The last trend in technology is the upcoming Metaverse [1]. Metaverse represents a combination of virtual and augmented technology. With this technology, users will be able to immerse into a fully digital environment by obtaining a virtual identity through a digital avatar and acting as this was the real world. They can meet other users, shop, buy real estate, visit bars and restaurants, even flirt. Metaverse can be applied in several aspects of life such as (among others): Economy (Metaverse is entering into the cryptocurrency field), finance [2], social life, working environment, healthcare, real estate [3], and education [4]. In the last 2 and a half years, during the COVID-19 pandemic, universities made immediate use of e-learning technologies, providing students with access to online learning content and platforms. Previous considerations on how to better integrate the technology to universities or how the institutions can be better prepared in terms of infrastructures were vanished almost immediately due to the necessity of immediate actions towards the need for social distance and global health [5]. The present study proposes a framework for university students’ metaverse technologies in education acceptance and intention to use. The study is based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) [6, 7]. The objectives of the study are to analyze the relationship of students’ intention to use metaverse in education technologies (hereafter named MetaEducation) in correlation with selected constructs of TAM such as: Attitude (ATT), Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PE), Self-efficacy (SE) of the metaverse technologies in education, and Subjective Norm (SN). The present study develops a structural model of MetaEducation acceptance. This model will be useful to universities’ managers, policymakers and professors to better incorporate the upcoming metaverse technology. The present study tests (if supported) the correlations among the aforementioned constructs. Preliminary results show a hesitance to use MetaEducation technologies from university students. Self-efficacy and Subjective Norm affect Attitude and Perceived Usefulness positively, but on the other side, there is no strong correlation between Perceived Ease of Use and Attitude or Perceived Usefulness and Attitude. Authors believe that the weak ties among the studies constructs have to do with the lack of knowledge of what really MetaEducation really is, and which are its advantages of use.
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Abstract: The key challenge of managing Floating Production Storage and Offloading assets (FPSOs) for offshore hydrocarbon production lies in maximizing the economic value and productivity, while minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership and operational risk. This is a comprehensive task, considering the increasing demands of performance contracting, (down)time reduction, safety and sustainability while coping with high levels of phenomenological complexity and relatively low product maturity due to the limited amount of units deployed in varying operating conditions. Presently, design, construction and operational practices are largely influenced by high-cycle fatigue as a primary degradation parameter. Empirical (inspection) practices are deployed as the key instrument to identify and mitigate system anomalies and unanticipated defects, inherently a reactive measure. This paper describes a paradigm-shift from predominant singular methods into a more holistic and pro-active system approach to safeguard structural longevity. This is done through a short review of several synergetic Joint Industry Projects (JIP’s) from different angles of incidence on enhanced design and operations through coherent a-priori fatigue prediction and posteriori anomaly detection and -monitoring.
Students in Higher Music Education (HME) are not facilitated to develop both their artistic and academic musical competences. Conservatoires (professional education, or ‘HBO’) traditionally foster the development of musical craftsmanship, while university musicology departments (academic education, or ‘WO’) promote broader perspectives on music’s place in society. All the while, music professionals are increasingly required to combine musical and scholarly knowledge. Indeed, musicianship is more than performance, and musicology more than reflection—a robust musical practice requires people who are versed in both domains. It’s time our education mirrors this blended profession. This proposal entails collaborative projects between a conservatory and a university in two cities where musical performance and musicology equally thrive: Amsterdam (Conservatory and University of Amsterdam) and Utrecht (HKU Utrechts Conservatorium and Utrecht University). Each project will pilot a joint program of study, combining existing modules with newly developed ones. The feasibility of joint degrees will be explored: a combined bachelor’s degree in Amsterdam; and a combined master’s degree in Utrecht. The full innovation process will be translated to a transferable infrastructural model. For 125 students it will fuse praxis-based musical knowledge and skills, practice-led research and academic training. Beyond this, the partners will also use the Comenius funds as a springboard for collaboration between the two cities to enrich their respective BA and MA programs. In the end, the programme will diversify the educational possibilities for students of music in the Netherlands, and thereby increase their professional opportunities in today’s job market.
The impacts of tourism on destinations and the perceptions of local communities have been a major concern both for the industry and research in the past decades. However, tourism planning has been mainly focused on traditions that promote the increase of tourism without taking under consideration the wellbeing of both residents and visitors. To develop a more sustainable tourism model, the inclusion of local residents in tourism decision-making is vital. However, this is not always possible due to structural, economic and socio-cultural restrictions that residents face resulting to their disempowerment. This study aims to explore and interpret the formal processes around tourism decision-making and community empowerment in urban settings. The research proposes a comparative study of three urban destinations in Europe (The Hague in the Netherlands, San Sebastian in Spain and, Ioannina in Greece) that experience similar degree of tourism growth. The proposed study will use a design-based approach in order to understand tourism decision-making and what empowers or disempowers community participation within the destinations. Based on the findings of primary and secondary data, a community empowerment model will be applied in one the destinations as a pilot for resident engagement in tourism planning. The evaluation of the pilot will allow for an optimized model to be created with implications for tourism planning at a local level that can contribute to sustainable destinations that safeguard the interests of local residents and tourists.
The project Decolonising Education: from Teachers to Leading Learners (DETeLL) aims to develop a multi-site approach for interventions towards inclusion and decolonisation in order to change the hierarchical nature of higher education in the Netherlands. DETeLL identifies the model of the ‘traditional teacher’ as embodying the structural exclusions and discriminations built into the classroom and proposes the figure of a ‘Leading Learner’ as a first step towards a radical change in the educational system. In collaboration with the education departments in the Theatre and Dance Academy at ArtEZ, the post-doc will build up a research and teaching programme that engages with students and teachers in the faculty to create a prototype of an inclusive and diverse educational practice. RELEVANCE: Education should be the critical space in which changes occur in order to shape best possible futures. In DETeLL’s acceptation, decolonisation refers to a complete change in the way of thinking and behaving. It does not refer only to the urgency of dealing with historical colonial legacies embedded in society, but also to the subversion of the deeply oppressive colonial culture that (also unconsciously) regulates public and private living, whether this is related to gender, race, class or sexuality issues. RESULTS: 1) Create a theory and practice-based scientific base-line of decolonisation and art education; 2) Provide a definition of ‘Artist educator as Leading Learner’ following a practice- based methodology of intervention; 3) Design and Pilot a new teaching programme for theatre education at ArtEZ to be then upscaled to all educational departments in a follow-up project); 4) Produce a strong interdisciplinary and international output plan: 3 academic publications, 2 conferences, 4 expert group workshops. NETWORK: ArtEZ; University of Amsterdam (UvA); Ghent University; UCHRI; Hildesheim University; Cape Town University. The partners will serve as steering committee through planned expert group meetings.
