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The interest for higher quality in higher education targets and respects the ethical standards of writing and presenting academic papers by both teachers and students. In the context of public discussions over copyright over the last few years and a self-plagiarism, universities in Romania have made efforts to align with the standards of European universities for knowledge and enforcement in this area. Thus, specific procedures and work platforms have been created and developed (e.g. the webstudentase.ro platform, the use of the Semplag program at the University of Piteşti, accessing www.sistemantiplagiat.ro at the "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest). Although in the last years, in the course of seminars, laboratories, practical activities and courses on academic writing norms, according to the legal provisions in force, a study among the students of the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences reveals the insufficient understanding of the meaning of the term plagiarism, the incomplete knowledge of the modalities the plagiarism, the self-plagiarism, the possibilities of avoidance, as well as the sanctions for violation of the legislation. The study also shows a knowledge and use of plagiarism detection programs for a small number of surveyed students. Familiarizing with academic writing rules, author citation, use of translators in other languages for each first year of study, attention to compliance with these standards throughout the course of all faculty work, constant application of ethical rules to prevent plagiarism can prevent the risk of non-compliance with academic standards and the improvement of business activities in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic theory has it that education, under all of its forms, produces positive externalities, with markets providing less than is socially desirable. In such a context, this paper aims at discussing the specific case of e-funding for e-learning: on the one hand, the paper investigates the demand side for donations via crowdfunding platforms, which comes from individuals or entrepreneurs seeking to finance ELearning projects, and on the other hand, it analyses the responsiveness and openness of the supply-side for donations via Internet for ELearning projects in Romania. Crowdfunding has emerged as a viable alternative funding source to traditional bank financing, especially in fields where projects or entrepreneurs have limited access to resources and where the output or outcome of the project creates positive affective reactions. This paper will only consider the cases of reward-based crowdfunding and donation of the four existing models (reward-based crowdfunding, donation, equity crowdfunding or debt crowdfunding), mostly because the Romanian laws in force do not distinguish between all four types (equity and debt crowdfunding are not legislated). The more general case of educational projects financed via crowdfunding platforms is also discussed in order to draw valuable conclusions insofar as the specific case of ELearning is concerned. The analysis is based on a thorough study of all active crowdfunding platforms operating in Romania (a total of eight being identified), with an in-depth discussion of the particular types of projects that require financing. The originality of the paper stems from the fact that there is very little research done in the field of crowdfunding in Romania, and also stands in the fact that the current international literature investigating the topic of crowdfunding does not include analyses of ELearning projects financed via such platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic theory has it that education, under all of its forms, produces positive externalities, with markets providing less than is socially desirable. In such a context, this paper aims at discussing the specific case of e-funding for e-learning: on the one hand, the paper investigates the demand side for donations via crowdfunding platforms, which comes from individuals or entrepreneurs seeking to finance ELearning projects, and on the other hand, it analyses the responsiveness and openness of the supply-side for donations via Internet for ELearning projects in Romania. Crowdfunding has emerged as a viable alternative funding source to traditional bank financing, especially in fields where projects or entrepreneurs have limited access to resources and where the output or outcome of the project creates positive affective reactions. This paper will only consider the cases of reward-based crowdfunding and donation of the four existing models (reward-based crowdfunding, donation, equity crowdfunding or debt crowdfunding), mostly because the Romanian laws in force do not distinguish between all four types (equity and debt crowdfunding are not legislated). The more general case of educational projects financed via crowdfunding platforms is also discussed in order to draw valuable conclusions insofar as the specific case of ELearning is concerned. The analysis is based on a thorough study of all active crowdfunding platforms operating in Romania (a total of eight being identified), with an in-depth discussion of the particular types of projects that require financing. The originality of the paper stems from the fact that there is very little research done in the field of crowdfunding in Romania, and also stands in the fact that the current international literature investigating the topic of crowdfunding does not include analyses of ELearning projects financed via such platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the methods used to further enhance our educational efforts by implementing a student-centred website for our department. The main objective of the work is to describe the process and survey carried in order to achieve a good web presence. Our structured survey questionnaire helped us prove our hypothesis. The survey hypothesis was that well-formatted and mobile friendly websites encourage students to do better research, to check web pages more often and share information more. Our survey objective is to prove that multi-device accessibility to websites aids students in their research. Another goal is to find if students check the site more often if it's responsive. The third research point underlines if students tend to share the information more if it's on a wellformatted and mobile-friendly website. The targeted survey population are students enrolled in engineering degrees enrolled in their first year undergraduate. The survey demographics include young adults in their twenties located in South-East Europe from Romania. Our results show that an increasing number of students are looking for information on their university website and efforts need to be made to provide availability and screen-friendly web-applications. Our research also shows an important increase in screen time versus indoor library reading time among our students. The survey questionnaire is structured so that we can better understand our students' needs when they log on to our web application. This work was looking for student feedback in order to modify the parts of the websites to suit our students' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a flourishing knowledge society, the communication of information is rapidly changing and, at the level of academic library this is possible through electronic services and digital collection. The informational growth in all the expertise fields, especially in science and culture, its coding in digital form, is a reflection of deep transformations in innovation at national scale and also worldwide. The mix of technology with print culture and science helps the heritage preservation and also provide open access to the scientific community. Digitization of library collections transforms the teaching, learning, researching and moreover the manner in which people interact. The present paper is an insight over the concept of digital library, its evolution and especially its standpoints. Our approach intends to explore and reveal the reasons behind the digitization and also the effects and improvements on the community of library users. We aim to investigate the state of the art of digitization at global scale, the way it is reflected in the official documents, the evolution and barriers of this process in Romania, and the possible measures that must be taken for the future. "CAROL I" Central University Library reshaped its mission and objectives and designed the plan for e-services development in the digital economy age. Considering that Romania still lacks a coherent programme for digitization and the fact that open access is the fundamental right of individuals, we intend to outline the arguments for this process to be included in the public policies, as a measure for sustainable development. Only when knowledge will be provided trough hybrid services we will be able to speak about a modern management based on flexibility, adaptability, creativity in line with the evolution of communication and technological changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new information technologies and devices have a significant impact on student behavior through the use of social media and communication. Whilst they an inclination to use smart phones and computers to both communicate and surf the internet, students may not capitalize their IT skills and abilities for educational purposes. There is little research in Romania on the student's perceptions towards the use of e-learning in a technical university. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an exploratory quantitative study that depict student's perceptions towards the use of e-learning and the main advantages and disadvantages for various categories of students from a technical University. Key factors and main advantages and disadvantages used to develop the survey were identified based on a qualitative research. The questionnaire was pretested and administered to 217 students in paper format to multiple Faculties and years of study. Both advantages and disadvantages identified for e-learning were measured on a five-point interval importance scale. SPSS was used for statistical analysis. Factor analysis was performed for both advantages and disadvantages in order to identify the key aspects that characterize student's opinion towards the e-learning The survey compared and contrasted the student's viewpoints from several Faculties and years of study as well as for students from five distinct groups: those that have high grades and receive bursary (merit), those with good grades but just below the bursary threshold (up to one point below), students with poor academic performance and no bursary, those that work (part-time or full time) and those that never worked. Statistical analysis investigated for existence of significant differences due to student's faculty, gender, year of study, age, grades, bachelor or master, and whether or not the student works. This paper provides important results for the University management on both Faculty and University level regarding the key factors influencing student's perceptions towards the use of e-learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to avoid „copy-paste‟ plagiarism, how to avoid the use of commercial software without a proper licence, how to convince our students to take care on films or music files downloading? The present paper discuss digital and information literacy, and corresponding teachers' e-competences, having in mind Prensky's opposition between digital natives and digital immigrants. Romanian educational system is evaluated mainly through our faculty students knowledge, beginning from author' experiences in teaching computer science. Some results and conclusions from a master course devoted to Internet Ethics are presented. A special attempt is accorded to "copy-paste" plagiarism identified as one of the first steps to e-crimes, but more or less tolerated in our educational system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, we are witnessing a significant increase in high quality scientific literature, either born digital or digitized. According to a series of specialists in education, research activities affect education and a specialized dialogue between researchers and students can affect the quality of research output. This study takes into consideration this interplay between research and education - even in the form of e-learning and digital information -, and analyzes the accessibility of digital scientific literature offered by Romanian research libraries. Firstly, the study presents findings obtained through exploration of existing specialized digital repositories worldwide and in Romania, high quality digital scientific literature, renowned databases of journals, e-learning platforms, along with open access initiatives. These digital resources need to be better identified and this paper is framed by consideration of different ways to make visible the scientific output. In general, researchers use data and information from other studies and, also, they need to communicate and disseminate their results rapidly to the international academic community, by means of digital repositories and digital publications. Secondly, this research identifies findings from an empirical analysis regarding the experiences and preferences of the Romanian researchers and, also, a series of aspects regarding the role of librarians in digital literacy. Several methods are used, including qualitative interviews, questionnaires, corroboration across participants and engagement with previous international studies. The study concludes with the current trends observed for Romanian research libraries and a series of considerations for practice, with the remark that academic work in institutes and universities varies substantially across fields and disciplines, which can prohibit a generalization to all research libraries in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of e-learning technologies brings real benefits to companies that will achieve high productivity as their employees will have wider knowledge and skills, as well as to educational institutions that will provide pupils and students a complex education using modern technologies. In this paper the authors analyze the current state of the e-learning platforms implemented at the Romanian higher education level. The analysis starts from the Report on the National Academic Metaranking Exercise, a ranking achieved in 2016 by the Ministry of National Education to identify the level of visibility of Romanian universities in the relevant international rankings. This paper takes into account the extent to which the best-rated Romanian universities have implemented e-learning platforms as support in the development of the educational process. There are presented some aspects of the used e-learning platforms and their vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks based on the statistics provided by CVE Details, a database with information retrieved from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Using updated software versions of e-learning platforms, HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) protocol for encrypted information transfer and securely storage of sensitive information (usernames, passwords, or other personal data of users) are benchmarks which will be comparatively analyzed. The paper also contains an estimate of the extent to which the main actors involved in education (both the professors and the personnel at the level of university management or government) are open to the introduction of electronic technologies as methods for disseminating information. A questionnaire on e-learning issues was designed and its results are analyzed to identify opportunities for improving and developing education and research in Romanian academic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing use of the learning management systems (LMS) within the universities, significantly changes the learning experience for both teachers and students. In higher education and beyond, these systems have become an intensively used resource in the field of the educational services. The paper identifies a number of LMSs for the specific needs of a university. At the beginning, the different approaches to LMS as a modern way of teaching and their impact on users compared to the traditional teaching methods are presented. Teachers seek to prepare their course notes effectively in the shortest possible time. Students are encouraged to devote more time to the individual study. On the other hand, the educational institutions seek to provide the maximum level of education with a minimum level of investment. The advantages and disadvantages of the most used learning management systems used within the universities are identified. An LMS solution often used both in Romania and worldwide by many higher education institutes is Moodle, a learning platform. In order to be able to identify the right LMS solutions, the beneficiaries have at their disposal a series of software comparison platforms, such as: Capterra and G2. A comparative analysis of Moodle users' perceptions was performed based on the existing reviews on the Capterra and G2 platforms, in order to see whether or not these perceptions are in agreement with the information presented on the internet regarding the usefulness of Moodle. The paper is intended to be a first step in a broader research aimed at the applicability of this analysis among the Romanian universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout history, many people have supported the use of game and gaming-inspired design in order to improve the human life. In the middle of 2000s, the confluence of web technologies, digital business models and online games gave rise to the latest manifestation of this basic idea. Large organizations have begun to explore gaming as a way to motivate people and improve user experience. Gamification is applied from education and training to health, management, innovation, employee involvement, patrimony, crowdsourcing, civic engagement and marketing (Seaborn & Fels, 2015). Also, mobile applications and different sites have borrowed design elements (points, badges, or social networking game rankings and meta-game systems) to motivate users' activity. More and more curious or enthusiastic people from different fields of activity are moving towards this term. Game-based learning represents an education learning method through games. The present paper aims to highlight the importance of gamification and game-based learning used in education. It has been realized an experiment to students for seeing, if the game-based learning technique has any effect on them, becoming more motivated to learn or changing their attitude or behaviour. The experiment has been based on two groups of students; the first one, had received a test paper and the second one had to pass a quiz, built to the online platform, called kahoot.it, after they read a paper about marketing research subject. The results have been analysed by the help of SPSS 22.0 program, and the hypotheses were verified with independent t test. The experimental model used for research was post-test with control. This study contributes to the developing of education system using modern techniques, in order to improve the student knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have become an influential pillar of education and training in the last decade. People around the world use MOOCs to train their already acquired skills or gain new ones through the worldwide web. Both educational institutions and official training providers use MOOCs to enhance the standard educational process through online learning. This paper studies the potential usage of MOOCs as a part of formal education in Romania, with proper recognition and accreditation from universities, the labour market, and quality assurance institutions. Using existing successful platforms from MIT and Harvard that offer online credentials, the paper focuses on possible implementation in Romania. The exploratory research is based on a qualitative approach, using individual interviews at faculty level in different Romanian universities, conducted with teaching staff and students. Given the different profiles and study fields of universities, there needs to be a correlation between the demand of the labour market and the offer of these courses and programs. The findings will provide a general point of view on the future of MOOCs in accredited and recognized education and training. Given the advancements made in the online education sector and digital skills in particular, these courses will become the foundation of lifelong training in the future. Teaching staff and universities need to be aware of the growing need for digital skills that can be acquired and enhanced through e-learning platforms that do not only help learners to graduate but give them the possibility of recognition in terms of accredited certificates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Everywhere in the world, education systems seek to provide students with opportunities for their development, in terms of cognitive performance, socio-emotional skills, professional competencies, information on labour market that m ay facilitate their insertion, and finally the success in transition from the university world to the real life. During this transition, many students, especially from the first year of studies, fail meeting the curriculum and evaluation standards increasing the retention rate at the university level. There are many arguments for explaining this context, starting from those related to the lack of learning motivation and ending to those referring to the patterns of teachers-students relationships. Nowadays, the majority of Romanian universities are coping to these challenges. The risk of dropping out within the first year of university became a major issue increasingly approached by national plans of measures or strategic projects. One of these projects is represented by the Romania Secondary Education Project (the ROSE Project), implemented by the Ministry of Education an co-financed by the Romanian Government and the World Bank. The ROSE Project's main objective is to improve the transition from upper secondary into tertiary education and increase the retention in the first year of tertiary education in project-supported education institutions. University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest is one of the education institutions involved in, developing supporting activities for students in their first year of studies. These support activities are mainly referring to the tutoring, vocational counselling and career guidance, coaching, remedial programs and similar activities. The present paper is aimed to analyse the student's opinions about the impact of the main activities of the Sub-Project SIDPERA Learning Centre (" Learning and personal development strategies for reducing school dropout"), implemented in University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest since 2018. The students' opinions emphasize the impact of tutoring, career counselling and personal development activities on their learning strategies and skills development in order to facilitate the proper integration to the academic environment, after a year of implementation. The data collecting instruments are based on quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus-group) patterns of research, attempting to find out solutions and new creative perspective of analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2012 - "the year of MOOC (Massive Online Open Classes)" as stated an article in New York Times, most top universities started to offer some sort of MOOC. Class-center.com declared that "more than 700 universities around the world have launched free online courses and that by the end of 2016, around 58 million students had signed up for at least one MOOC". Moreover, Coursera, the most famous MOOC provider launched specialization tracks that allow subscribers to earn ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) to prestigious universities. As a consequence, the author tried to analyze students perception towards MOOC phenomenon. The students that participated into the demarche were both Romanian and Erasmus students attending classes to University "Politehnica" of Bucharest, the largest technical university in Romania. Only the students of the 4th year have been considered eligible to take part in the survey, as they are targeted as MOOCs potential students - "89% of Coursera learners are over the age of 22", as stated Coursera CEO. The main objective of the present paper consists in identifying the benefits of using MOOCs and also the challenges students have to face when accessing them. Moreover, the research identifies the limitations of MOOCs towards students perception and proposes several "possible futures" for educational platforms. The tool used within the research was the questionnaire that lead to conclusions related to the perceptive boundaries of MOOC within the respondents. The results complete the state of knowledge of the Romanian higher education system and also could complement the methods of improving the quality of higher education services by including the suggestions received from the beneficiaries of educational services - the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the concept of open educational resources (OER) and their influence on Romanian education system. The concept of OER appeared in 2002 at the UNESCO forum, representing any kind of didactic projects, course materials, textbooks, video materials, multimedia applications or files from the Internet, used in the teaching-learning process. They are used free of charge by teachers or students. Another important issue approached is the advantages and risks of using OER. Some of the advantages are: access to quality education for a larger number of persons; growing the community's interest in education; stimulation of innovation; low cost. And the risks are: low relative priority of the subject in the education reform; it is impossible to control the OER quality; there is not a viable business model based on OER. The last part of the paper deals with OER in Romania. The concept of open educational resources is new in Romania, even if in practice we find examples of such materials. The introduction of digital textbooks is one of the new projects proposed by the Ministry of Education. Like all over the world, the private sector - businesses or non-governmental organizations - is more dynamic and connected to the latest ideas. It is no surprise, therefore, that even with regard to OER, we find several exploratory attempts, some of which are relatively successful: DidaTec, Edu.moodle.ro, Didactic.ro, Education.inmures.ro. The conclusion is that the digital dimension of education will become more important in the years to come and that it is a phenomenon that we can not control. Romania has three major options: let things grow naturally; speed up the process by stimulating the creation and use of OER through public policy measures; force a rapid shift from traditional resources to OER through major investments and specific legislation. Of the three options we recommend the second, the one of equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, there are major issues facing Romanian education system. Policy makers and/or innovative teachers can bring hope and success. This paper will present past achievements and current trends concerning the implementation of the digital technologies for education within the ODL Department of the University of Bucharest. Chapter 1. After 14 years of design, implementation and management of the ODL study programs, the ODL Department reached a stable situation with indisputable achievements that are presented in the first chapter of the paper. The framework for ODL in Romania is legally defined by H.G.1011/2001 and ARACIS Quality Standards. In fact, RO-ODL is a blended learning system. All study programs provided by the ODL Dept are accredited by Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Meanwhile, we have implemented the ICTStrategy of the University of Bucharest that was approved by University Senate (2003). This strategy had 3 levels: digital literacy, ICT based curriculum and computerization of institution and processes. Real achievements will be presented (virtual campus, eL learning resources etc).The chapter two presents the actual context "Digital Agenda 2020 for Europe" which is not surprising at all if we consider forecasts made 30 years ago by visionary people. The chapter 3 presents the digital technologies under implementation within ODL Department. Our objective is to be already prepared for virtual university concept (UNIBUC-Virtual) if such decision will be taken in due time. Subjects as cloud computing, Learning Management Systems, eL learning resources, blended learning, video-lectures, videoconference systems, on-line assessment, free of charge productivity tools will be presented within the context build by ODL Department of the University of Bucharest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

e-Learning platforms help users (students / learners, tutors / instructors and administrators) aiming to offer them the information they need in order to develop their educational activities at the right time, following an appropriate format and in the location they desire. Along with the development of Internet, the need for virtual systems that would allow users to migrate data, e-mails, applications etc. has emerged, these virtual systems becoming the Cloud Computing technology. The current paper highlights the results of implementation of a Cloud system dedicated to citizens, public institutions and academia. ICIPRO project (Cloud Infrastructure for Public Institutions in Romania) was implemented at ICI Bucharest with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Open Data and Virtual Library. So far, 32 institutions have been affiliated and are using this Cloud infrastructure, including 4 libraries and 5 universities. The logical architecture of the ICIPRO Cloud system presented in this paper meets the highest business requirements, such as security, availability, ease of administration and resource optimization. In order to accomplish this, the system has been divided into several subsystems, such as: the Infrastructure Management Subsystem that relies on a suite of applications required to manage and monitor the virtualization platform, the dedicated server subsystem where powerful servers can meet requirements specific to mission critical environments, with on-the-fly activation / deactivation of Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA) enabled processing kernels, 2 high-capacity subsystems consisting of high-density servers designed for Cloud Computing environments, that rack up to a high processing capacity and provide high performances, compared to power consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on e-learning market in Romania. The e-learning market in Romania is underdeveloped compared to what is happening in this field in other European countries. Nowadays, any company or organization needs an employee training program, be it pharmaceutical, banking, sales or multinational companies. As a result, firms that want to provide training to acquire the skills needed to perform a particular job show two main trends: on the one hand, they turn to foreign companies, whose specialization is training and team building, and on the other hand, there are people in the company themselves who have the task of providing that training. The paper also presents trends and perspectives in e-learning and the first online platform that prepares young people for the current labor market- laboratoruldecariere.ro. Digital Economy and Society Index is another important issue. The DESI, calculated annually, monitors member states performance on the following levels: digital connectivity, digital competences, online activity, business digitalization and digital public services. It helps EU countries identify areas requiring investment and priority measures. In Romania, the level of digitization of the economy, as well as the digital competences of the population, are relatively low and makes progress in most DESI dimensions difficult. The conclusion is that employers and companies providing online training think that the market is rising and in the coming years, even if it does not replace traditional training, e-learning will be the main refuge of employers. The e-learning market is certainly growing, and European-funded projects that have been developed lately have managed to boost it both in the public and private sectors. E-learning will not completely replace the classroom courses, but it will expand them. It will also create training opportunities for people who do not have access to training for various reasons (the most important being time and money). Online training methods have advantages linked to costs, ease of program implementation to a larger audience from companies, making available more content types. The e-learning system offers one of the best variants to produce tangible results. This is perhaps also the main reason why this industry is experiencing a significant increase worldwide. Researchers estimate that e-learning is a growing industry with huge potential that will find its place in the next few years in all pre-university and university education institutions, state or private, but also in all major corporations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the submitted paper the author share her experience accumulated during almost ten years of distance learning practice, a period when one of the major aim of all specialists involved in the implementation of eLearning process was to define the profile and to raise the awareness of special coordinator manager in the frame of an ID European learning process. The paper is structured in three main parts: the first one describes the Romanian educational values versus European ones as they are perceived in Romania, year 2011, followed by a second section in which the particular profile of the coordinator manager is analysed and define in the frame of CREDIS ID department. The last part is dedicated to the analysis of the way in which ID department and its mangers contribute to establish European and globalised education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the concept of open educational resources (OER) and their influence on Romanian education system. The concept of OER appeared in 2002 at the UNESCO forum, representing any kind of didactic projects, course materials, textbooks, video materials, multimedia applications or files from the Internet, used in the teaching-learning process. They are used free of charge by teachers or students. Another important issue approached is the advantages and risks of using OER. Some of the advantages are: access to quality education for a larger number of persons; growing the community's interest in education; stimulation of innovation; low cost. And the risks are: low relative priority of the subject in the education reform; it is impossible to control the OER quality; there is not a viable business model based on OER. The last part of the paper deals with OER in Romania. The concept of open educational resources is new in Romania, even if in practice we find examples of such materials. The introduction of digital textbooks is one of the new projects proposed by the Ministry of Education. Like all over the world, the private sector - businesses or non-governmental organizations - is more dynamic and connected to the latest ideas. It is no surprise, therefore, that even with regard to OER, we find several exploratory attempts, some of which are relatively successful: DidaTec, Edu.moodle.ro, Didactic.ro, Education.inmures.ro. The conclusion is that the digital dimension of education will become more important in the years to come and that it is a phenomenon that we can not control. Romania has three major options: let things grow naturally; speed up the process by stimulating the creation and use of OER through public policy measures; force a rapid shift from traditional resources to OER through major investments and specific legislation. Of the three options we recommend the second, the one of equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of mobile technology provides people alternatives not only in interpersonal communication and Internet access, but also in learning and teaching. The fast growth of new generation of mobile devices as well as the frequent use of wireless technology has capitalized the great potential of mobile learning in becoming an effective tool for education. Mobile learning technologies offer teachers and students a more flexible approach to learning. Mobile devices have greater functionality, giving teachers the opportunity to provide contextualized and personalized learning resources, unrestricted by spatial and temporal constraints and allowing learners to use readilyavailable, handheld computing devices and communication technology to access information from anywhere and at anytime. In this context, the purpose of this paper is twofold. The first goal is to analyze various theoretical approaches of the m-learning and, secondly, this paper aims to present the findings of a research among undergraduate and graduated students from The Bucharest University of Economic Studies. The objectives of the survey were to explore the ways students are already using mobile technologies to support their learning and to identify students' readiness and also willingness towards the use of mobile devices in learning situations. Our research shows that students are ready to adopt mobile learning due to their higher ownership of mobile devices and greater familiarity with the use of technology in learning contexts. Considering the research findings, our paper will also present different ways to incorporate mobile technologies into educational processes to foster collaboration and social interaction and for enhancing their potential for both formal and informal learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the early start of the financial crisis from 2007, the representatives of the banking system have taken some important decisions in order for the global and local economies to become more stable. The risk management activities became exponential, as the effects of the crisis were being felt by each country in the world. Therefore, in this crisis counter-measures mix, their specific policy decisions have been regarded as one of the most important variables for the recovery process. Every day, each financial institution is searching for the best decisions that could reduce the risk. But is there an optimum decision that can be taken? The purpose of this paper is to find the proper answer to this question, by analyzing the data and decisions taken by the risk management experts within the Romanian banking system. Previous studies have shown that at the present moment, on the Romanian Banking sector, the efficiency of this specific market is rather low, hence the need for improvement of the risk management policies used. By using the Analytical Hierarchical Processes (AHP) and the experts' input, an optimum model of decision making regarding the decrease of risk in the banking sector has been defined. This innovative method of decision making is decomposing a specific problem into a hierarchy, using several clusters of criteria and alternatives and the principle of pairwise comparison for reaching to consistent and relevant decisions. Thus, this paper follows the implications of the policies implemented until now, which are about to be put face to face with the designed model, in order for a series of recommendations to be offered to the risk management experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of the international system, which can be explained by the high number of variables which interact and influence each other, determines a context in which security becomes an objective more difficult to attain. Thus, the organizations responsible with maintaining security are placed under the sign of constant adaptation and reform. Formally referring to this ability of managing the outward complexity generated by the security environment as being „organizational intelligence", the present paper focuses on analyzing the process through which intelligence and military organizations learn to adapt. The first part of the paper explains the concepts of complexity and organizational intelligence, identifying the core elements that need to be addressed when discussing about institutional transformation and adaptive response. The conclusions indicate that increasing the level of organizational intelligence and the capabilities of spontaneous adaptation on the long term implies the development of an innovative teaching methodology. The evidence gathered from theoretical research indicates that the technological advancements provide a formal apparatus for dealing with complex systems and using technology within the educational processes has the potential of enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness of the organization. The second part of the paper focuses on the sustained efforts made by the intelligence and military organizations from Romania and abroad to build technology-based models for learning. Subsequently, the paper proposes an innovative model for training future intelligence practitioners, advancing the idea of using virtual reality software that replicates, through modeling and simulation, real events and situations, thus helping trainees to contextualize their learning experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aim to emphasize the usefulness and efficiency of the use of the electronic training monitoring system SUUNTO, in evaluating the specific effort of training and competition in the test - Skeet 125 men's plates. Used for the first time in sports shooting in Romania, during the training of athlete Alin George Moldoveanu, Olympic champion London 2012, in the men's 10m compressed air rifle, in the competition year 2011-2012, the electronic monitoring system SUUNTO proved its usefulness practice, determining us to continue and extend our scientific approach to the level of another test specific to sports shooting. As a physical trainer of the athlete Ghetu Vlad, multiple national champion in this event, being currently a member of the Youth Olympic Team, with real chances of qualifying for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, we decided to implement this means of evaluation, in order to increase planning efficiency. and scheduling specific effort.Through the feedback it offers, translated into the values of the monitored internal parameters, respectively, heart rate, respiratory rate, the SUUNTO electronic system offers an objective image on the dynamics of the specific effort of the analyzed sample, constituting a solid benchmark in sports training according requirements imposed at the level of performance sports shooting. The information obtained from the monitoring can be viewed and downloaded through the website www.movescont.com, the data being analyzed and interpreted by both authors of this paper. The analysis of the results obtained in this research will be the basis for the realization of some physical training programs, adapted to the requirements of the training process, the competitive effort and, last but not least, to the particularities of the athlete involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, European reindustrialization has occurred, specifically in the textile and clothing sector in Portugal, Spain and Romania, from the application of the Just In Time (JIT) methodology with the result of the need more skilled labour available in the European Union. The paper presents aspects concerning the CosTUmE project that contributes to the diminishing of skills’ gaps between the qualification offer and clothing industry needs, to attract young trainees to graduate technical qualifications and to stimulate professionals to update their skills. Also, this work presents the comprehensive tools that were developed in order to raise the awareness of companies to support the employees in the process of upskilling and to provide tools for European mobility and implementation of the updated Clothing Technician profile for validation and recognition in Portugal, Spain and Romania. The training package integrates practical explanation of the Clothing Technician Profile with resources and exercises to integrate learning outcomes and work-based learning. In concrete, the training package contains guidelines, study cases and strategies to motivate and support the trainee, and to support the learning process. The tutorial guide for mobility describes the mobility purposes with the main documents used for recognising the mobility in Europe. The comprehensive tools target all VET providers, trainees, companies, trade unions, sectors associations and other entities that work or help with mobility process. The anticipation of needed skills and the promotion of cooperation between industry and vocational and educational training are considered relevant actions to be implemented in the next period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is the result of the author’s studies and research conducted on the topic of online learning during and after the lockdown period in Romania, with all the complications that have been triggered off by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The special focus of the study is on the way students that have studied or are currently studying Romanian as a Foreign Language (RFL) at the Politehnica University in Bucharest cope with online classes. Their previous experience as online students may also be relevant for their academic progress, and one of the questions is about the platforms that seem more familiar/friendly to them. Since each student may perceive a stressful situation in their own particular way, and their learning preferences may differ significantly, the study here pays more attention to the students’ personal stand in the matter, as well as to the reasons they provide for their learning choices, than to mere statistics. That is why the questionnaire that has been distributed and then answered by the respective students may be considered to be the tool for gathering mainly qualitative data, whilst the quantitative data generated by the counting of the answers for/against a choice have been considered less relevant under the current circumstances. The author has intended this research as the starting point of a series of studies that may lead to a better understanding of the students’ learning preferences, with the ultimate goal of both getting an insight into students’ psychology and improving teaching methods. The conclusions of the study leave room for further analysis of the pandemic studies topic, especially since we are (still) experiencing ways and means to deal with teaching/learning effectively in the online version of both education and life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At Stanford Commencement Address in 2005, Steve Jobs said: "You can't connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future". In the 21st century everything is moving faster, an innovation is "new" only for a short period of time. These changes are affecting all areas, including education. But what if education develops its "future" by founding itself in the "past" again? Could the "yesterday" in which the Romanian education system has remained be the source of inspiration for the "tomorrow" that the present development promises? This paper is aiming to present the valuable journey that the Department for Distance Learning team has traveled since the starting point, in may 1999 and until now, a journey that hasn't yet reached the end. Over the years many valuable projects have been developed and implemented by CREDIS team (CREDIS is the acronym for the Department for Distance Learning): new higher education study programs (BA and MA) especially designed for pre-service and in-service school teachers; a new BA study program (240 ECTS) focusing on "Information Technology"; new LLL programs (CISCO Networking Academy, Microsoft IT Academy, ECDL), with the main purpose to find inspiration, answers and proposals for "tomorrow" education. The main interests of this paper are centered on the last years in which CREDIS team has focused on identifying, developing and promoting e-learning solutions in Romania. In this regard, one of the most important challenges was and it still is the cloud technology that has quickly replaced the traditional learning management system used in universities. Universities from all over the world are now using the cloud computing technology to improve collaboration between teachers and students, to increase the efficiency of their classroom but also to save costs without sacrificing privacy or security. Aligning with the directions recommended by the European Union on modernizations of higher education CREDIS has successfully implemented Google Apps tools within their students. Google Apps for Education (acronym GAFE) is a free cloud-based messaging and collaboration platform that includes mail, calendaring, IM, as well as Web-based collaborative documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and sites. Students' opinion regarding the opportunities provided by these applications on communication, file storage, collaborative documents, spreadsheets and presentation in a "cloud" campus will be presented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology has reached a level most people could not even imagine a couple of decades ago. "eLearning" has become a hot topic all over the world. However, in many countries, including Romania, the educational system has not evolved the same way as technology. In most elementary and middle schools, the educational process does not differ much from the one established ten or even twenty years ago. Many students have access to smartphones, tablets, laptops, but they still use traditional paper textbooks and solve classical problems exercises in school. We propose an improvement to the current education system, which solves some major issues in the actual socioeconomic context: a modern eLearning interactive math platform. Our team, composed of renowned math teachers and dedicated researchers in the technical field, has developed an online math platform for 5th grade pupils, characterized by attractiveness, interaction, animation, student-centred learning, gamification and originality. A pilot experiment with students from "Cantemir Vodă" National College of Bucharest, Romania, has proven the quality and benefits of such an interactive manual. This paper presents the challenges encountered by our team throughout the platform development, the pilot experiment, with feedback coming both from students and teachers, as well as some ideas for future exploitation, popularization and integration in the Romanian learning system, in order to achieve large scale performance in education. The last section of the paper highlights the idea that gamified and interactive learning is very intuitive and helpful for students nowadays, and represents the future for a better education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of debates about ensuring quality in education, the problem of students' transition from upper secondary into tertiary education and the increasing retention rate in the first year at the university, are key elements for educational strategies and policies. Innovative practices in education at international level also mention a new approach based on STEM fields, emphasizing the development of key competences, but also social-emotional skills for students learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The present paper analysis the main issues of a diagnosis study, carried out at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year, aiming to identify the specific factors and conditions which lead to poor academic results and to drop out for students in first year of faculty in University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest. The profile of the first year student's becomes an essential starting point of establishing this approach in order to develop an objective diagnosis on factors and conditions to influence the increasing drop-out rates among university's students. As a result, the study investigates the student's opinions on some aspects considered by them important for the successful completion of the first year studies. Besides other aspects, the analysis includes specific references for curriculum, evaluation activities, but also for communication between teacher and students. Along with the feedback obtained from the teachers, student's motivation is equally important in order to stimulate the continuation studying, which relies on the level of personal development and the use of its skills (communication, social, decision making, time management skills etc.). Last but not least, the paper proposes possible solutions for the identified students' needs with the purpose of increasing the learning motivation of first year students in order to help them complete the degree studies. One of these solutions focuses on career counselling approach in terms of developing to students appropriate socio-emotional skills as support for useful and creative perspectives in their academic and social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feedback is essential to any kind of learning, but its instrumental role in facilitating progress seems to be even more important in the language class. Teachers provide feedback with the purpose of helping the students either to improve specific points (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, writing, etc.) or to plan their own learning. The teachers' ability to offer effective feedback goes hand in hand with the encouragement of autonomous learning and the individualization of the teaching/learning process. Feedback is seen as a powerful teaching tool, but what really matters from the students' perspective is that it should become an equally powerful learning tool. For this to happen, feedback needs to be accepted and acted upon. Whether the feedback recipients will feel motivated to improve or discouraged and disengaged from the learning process will depend not only on what feedback is given but on how it is delivered as well. This paper presents the findings of a questionnaire administered to two categories of students, Romanian students learning English and foreign students learning Romanian. The design of the questionnaire has taken into account the well-known fact that using the internet and mobile devices has become a second nature with the young generations. Consequently, the respondents have been asked to express their opinions and preferences regarding online feedback versus the traditional face-to-face one, which they receive on their performance in activities developing oral communication skills. The most challenging aspect of the research has been offering students a viable online alternative for immediate feedback, which is considered by the two teachers who have carried out the survey more effective than delayed feedback where oral activities are concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The teachers training (including those who teach at tertiary level) occupy a "special" position among the activities carried out within universities. Nowadays, higher education of teachers is widespread, which was not the case twenty or thirty years ago. The university teachers training has progressed with the professionalization of the teaching career. Both aimed to increase the quality of education, not only due to the university teachers training, but also due to the change in the general approach to education. We mention that all teachers should have a higher professional qualification, which would give them recognition of the important role they have in society. Also, the recent reform of the teacher training system in Romania brings major changes in this regarding the didactic master's degree. By excellence, the teaching profession assumes the permanent formation and development of the teacher so that she / he can offer to the one it teaches a comprehensive perspective on the field she/ he teach. The teacher from any specialization thus engages in a training process that will develop his career periodically until the end of it. During the teaching career one of the most important aspects is maintaining the motivation for professional development within the teaching career. This paper aims to investigate the motivational factors involved in choosing a teaching career and to examine the availability of professional development in order to choose a teaching career by students at the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest. The overall development of the personality of a well-motivated student with inclinations for the teaching profession will lead to efficient teaching, given that future teachers will work in an environment with increasingly high socio-professional requirements and needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper examines the use of contextual learning in designing serious games for compliance learning. We examine the challenges of implementing learning programs in compliance learning in financial services. The population of this research consisted of 4000 bankers in 5 banks in Romania required to complete a continuous learning program in MiFID II. The population was split in two groups, with a similar structure and size (age, level of experience). The experimental group (2000 bankers) was required to complete a learning program in MiFID II that was built using gamification and serious games based on the roles of the bankers in the group, as well as the BrainHex player archetypes. The control group was required to complete the same learning program, but without any gamification elements. Both programs have been delivered using the same LMS and the elements of the learning programs, including the games, have been individually tagged and monitored automatically by the learning software. The results of the experiment reveal that: (1) 78% of the users completed the requirements of the mandatory learning program in the experimental group and 49% in the control group, a 59% increase indicating that the contextual learning approach using role based serious games significantly increases the learning progress, (2) the users in the experimental group have, on average, 92% more time spent in the platform than the 15 hours required by the regulators and 50% of that time is spent playing games. The results clearly indicate that by suing role-based serious games an organization can not only engage their staff to be compliant but also achieve the expected behavioural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic context, that went off a year ago, has compelled all of us to adopt a new mode of working and communicating. The universities, at least in Romania, had to pass overnight to working exclusively online, which triggered changes at the level of interhuman relationships and behaviours of the students and teachers, as well as a transformation of the teaching and learning strategies. From a face-to-face type of instruction, where the activities mediated by technology had only a relatively limited place, to a kind of activity unfolding fully online, to which the types of teaching activities and techniques had to be adapted, as well as the learning ones. These are the two main aspects that we are going to approach in this paper, by analysing the challenges of working online in the higher education, from the point of view of the behaviour as to information, transmission of knowledge, creation of the know-how, as well as be-how, and from the viewpoint of the new student-teacher relationships. The analysis will focus on the teaching – learning strategies within the Covid-19 pandemic conditions, i.e. a fully online type of education, imposed by the special sanitary conditions, with a strong psychological impact, and not on the general didactic principles of turning digital, which have already been in current practice, in a sporadic manner, for some time now. We are going to study equally the interdependence relationship between the social, economic and psychological context, and the changing of the working methods with the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project "Improving the theoretical and practical education for teachers in the use of modern educational technologies in teaching physics and technical disciplines" POSDRU/157/1.3/S/132731 was designed as a national strategic partnership, involving six Teacher Training Centers from Moldavia Region of Romania, coordinated by the Technical University "Gheorghe Asachi" of Iași. The project aims to achieve the necessary framework to adapt technical teaching, in an environment marked by the digital revolution, by implementing modern educational tools and ICT technologies in teaching and learning activities. The paper analyses the consequences of the Project on school education curricula and on both teachers and students from schools around East region of Romania. Quality e-Learning applied to technical education activities have to improve: engagement of learners; acknowledgement of learning context; challenge for learners and the involvement of practice. Fundamentals of continuous training of teachers were put through: expansion of teaching and learning techniques using support offered by ICT and the educational platforms of "blended-learning" and/or e-Learning, used as integrated tools for managing teaching. Teachers benefit from using virtual environment, provided by Project platform, based on Moodle software. Thus, teachers obtained theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed for the use of ICT technologies, by integrating interactive teaching and learning techniques and computer-mediated communication. It is analyzed the opportunity and the possibility of implementing an e-Learning system in school education and its impact on both teachers and students. The paper examines a variety of determinants that influence technology acceptance and successful implementation of a Virtual Learning Environment in schools. It was obvious that teacher attitudes to the implementation of those technologies in school are tied to their attitudes and responses to national objectives in education and national strategies for reshaping learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is relatively new. While Legalese and English for Business become early on clearly distinctive parts of English for Specific Purposes due to the quite numerous implied professional categories using it, Technical and Medical English follow right after. Once English turned into the new lingua franca for diplomacy, English for Political Science distinguishes itself as an obvious branch of study for non-native learners of English with vested interests in the domains of political science, international relations, sociology, psychology, and not only. In Romania, teaching English for Political Science could be considered an innovation, since it was recently developed. Using IT&C while implementing a whole new set of vocabulary is both challenging and beneficial for professionals in the field. New generations of students and young practitioners are tuned to new technology and ground-breaking devices, expecting nevertheless to use gadgets and virtual tools while accessing new information and knowledge in the process of learning. It is only natural to adapt to such a wonderful and revolutionary century and dare to be creative, innovative, and constantly renew your teaching methods to boost the learning environment. Blending IT&C in the process of acquiring a language facilitates modern teaching techniques, "flips" the classroom and builds interest in your audience. The present paper describes a way in which blended learning, flipped classroom and Controlled Linguistic Immersion increase overall class proficiency, boost performance and trigger long term specialized language acquisition processes. We attempt to pull together the English for Political Science and the new technology in an accessible and friendly way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes a PhD research phase that has contributed towards the development of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) by means of complementary employment of open-source related Content Management Systems (CMS). The working elearning environment is Moodle, widely accepted for its augmentation features through software plug-ins, blocks and in-house tailored modules. The theoretical approach is currently benchmarked and refined as part of an elearning project for networking and biomedical engineering at the Department of Computer Networks and Distributed Systems at "Gh. Asachi" Technical University of Iasi. This project has been in progress since 2008 and is due to be completed in the first half of 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning from a chain of workshops devoted to Free and Open Source Software, and Virtual Learning Environments, the present paper resumes the level of use and acceptance of MOODLE learning management system in Romanian educational system. Especially MOODLE platform properties and authors' experience accumulated in e-learning activity, in computer science, are presented. The paper underlines how MOODLE can be used to enhance the students' understanding and enjoyment of science, how it can and will be used for future teacher preparation through a Tempus project, resuming also the authors intention and effort to coagulate the network of national MOODLE users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Romania, e-learning as a teacher training activity is at the beginning and has o lot of opponents, due to technical, economical, social and ethical problems associated with it. Some of these problems are the subject of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of information and communications technology (ICT) has a huge impact in all spheres of activity, leading to major changes in every process, gaining important benefits but also facing challenges, especially those related to data security and protection. In the educational sector, there was a switch from traditional university to ICT based university. The use of SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and other technologies paves the way to switch to a new stage: intelligent university. Although IoT offers numerous benefits to the educational system, scalability and security of increasing number of objects connected to the network are major challenges. Switching to a decentralized IoT may be a solution for this challenge. Blockchain technology allows decentralization of process management thus being able to solve many of current problems of IoT, especially regarding the security. Also, the grows of e-learning and m-learning sectors requires using technologies that improve the trust and value of distance education. Additionally, increasing amount of electronic content, new law requirements regarding personal data security and protection and storing data in clouds require the adoption of new technologies that can solve current problems (see the fog computing paradigm). Blockchain technology may improve the educational system in various aspects, like: trust, collaboration, transparency, data security, issuing and security of certificates, management and protection of intellectual property, fighting intellectual fraud, lifelong high quality education, decentralized education, etc. Use of blockchain technology in educational system is in early stage. Very few universities have started using this technology, most of them only for validation of certificates/diplomas. There are few researches addressing the use of blockchain in education and the benefits and challenges of adopting this technology. This paper approaches three major issues: 1 benefits of adopting blockchain in universities, 2 challenges of adopting blockchain technology in universities, 3 state of using blockchain technology in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blended Learning Concept designates a form of mixed education, that combines traditional teaching methods with tools of communication technology. In the pre-university educational system in Romania the traditional process of teaching and learning is more often used; thus, the student is studying in a certain classroom in an educational unit, being supervised by a teacher. The fast pace of e-learning development determines the emergence and use in the Romanian educational space of a new context for learning, the Blended Learning method, a new learning space, student centred. The group of Web 2.0 technologies (blog, wiki page, podcast, RSS feeds) have changed the way interpersonal communication takes place, this new perspective being associated with a rich repertoire of services and applications, creating a new context for viewing, accessing and producing information. Blended learning method thus becomes a viable alternative to traditional education methods. The main change registered in accessing the method of mixed learning is the reconfiguration of the role of the teacher and student - teacher relationship; it is recommended to adopt certain roles of the users, both in terms of their pedagogical function as well as accessing/configuring online rights. Therefore, the new environment, which is constantly evolving, its development plans will be analysed. The research employed a mixed method of analysis, triangulating the data from 10 interviews realised with teachers from urban school community. Whenever data is available, the paper uses a comparative perspective with other EU countries particularly regarding the BL methodology in educational process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working in a fast-paced industrial environment requires experts with new skills: one of these professionals is the technical communicator, whose main task does not imply solely writing instruction manuals for a large variety of products. Her/his duties should focus on managing electronic media, mastering elements of pragmatics, semantics, translation, engineering etc. The technical communicator should also be able to explore basic tools in rhetorical strategies, organizing, designing and editing documents, dealing with ethical issues and not in the least communicating across cultures. Undoubtedly, there is arising quantitative and qualitative labour market demand in the field of technical communication. Therefore, the development of a new master program specialization in the field of technical communication represents both a solution and a challenge, esp. in Romania where there are no academic programs and/or formal training for this profession. The paper addresses the requirements for training programs mainly derived from the outcomes of the Erasmus+Project „TecCOMFrame"(A Joint European Academic Framework and Curricula for the Training of Technical Communicators), that is to say the academic competence framework for technical communication and the prototype-curricula and modules (based on this framework) for training in this field. One of these prototype curricula, namely Specialization in Technical Communication within a Master's in Engineering, used to provide a template so that a special curriculum could be tailored according to the needs and goals of the University Politehnica of Bucharest, where excellence in engineering education is a must. The paper presents the stages of the elaboration of this curriculum and proposes solutions on conceptual as well as methodological and technological level with a special focus on e-Learning and ICT tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a time when technology is advancing with extreme rapidity, perhaps the greatest challenge to be answered by new generations is the development of the skills that allow them to function in a digitized society. This challenge is addressed on the one hand to the average man, for whom mastering the operation in the IT&C field is a functional necessity, as well as to those passionate about programming and electronics. If it is necessary for the first ones to identify the simplest and friendliest ways by which the new technologies can be implemented, the formation of the second category implies the inclusion in the educational process of the newest technologies and the familiarization with them up to the level at which it can unlock creativity and development. In this paper, we aim to address the issue of Single-Board-Computer (SBC) devices in terms of understanding the educational potential that these devices have, but also how they can be leveraged in learning. In fact, these devices have been developed specifically for educational purposes or to be used as embedded systems. They represent small computers having all components embedded on a single silicon board and having CPU, GPU, memory, input / output and other features required for a functional computer. For this purpose, we will analyze comparatively the content of the curriculum of the most important technical universities in Romania and abroad to identify the extent to which such devices are taken over by the universities, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of their use. Depending on the results obtained, we will develop a set of measures aimed at optimizing the educational potential of SBC devices, especially Raspberry Pi devices which are the most widespread SBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper represents an introspection into the world of social media marketing (SMM) with focus on higher education institutions (HEI). The continuous expansion of social media allows universities to move closer to the millennial generation. Since education is about acquiring knowledge, transferring information, and professional development all of them being subject of the individual evaluation of the student, traditional marketing channels are not enough. Spreading flyers, printing brochures, web-sites, or word of mouth (WOM) are examples of promotional instruments that have been used for years by Universities. The substantial competition among universities and even among faculties inside the same university represent realistic motives for HEI's to discover and apply new marketing promotional techniques. Marketing concepts like brand community or critical mass do apply even in this sector characterized by such special features. Education and especially HEI was one of the laggards when it comes to social media marketing (SMM). Unfortunately a distinctive characteristic of most universities in our country was to consider SMM is just for household goods or consumer loyalty and neglected such an important marketing channel. According to Anderson [1], an important objection against marketing practices by academics was that it would undermine academic standards of quality and excellence. [6] Considers that marketing policies in HEI have to follow the 'collaborative relationships' model. Nowadays, social media has emerged as a way for students to connect with the university in a more casual and familiar manner. For HEI's relationship marketing involves building and maintaining a relationship of value exchanges between the institution and the three main customer groups: alumni, current students and future students. [4].By maintaining such a close relationship between past, present and future, faculties may change the perception from time oriented towards family/community oriented and to ultimately influence the enrolment process. Using quantitative methods, data from official Facebook pages, and qualitative research methodology, a survey regarding the content and interactions on students already enrolled, the present paper tries to emphasize the importance of SMM in a higher education institution in Romania. We start from two hypotheses: 1) social media can impact University's choice 2) social media will tighten the connections between actual students and the university. Hypotheses are followed by positive outcomes, the electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) will be used and a major target market prospected. The use of SMM in academia is fairly new. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss about the possibilities of gamification in public and academic libraries. The concept of gamification and its different forms are analyzed based on the previous literature. Gamification can be understood in different ways and used in different forms depending on the target group (e.g. students, children etc.) and the goals we have. These possibilities and types of gamification are introduced in this article by using examples from different libraries. Our main research questions are: 1) How can the concept of gamification be defined? 2) What kind of barriers there is against the gamification in libraries? 3) What are the possibilities and advantages of gamification for libraries The article is based on previous studies made about gamification and interviews made with librarians in Finnish and Romanian libraries. Also different cases how gamification is used to teach e.g. library use and information retrieval is introduced in this article. The example vary from escape rooms in libraries to gamification in electronic solutions. Authors compare the situation in Finland and Romania. The theoretical framework of this article is based on Mihály Csíkszentmihályi's Flow theory. Flow can be understood as the state of concentration and engagement that can be achieved when completing a task that challenges one's skills. In libraries gamification makes it possible to get the customers interested in e.g. improving their skills in information retrieval. Gamification improves motivation and makes learning more effective. The results show that the older librarians are more prejudiced towards the gamification and having games in the library collection. Especially younger customers find the gamification interesting and helpful while learning information retrieval in Finnish libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The actual international context of developing people's digital skills and competences imply using intelligent, adaptive and personalized e-Learning platforms. The latter should come in support of students and represent both an efficient alternative for the individual study and resources for team-work. The purpose of the present paper is to highlight the importance of using an e-Learning resource implemented by Politehnica University Timisoara through which students can load the results of their projects and work. The topicality is given by the novelty of the 3D models realized by students, both individually and by teamwork, for a touristic promotion of Timisoara municipality in the context of competing and winning the title for "European capital of culture" initiative. Moreover, the authors propose implementing a spatial data geoportal at Local Administration level using EU non-refundable funds that could be a smart solution for managing secure and valuable property based on Internet of Things meant to reinforce Europe's cultural diversity by making our heritage and our cultural creations available to a wider number of citizens. One of the strategies developed by the European Commission refers to Digital Single Market and includes tasks such as investing on network and technologies by funding research that enables new technologies like 5G and IoT. The aim is to benefit European citizens with fast and accessible Internet for the future and make cities more sustainable in view of Europe's 2020 targets. Romania, as a member state, has aligned its priorities to the EU and is constantly trying to develop smart solutions in the interest areas that also permit funds attracting. In particular, Timişoara Municipality has set its goal to become one of Europe's smart cities and communities, thus developing (among others) a cultural strategy for 2014 - 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental students have to master, along with the theoretical knowledge, a lot of visual, practical and technical skills, essential to the dentistry profession. They include visual assessment of the medical condition, where the three-dimensional (3D) view differs from the images from manuals, firstrate psychomotor skills and understanding of the technical issues arisen in dental practice (restorations, implants, etc…). In recent years, both internationally and nationally, the invasive treatments made by students on patients were limited and are increasingly replaced by various alternative training solutions. Simulator laboratories with teeth replicas, typodonts (models of the oral cavity) and phantom heads are used for preclinical skills development. The paper presents the introduction of Virtual Reality as an e-learning tool for the dentistry education and training in Romania. It will precede and attend the current methods, accelerating the learning process before and during the training with artificial models and phantom heads, reducing the expenditure of artificial teeth, student time and instructor effort. Virtual Reality for education and training in dentistry implies the usage of a human-computer interface dedicated to this task. The working environment is a 3D representation of the dental tools and of the oral cavity with teeth and gums, accessible through stereoscopic devices. The input is capturing the hand/hands posture and movements using haptic devices or other hardware sensor devices that detects hand and finger motions. The feedback includes visual modifications, tactile feedback and sound effects when different operations are performed in the oral cavity. The use of these technologies will decrease the costs of the educational process and will increase its quality through individual training and self-assessment of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the rationale behind the transition from the classical, hard-copy textbooks to digital teaching materials. The transition from hard-copy to digital materials is one of the most significant changes in the last decades, both in terms of classroom practice and in terms of policymaking, since both new teaching skills and approaches are called for in order to use the new media in a sensitive and relevant way. The aim of the documentary research was to identify international experiences in the field, pinpoint the rationale, and compare it with approaches to this type of change that are present in Romania. The study-case is devoted to History as school subject. This subject is both well suited to adopt the new teaching media, is present in non-scholastic digital media, and is one of the foci of interest for the public opinion. The approach is twofold. The starting point is a documentary analysis of the agenda set forth by policy-makers (in terms of aims, objectives, and measures proposed or already implemented). The second step is the analysis of viewpoint expressed by practitioners. A number of History teachers have answered a questionnaire (based on Likert scale items) concerning their perspectives on the digital textbooks for their subject. A focus group selected from the initial group has analyzed the results of the questionnaire in order to fine-tune the analysis. Initial results seem to indicate that the appearance of digital textbooks is a change that asks for a process-based approach to educational change. To put it shortly, the issue of the digital textbooks will have to focus on the option between narrative-based and the task-based approaches to History teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of openness for entrepreneurship in Romania is known. The share of micro-enterprises in Romania in the total number of SMEs is 88%, lower than the average of 92% of the European Union. In this context, very few young people start a business on their own. In Romania, 1 in 100 young people start a business on their own, compared to 1 in 4 young people in the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary. Thus, only 11% of Romanian companies are owned by young people up to 29 years of age. A common problem is that students or graduates from the technical profiles in universities in Romania choose to enter the business world, to a great extent, in trade or services to the detriment of the material goods creation. The paper aims, on the basis of a broader study involving students from three faculties at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, to know how students choose their business ideas, their perception of the need to innovate and how the innovation of a product is an option for them. The innovation of a product, where engineers are supposed to play an important role, is the rarest form of innovation and more difficult to approach through a broader and various knowledge that is needed it. The purpose of the research is to understand how the creation and use of an e-learning platform oriented to product innovation at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest would fill and complete the lack of information due to the differences between the curricula corresponding to the chosen specializations. The e-learning platform will provide information available 24 hours / 7 days, the study will be easier, student collaboration will be easier and can help create spin-offs and get financial support and advice for those student entrepreneurs which demonstrate maturity and have results in approaching the product development process within their own businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last couple of years emphasize a clear decreasing tendency of the motor potential level of children from Romania. By correlating this aspect with the increasingly number of overweight children, we consider that some new methodologies have to be applied, in formal and non-formal activities, to be able to enhance the children's interest in practicing physical exercises. The aim of this paper is to present some possible ways to apply mobile phone technology within physical education lessons and also within other extraschool sport activities. Mobile applications available on Android and iPhone platforms help users to better understand personal results concerning fitness level and give information about the benefits of physical exercises on the human body. Giving more value to the children's pleasure and easiness to use mobile phones, within physical education lesson, the teacher may encourage the pupils to monitor the run rhythm, to measure the distances and the run velocity, to record the calories, to monitor the heart beat, and to calculate the body mass index. From another perspective, during the extraschool activities, the mobile phone technology could be used to configure the track by using GPS, in order to prevent injuries, to indicate altitude, to count the number of steps, and the quantity of water needed by the body. To realize its objective, the paper presents some models of good practice in applying this technology, by emphasizing a series of results (methodology of implementation, children and teachers attitudes) obtained within physical education lessons organized with secondary school children, in Bucharest, in Odobleja School. We are aware that this technology could represent a distinctive content of professional training of teaching staff and could improve the efficiency of its activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landscape of the educational area has witnessed a continuous transformation in the past years due to new technologies. Higher educational institutes from all over the world are competing in all kinds of learning experience with the main objective of finding the best practices for their students. The main purpose of all this experiences is to enrich learning through a new generation of pedagogical methods. One of the highest demands for Romanian educational system is the transition between the traditional classroom, which is limited at one teacher and his students in one room, at the same time, with limited learning resources, to an open learning process in which teachers and students are equal contributors and in which learning resources are always shaping. This paper interests are centered on emerging educational technology through effective learning experiences in a cloud computing environment. Our main interest is to present a new way of doing things on campus by using Google Classroom (first pilot test within University of Bucharest) at the Department for Distance Learning. Over the years the Department for Distance Learning (acronym CREDIS) had students of different ages, from 18+ to 50+, students from all over the country and abroad and all with the same purpose: to learn. By working with different people, with different ways of learning and also different attitudes, opinions, ideas, needs and stock of knowledge, our mission was and still is, to provide opportunities to learn for everyone; to customize learning. And what better way of doing it, if not by implementing the latest trends in teaching? To achieve this mission our team started to use Google Classroom, which is a great distance assessment tool that allows crowd participation and peer support. It is also promoting self assessment and reflection; it offers great help in managing class resources and a good guideline for e-feedback. It allows students and teachers to work quickly from anywhere and it uses the same web based tools that students and teachers among are using it at home. The challenges for the Department for Distance Learning team that came with the launch of this new project test are multiple but there are also a lot of opportunities created for teaching and learning as it will be presented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]