Virtual Mobility ICT and e-learning as tools for equality on student mobility Ilse Op de Beeck & Christine Michielsens (EuroPACE ivzw/ K.U.Leuven - AVNet)

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 EuroPACE  European network of higher education institutions  Mission: improving networked e- learning  Interests: Education innovation New educational technologies Virtual Mobility Quality in e-learning Competencies in e-learning

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Physical Mobility  Erasmus programme  Student and teacher mobility  Current situation: 6% of students go on physical exchange  Goal: 3 million students (20%) on Erasmus exchange by 2010  Biggest challenge: a lot of students cannot go on Erasmus exchange because of financial reasons

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Question: Have you ever studied abroad with a student exchange programme?

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 “I always wanted to travel and live abroad but unfortunately the Erasmus money is so little that I did not even consider becoming an Erasmus student seriously.” (Clara Benac Earle – ESN publication: The Erasmus experience) Question: Do you agree?

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Virtual Mobility “Virtual Mobility in education is learning through an ICT supported environment that includes cross- border collaboration with people from different backgrounds and cultures.” Source: Being Mobile handbook

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Technologies  Video and web conferencing  Forum  Chat  Wiki  Blog  Document sharing tools  …

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Question: Have you ever heard of the concept of Virtual Mobility before?

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Maruja Gutierrez-Diaz Head of Unit for Innovation DG Education & Culture

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Types of Virtual Mobility  Taking courses through e-learning in another university as part of your study programme  Taking courses from your home institution during your stay in a foreign institution  Joint virtual courses: Taking a course which is offered simultaneously in several universities as a combination of normal courses and e-learning (blended mobility)  Virtual support before, during and after a physical exchange

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Opportunities  Cross-border collaboration with people from different backgrounds and cultures, community building, European citizenship  Knowledge exchange on course content, availability of experts from outside  Acquisition of ICT skills needed in working life  Enrichment of the traditional learning activities

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Virtual Mobility for equality  More exchanges possible than in physical exchanges (less barriers): Learning is no longer location dependent No financial barriers Democratisation of the learning experience  Better prepared for a physical exchange: VM complementing physical mobility

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Alison Handley Exchange Administrator International and Graduate Office University of Strathclyde

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 ‘Blended Mobility’ Combine aspects of physical and virtual mobility to maximize the advantages of both

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Virtual Mobility: challenges  Organisational planning, timing, tasks contracts, legal affairs (ac)creditation  Pedagogical didactical model adaptation course structure  Technological support and training accessibility and interoperability between online environments

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Projects about Virtual Mobility  REVE: Virtual Mobility Manual ‘ Real Virtual Erasmus’  Being Mobile: Best-practice manual ‘ European Cooperation in education through Virtual Mobility’  VENUS ‘ Virtual and E-mobility for Networking Universities in Society’  VM-BASE ‘ Virtual Mobility before and after Student Exchanges’ 

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Example: VENUS seminars  International top experts  Different locations linked by: Videoconferencing Webstreaming Moderated chat during the seminar  Project outputs Virtual Seminar Organisation Handbook Online module: ‘Europe in Focus’

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Examples from REVE

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Example: Cinema & Literature  Collaboration between KULeuven and Granada  Combination online - face-to-face  students per partner  Combination of different didactical strategies  Mix of technology  Multilingual approach

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Video fragment: interview teachers and students Cinema & Literature TechnologyLanguage

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Example: International Student Business Challenge  Katholieke Hogeschool Kempen + polytechnics in Finland, Portugal and Poland  Simulation companies in economical market  Mix local, face-to-face collaboration and international, virtual collaboration  Videoconferencing

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Video fragment: International Student Business Challenge

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Question: Can Virtual Mobility replace a physical exchange?

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Question: Can Virtual Mobility support a physical exchange?

VM-BASE Virtual Mobility before and after student exchanges

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 VM-BASE  VM-BASE ‘Virtual Mobility before and after student exchanges’  Socrates - Minerva project  October September 2008  Virtual support before and after (physical) Erasmus exchanges & support of teachers in coaching virtually (e-coaching)

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Project partners  EuroPACE ivzw (BE)  Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)  Coimbra Group (BE)  Katholieke Hogeschool Leuven (BE)  ESIB (BE)  University of Tartu (EE)  BEST Board of European Students of Technology (FR)  University of West-Hungary (HU)  Helsinki University of Technology (FI)  Laurea University of Applied Sciences (FI)  University of Edinburgh (UK)

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Project methodology  Inventory & needs analysis  Pilots  Recommendations  Manual on blended mobility  Manual on e-coaching

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Question: Did you receive enough support and information from your home institution before the exchange? Did you receive enough support and information from your host institution before the exchange?

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Virtual support before the exchange  Orientation guidelines  Information about the course offer  Preselection tools & student-selection  Preparatory courses

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Orientation guidelines “Oh, I forgot to mention my problems with accommodation. I could not find anything for one week.” (Valentinas – ESN publication: The Erasmus experiences) “It seems that there was absolutely no communication between people of International Office and even the day of our arrival nobody was able to help us” (Exhange Students’ rights. Results of Erasmus Student Network Survey 2006)

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Information about the course offer “A professor refused to let me in a course and the only explanation that I get was that I am an exchange student and resident students are with privilege about this course” “Exchange students weren’t allowed to take certain classes, they had to choose from a specific list, which didn’t always match their needs.” (Exhange Students’ rights. Results of Erasmus Student Network Survey 2006)

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Pre-selection tools & student selection “What I feared for doesn’t happen, because I can follow the lectures very well.” (Jon Catshoek – ESN publication: The Erasmus experiences)

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Preparatory courses  Language “A two weeks course before leaving gives you not exactly the ideal knowledge of a language.” (Andrea Cantore – ESN publication: The Erasmus experiences)  Culture  Digital Literacy

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Virtual support after the exchange  Virtual assessment & evaluation at a distance  Virtual alumni

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Question: Would you consider to join an Alumni Association for Erasmus students?

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 Example: Erasmus Mundus Examples of virtual support: Student selection Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association us-alumni.eu us-alumni.eu

ESIB seminar - May 8, 2007 More information? Ilse Op de Beeck eLearning Projects Coordinator EuroPACE ivzw vm-base.europace.org (under construction)