Associate professor Anne Karin Larsen. Bergen University College Social Work in the High North Reykjavik-Conferense 14th – 16 August 2011 Invitation to discuss collaboration between the the Artic network and SW-VirCamp Associate professor Anne Karin Larsen. Bergen University College

Content What can SW-VirCamp offer? What are the conditions for partnership in the Consortium? How can we collaborate?

The aims of SW-VirCamp To facilitate all the functions needed for an up-to-date virtual campus, Including high quality elearning courses High quality virtual learning material Promoting possibilities for study abroad and practice abroad Research on learning and social work issues Good administration and access to relevant web sources to facilitate effective online learning

SW-VirCamp – what can we offer at the moment 3 online modules in Comparative Social Work for BA students (and MA) Social Work in Europe Commonalities and Differences (5 credits) Comparative Social Work – Core issues in social work in an anti-oppressive perspective (10x3 credits) Community Work from an international perspective (15 credits)

Course in e-pedagogy A 10 credits course in E-pedagogy for teachers in Higher Education. To develop the competenses for e-teaching at the partner institutions

Learning material 3 Virtual Books with learning material for the online courses including Screen lectures Triggers Virtual cases

The Virtual Book – Community Work from an International Perspective

Our Pedagogy for the online courses Competence based curriculum plans A task centred approach to learning Student active learning Learning by doing and problem solving Learning by comparative work Learning by reflection Academic writing

Experiences with the online course Students fullfilling the courses are very satisfied Students and teachers learn a lot Students learn to relate theories to practice The academic staff are competent online teachers from different countries

Important success factors for the SW-VirCamp Consortium That students can integrate the online courses in their ordinary CP in a good way That teachers are trained and skilled in online coaching and supervision and development of online courses A sustainable partnership with persons that do their job in time and are highly committed to the work in VirCamp Flexibility and ability to change and develop new ideas A strong and entusiastic leadership Institutions that see the value of developing the international perspectives and the digital competenses among students and teachers

What are the conditions for partnership? An institutional fee for administration of the Consortium: approximately 3-4000Euro per year (depending on the number of partners). Developing the e-pedagogical competenses of the academic staff Offering teachers and assessors for the online courses Online study places for students from your institution (approx 10-15 students per course)

Future ideas for developing the Virtual Campus To be able to offer BA students in-depth studies in comparative international social work To extend the Virtual Campus to other disiplines like Education and Health study programmes Developing interprofessional modules Developing a module in online help service To increase the number of partners To apply for new EU funding for developing these ideas

Future collaboration? How does these ideas match with your plans for the Artic network? What are you interested in developing in relation to your own students and curriculum plans? What can the SW-VirCamp Consortium contribute with and how can the material already developed be useful? How much are your institutions willing and interested to contribute and invest in this? Will online international courses be of interest to your students?

For more information go to: http://www.vircamp.net