E-Learning and Enhancing Soft Skills

This volume E-Learning and Enhancing Soft Skills is a collection of articles by participants of the 16th annual scientific international conference “Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Distance Learning: E-Learning and Enhancing of Soft Skills. This conference, held on the 14th and 15th October 2024 in hybrid mode, is organized by the Faculty of Arts and Educational Sciences in Cieszyn, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Institute of Pedagogy, the Faculty of Science and Technology, the Institute of Computer Science, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland. Co-organizers and partners included: University of Ostrava (UO), Czech Republic, Silesian University in Opava (SU), Czech Republic, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (UKF) Slovakia, University of Extremadura (UEx), Spain, University of Twente (UT), The Netherlands, Lisbon Lucíada University (LU), Portugal, Curtin University in Perth (CU), Australia, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (BGKU), Ukraine, Dniprovsk State Technical University (DSTU), Ukraine, IADIS - International Association for Development, of the Information Society, a non-profit association, Polish Pedagogical Society, Branch in Cieszyn, Polish Scientific Society for Internet Education, Association of Academic E-learning, Poland.

Experts on e-learning from different countries provide insights into their studies, present their recent research results and discuss their further scientific work. The authors include experts, well-known scholars, young researchers, highly trained academic lecturers with long experience in the field of e-learning, AI and robotics in education, MOOCs, teacher training an area digutak and soft skills, m-learning, smart technologies, VR/AR; PhD students, distance course developers, authors of multimedia teaching materials, designers of websites and digital educational resources. This monograph therefore describes the theoretical, methodological and practical issues in the field of e-learning and the developing of key competencies and soft skills, contemporary models of education in the era of artificial intelligence, proposing solutions to important problems and showing the road to further research in this field.

Built from the findings of an international retinue of scholars, this work will be of particular interest to academic researchers, educators, courseware designers, corporate trainers, and educational technology practitioners.

Dr. hab. Eugenia Smyrnova-Trybulska is an Associate Professor at the University of Silesia, Poland, with over 30 years of experience. She coordinates the European IRNet project and has led numerous national and international educational and research initiatives. Her research focuses on e-learning methodology, ICT, multimedia, robotics in education, SMART universities, STEAM education, teacher training in ICT and e-learning, and MOOCs. She holds a PhD (1997) and a D.Litt. (2008) in Pedagogical Sciences, specializing in the theory and methodology of teaching computer science. She became a Full Professor in Ukraine in 2021. Eugenia Smyrnova-Trybulska has authored over 380 scientific publications, including 26 books and monographs. She has coordinated and participated in various projects funded by the European Union (7FP IRSES Marie Curie), Erasmus+, CEEPUS, and national projects. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Research in E-learning and has organized and coordinated the Annual International Scientific Conference on Theoretical and Practical Asprcts of Distance Learning since 2009 (www.dlcc.us.edu.pl). She has also developed 160 e-learning courses and two MOOCs. Currently, she is a Professor at the University of Silesia and coordinates the Silesian scientific laboratory on ICT, robotics, SMART, and Well-Being in education.

Professor Dr. Nian-Shing Chen is a Chair Professor in the Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Sciences and Program of Learning Sciences at the National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. Professor Chen received the National Outstanding Research award three times in 2008, 2011, and 2015. He is ranked in second place on the Top Authors list by article count in Computers & Education. He is ranked number 4 on the top scholar list in the educational technology field based on an article published in the British Journal of Educational Technology. One of his papers published in Innovations in Education and Teaching International was awarded as the top-cited article in 2010. Professor Chen is ranked third in the list of Social Sciences and Humanities Scientists in Taiwan. Based on AD Scientific Index 2023, Prof. Chen is ranked number 8 in Asia and is ranked number 103 in the world in Education Research. He is listed as World’s top 2% scientists in 2021, 2022, 2023 and in the list of "Lifelong Science Influence Rankings (1960-2022) by Stanford University. Professor Chen was served as the Editor-in-Chief for Educational Technology & Society (ET&S) journal. He is also a golden core member of IEEE, a lifelong member of ACM, and the former Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Learning Technology.

Prof. Dr. Piet Kommers is advisor and consultant for the European Commission, UNESCO and National Ministries of Education. He received the title of honorary professor in Learning Technologies by the UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for his Developmental Projects in Europe, the ASEAN countries. His workshop templates and experiences have been implemented into the UNESCO IITE reports, policy briefings and Master Course. After initiating and chairing the NATO conferences on Cognitive Support Tools, he was invited to undertake the accreditation processes of new EU research projects. His books and journal article citations exceed the level of 10.000 and the h-index of 37. He successfully supervised more than 22 awarded PhD projects. His recent book is "Sources for a better Education"

Nataliia Morze, Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Ph.D. hab., professor, is corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Her research is in the field of ICT education, digital and online learning. She is a member of the Digital Technologies in Education Committee at the Ministry of Education & Science in Ukraine. She provides expertise and consultancy for the Ministry of Education & Science in Ukraine in the field of ICT, policy making, concept papers development, digital programs/processes/skill framework development, online learning resources analysis, expert ETF “Digital Skills and Competence (DSC) and Digital and Online Learning (DOL) in VET in ETF partner countries." She has authored textbooks and methodological manuals on ICT for secondary schools and HEd and vocational education, Leadership in several international research project teams in the field of innovative technologies. Dr. Morze has authored more than 400 scientific works including on computer science, e-government, ICT and Elearning, methodology of E-learning, use of ICT in learning and teaching of mathematic and other subjects, STEAM- education, using multimedia in education, etc.