur des temps courts : ils sont alors excellents pour se cultiver au petit bonheur ou étudier des notions élémentaires. L’émission « C’est pas sorcier », les conférences TED (pour « technology, entertainment and design »), les cours de la Khan Academy fournissent de bons exemples. Aucun ne permet d’apprendre à conduire un raisonnement, un calcul, ou une étude de cas comparables à ceux demandés dans l’enseignement supérieur.

Publicație : Le Monde