Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to present three important events, which took place during the last few weeks of the year 2013. Two of them were international conferences organized in Berlin (Online Educa) and in Brussels (Media and Learning), while the third one was the Polish conference (The Development of E-learning in Economic Higher Education), organized every year by the Foundation for the Promotion and Accreditation of Economic Education. At the beginning of the paper the author gives the brief overview of those three events and then undertakes the attempt to indicate some similarities and differences among them. The analysis of the conference programs and several sessions attended by the author has helped to identify a couple of important topics and to create quite a complete picture of what was hot last year and what is likely to be crucial in the current year as well. The author takes into consideration also the obstacles that prevent Polish university staff from participating in international conferences. While in many countries it is a way of fulfilling the requirements of professional development plan in Poland such events are expected to be scientific meetings followed by the scientific publications. The author finishes with a suggestion that a significant change in attitude towards the role of conferences in Poland with greater emphasis on their role in improving the didactic competences of academic staff is necessary.