MOBILITY IN A DIGITAL TIMEVIRTUAL MOBILITY AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR OR A COMPLEMENT TO PHYSICAL MOBILITY

Ilse Op de BeeckLIMEL/DOO – KU Leuven

5 June 2015 | CPU/AUF/IRD International SeminarParis, France

Context and definitions

‘Student mobility is an important aspect of internationalization …but it is impossible to realize physical exchanges for the majority of students’

Context and definitions

‘‘Virtual mobility is the set of information and communications technology supported activities, organized at institutional level, that realize or facilitate international, collaborative experiences in a context of teaching and/or learning”

Videoconferencing Webconferencing Weblectures Streaming Audio/Video

Social Media (Web2.0) Screencasting/screensharing Podcasting …

ICT supported activities

Context of teaching and learning

Virtual mobility is about teaching and learning (pedagogical

aspect) and all the activities that support it, e.g. administrative, organisational, logistical issues.

International & intercultural

Virtual mobility is specifically aboutcross-border activities between

different educational institutions from different countries. Such activities are subsequently intercultural in nature.

Collaborative

Virtual mobility activities enablecollaborative learning, i.e. learning

from and with each other. This aspect of virtual mobility is considered to be essential in relation to developing intercultural competences and/or sensitivity.

Virtual mobility 1. to facilitate or realise an international

exchange2. to facilitate or realise international internships3. as a scenario to internationalise a (part of a)

course (chapter, exercise, task, project), programme, workshop, seminar,…

scale from blended to fully virtual for students, teachers and administrative staff!

Types of virtual mobility

EU-projects on virtual & blended mobility

1. VM to facilitate physical mobility Before the exchange• Orientation modules• Preparatory courses (language, culture, digital literacy)• Pre-selection tools, student selection

During the exchange• E-coaching• Communication, support, social networks

After the exchange• Virtual assessment and evaluation at a distance• Virtual alumni

• Master in Physiotherapy, KU Leuven• Aim: equalise the initial level of the knowledge of

statistics of the (international) students of the Master

• Online Testing and Learning Platform for enrolled students - access to platform before they come to Leuven

• Successful pre-tests allow full participation• Unsuccessful pre-tests give access to online

learning modules from the KU Leuven Bachelor degree, followed by new pre-tests

• More transparant expectations for students

1. VM to facilitate physical mobility

• Master European Social Security, KU Leuven• One-year international study programme • Blends regular with distance learning• Need for oral examination at a distance

• Set-up of e-assessment through web conferencing• Laptop and webcam on both sides• Support staff (booking meeting, student manual,,

…)• Online examinations:

Quality similar to face-to-face Recordings are added value Time consuming Connectivity, crucial for timing

1. VM to facilitate physical mobility

2. Virtual internships

• Student University of Turku (FI)• Master in Political Sciences• Turku and Southwest Finland European office (BE)• October 2010 – February 2011

• Student selection via Skype• Tasks: following EU news, compiling news for

Finnish region, following online meetings of EC,…

• Communication, cooperation and feedback via Skype and Adobe Connect

• Academic mentor @ home

2. Virtual internships

• Students Katholieke Hogeschool Leuven (BE)• Bachelor in Business Management• Compulsory internship• 11 students in foreign companies• February-June 2010

• Participation in seminars via videoconferencing

• Share/exchange experiences with peers at home

• Self reflection and mentoring via e-portfolio• Internationalisation @ home

2. Virtual internships

• Course on Water Management• Jointly organised by KU Leuven, University of Granada,

University of Porto• 3 ECTS Master level course• Teacher Virtual Mobility: January - September 2014• Student Virtual Mobility: October- December 2014

• Sharing of expertise of the different partner institutions – exchange of modules and materials

• International online group work through web conferencing, Moodle platform and other tools

3. Internationalisation of curricula

Teacher Virtual Mobility

Student Virtual Mobility

Resources

VM-BASE project: vm-base.europace.org Move-IT project: move-it.europace.org EU-VIP project: www.euvip.eu PROVIP project: www.provip.euVMCOLAB project: www.vmcolab.eu Virtual4Me website (for students): virtual4me.vmcolab.eu OUVM project: openstudies.eu

OUVM project

Open university studies for virtual mobility (VM) by training teachers and academic staffTraining material on

- Virtual Mobility curriculum design- Use of OER- Use of Creative Commons (CC) licenses

http://openstudies.eu https://www.facebook.com/openvm

VMCOLAB project

For higher education institutions• A Quality Assurance handbook for Virtual Mobility• A Virtual Mobility Integration Kit• VMCOLAB Co-Laboratory: http://

co-laboratory.innovate4future.eu & LinkedIn group

For students• A Students’ Guide to Virtual Mobility• Virtual4Me site: http://virtual4me.vmcolab.eu

For policy makers• Policy recommendations• Policy event

Success factors (1)• Planning is everything!

• Virtual mobility requires thorough preparation, coordination and planning

• Commitment of all actors• Use of existing and trusted networks• Strong leadership• Identify within your institution who can support you (on

administrative, technical and pedagogical level)

• Qualitative e-coaching• Clear agreements about goals and the roles and tasks of the

coaches• Following an established communication protocol

Success factors (2)• Choose the right pedagogical scenario’s & models:

student-centred, collaborative learning,…• Intercultural skills development:

• Make goals explicit and stimulate reflection

• Explicit attention for and integration of the human factor• Arrange a limited amount of face-to-face contact moments if

possible• Use technology that supports synchronous communication in a

setting that is as close as possible to a face-to-face setting• Define a space for non-task-related communication

Success factors (3)• Tools as an aid (and not a barrier)

• Use the benefits of tools and technologies BUT no technology without philosophy, vision, strategy

• Choose the right tools based on what the students will have to do (there are tools for instruction, communication, collaboration, reflection,…) and define what needs to be done synchronously and what can be done asynchronously

• Choose technology that is user-friendly, reliable and accessible for all actors involved

• Familiarize yourself with the tools, test them beforehand and provide guidelines and support

• Communicate explicitly about the tools that will be used and to which end they will be used

Success factors (4)• Preferred student characteristics

• Motivation • Self-responsibility • Able to plan and organise the own learning process• Pro-activeness • Language knowledge • ICT skills, experienced with virtual communication• Respect for diversity and intercultural differences • Self-reflection capability

Virtual mobility: an alternative for or a complement to physical mobility?

• No substitution for physical mobility but a different way of being mobile!

• Blended approach!

More information?ContactIlse Op de Beeckilse.opdebeeck@kuleuven.be