Background & Objectives

Objectives

Our objective is to explore the critical success factors of all four types of VM and implement these in real Open and Distance Teaching courses. The E-MOVE project therefore aims to:

open new learning and mobility schemes for non-mobile students, on-campus as well as off-campus
develop a coherent and operational model for the implementation of VM schemes in higher education as a whole
contribute to the development of European Virtual Campuses by featuring Virtual Mobility as an option for all curriculum builders, learners, employers, etc.
demonstrate the significant impact of VM on future educational organisation
explore and test the efficient use of ICT as an interactive learning environment which puts the specific educational needs of the student at centre stage and diminishes reliance on traditional teacher-led face-to-face education, and finally
cover the needs of those groups of students who for various reasons cannot be physically mobile over a longer period of studies abroad but who are open for mobility to acquire international experiences.

The approach involves stakeholders and experts in the field of lifelong open and flexible learning in distance higher education in a collaborative design approach (observatory) and in different focused applications (test-beds and case studies) so that they can contribute and fine-tune their respective experience, knowledge, perspectives to the development of a variety of operational concepts of VM .

Activities foreseen

The project embraces two interrelated and parallel running action lines:
Observatory (A) and Implementation (B)

An in-depth analysis on VM will be conducted by the Observatory in dedicated workshops interrelated with action line B, with two new to be implemented test beds and two case-studies analysing already running in existing practice covering all four identified opportunities in VM.
Implementation of VM will be executed by the 2 test-beds and 2 case studies:
(1) Test-bed “a virtual stay abroad” will focus on course exchange in European studies by distance teaching and learning on a multilateral basis.
(2) Test-bed ”a virtual community” will create a virtual workspace with time-independent and place-independent access for an international community of students, teachers, practitioners in the discipline of Marketing
(3) Case study “Joint-courses. Sustainable development course”
(4) Case study “virtual continuing professional training and development (CPTD)”.

Outcomes

The result of the implementation action line (test-beds and case studies) will be an overview of possibilities, constraints and good practice within the implementation of the four models of VM. The “Observatory”, consisting of experts in distance education and VM, will analyse, harmonize and integrate these results in examples of good practice and actual implementation. In supporting the implementation of VM also a European information sharing portal will be established for library and information support (LIS) to students and staff operating in VM. Expected results:

Implementation activities of VM in Higher Education
Establishment of European networks of experts in VM
A web-based Guide and handbook for VM
Creation of a European portal for information on support services
Wide dissemination of findings and recommendations