The scientific and practical conference "Innovative Educational Technologies in professional training for civil servants and local self-government officials" took place on 1 December 2011 at the National Academy of Public Administration under the Office of the President of Ukraine with the support of the National Agency on Civil Service and with the assistance of the company - partner "Microsoft Ukraine" and the Swiss-Ukrainian Decentralization Support to Ukraine Project (DESPRO).
The goal of the Conference was to find effective ways to modernize and improve the quality of modern education for civil servants and local self-government officials, to familiarize the participants with the latest educational technologies and to disseminate best practices of the National Academy on scientific and methodological aspects of training in the area of Public Administration.
As it was mentioned by Mr. Yuriy Kovbasyuk, President of the National Academy, in his welcome speech, the National Academy has always placed great emphasis on improving the information and analytical as well as organizational and technological support of the teaching/learning process and research activities, including the development of electronic information resources, electronic learning products and introduction of the state-of-the-art innovative educational technologies in the educational process and in the scientific/research component of the institution’s activities.
Ms. Maryna Bilyns’ka, Vice-President of the National Academy, reported on "Knowledge Management and Innovative Educational Technologies as a necessary component for improving the efficiency of training of civil servants in today's conditions". In the speaker’s opinion, the need for Knowledge Management in the administration is caused by the increasing divergence between the efficiency of the economy and management, by the need of administrative agencies to respond more quickly to the changes in the economy, by the need to overcome the lag in the area of e-government and knowledge management. "Efficient and effective knowledge management is vital for maintaining and improving an organization’s efficiency and for an organization’s ability to adapt to the extremely dynamic environment," - said Maryna Bilyns’ka.
Mr. Andriy Zhuravlyov, Head of the Innovative Education Technologies Management, introduced the portal designed as a means for effective use of innovative educational technologies and processes of Knowledge Management for managerial activities. "The technologies that have been elaborated for distance learning (eLearning) are being actively used now not only to improve the quality of extramural studies (learning by correspondence), but also to increase the effectiveness of all forms of education. This applies to on-line libraries, on-line testing, informing students through web-pages of departments and chairs, giving students web-based access to databases. You can predict further penetration of eLearning technologies in all forms of education, and especially in advanced training,"- mentioned the Head of the Innovative Education Technologies Management of NAPA.
Special attention was paid to discussing the activities of the Communities of Practice - an important component of Knowledge Management and implementation of lifelong learning system in the modern world. Mr. Ihor Katernyak, DESPRO Project Expert, shared with the participants some experience and best practices of the community of practice in Knowledge Management and eLearning, and highlighted the use of Knowledge Management in development models.
