Ready for virtual mobility ? MoreVM ! Erasmus / Virtual Campuses project 2007 – 2009

1. Readyforvirtualmobility?MoreVM!Erasmus/VirtualCampusesproject 2007 – 2009 PresentedbyMateja Geder, projectcoordinatorfor MOVE-IT webinar on e-coaching

2. Mateja Geder • Education: MA in Onlineand Distance Education • Position: DirectorofDevelopment &Distance Education • Employer: DOBA FacultyofAppliedBusinessand Social Studies Maribor, Slovenia • thelargerst distance educationprovider in Slovenia • 1341 students (81 % distance students) • Virtualmobilitycourses in English • Internationalvirtualsummerschool • Website: http://www.eng.doba.si/

3. Partnership • DOBA Faculty of Applied Business and Social Studies Maribor, Slovenia • Faculty of Management, Open University of the Netherlands • OULU University of Applied Sciences, Raahe School of Ingineering and Business, Finland • NEWTON College, the Czech Republic

4. Background • EU goal by 2011: 3 mio students taking part in Erasmus exchange programmes. At the moment only 1 mio studnetshad done it. • Internationalization of colleges and universities in higher education is promoted by Bologna process. • 80 % students don’t have an opportunity to participate in Erasmus programmes because of social, financial and other reasons. • Virtual mobility as an alternative to gain international experience.

5. Background • Virtualmobility is not yetwidelyspreadbecause • students don’t knowabout it • students are not awareoftheskillsneeded to successfullyparticipate in andfinish a virtualmobilitycourse • Studentsneedsupportbefore, whiletaking a virtualmobilitycourse • Diversityofstudentstaking part in virtualmobility (in/experiencedonlinelearners, digitalnatives, digitalimmigrants, etc. • Universities/collegesneedstaff to beaquaintedwithcharacteristicsandrequirementsofvirtualmobility(and a personalexperience is thebestteacher)

6. Project objectives • encouraging participation and enhancing the efficiency of virtual mobility in higher education • preparing students for and raising awareness of the importance of virtual mobility • providing support for colleges/universities in organizing virtual mobility • strengthening the co-operations among colleges/universities and thus encourage them to develop joint programmes

7. Project Outcomes • Prepartory course for virtual mobility coordinators • Virtual mobility coordinators profile • Virtual mobility supervision scheme • Cultural Survival Kit • Introductory course for virtual mobility students • Cultural Survival Kit • Supported by a tutor and trained coordinators according to the supervision scheme • Virtual Mobility Community • Virtual Mobility Centres

8. Virtual Mobility (VM) Coordinators’ profile • Based on the research among Erasmus coordinators (198 coordinators responded) • Goal of the research: • defining the virtual mobility coordinator profile • designing the virtual mobility supervision scheme. • The ideal VM coordinator: • has good organisational, communication and social skills; • has good management and marketing skills; • is well educated and willing to learn more; • has an acceptable level of foreign languages and intercultural experience; • is acquainted with the virtual learning environment that supports a VM course; • is informed about the content of a VM course; • has personal experience of being an online learner and of distance education; • believes in VM.

9. Cultural Survival Kit It is a freely available, stand-alone learning object for students to develop their intercultural, communication and linguistic skills. It enables an ongoing content development. It can be also used by teachers in courses with multicultural topics. It will help virtual mobility/Erasmus coordinators to advise students on countries they have chosen for their virtual or physical (Erasmus) trip abroad. The VM survival kit is available at http://wiki.morevm.org/ .

10. Introductory course for VM students • Course aims and objectives: • experiencing collaborative learning in an international virtual learning environment • knowing the principles of good online communication and collaboration • having the knowledge to apply business ethics in multicultural business situations • getting acquainted with Cultural Survival Kit for European Union Member States • becoming more confident in using English and Web 2.0 technologies • Pilot course: 2nd – 15th February 2009 with tutorial support • 80 students from 11 different EU countries • 2 ECTS (accredited by OUNL)

11. Virtual Mobility Community • Supported by the project portal (www.morevm.org) • Encouraging dialogue with our target groups • More than 500 registered users by the end of the project • Over 53.000 web site visits by the end of the project

12. Preparatory course for VM coordinators • Course aims and objectives: • getting to know concepts of online learning and virtual mobility • getting acquainted with Cultural Survival Kit for European Union Member States • getting acquainted with VM coordinator’s role and duties • Demo course

13. Preparatory course for VM coordinators VirtualMobility SupervisionScheme

14. Preparatory course for VM coordinators – evaluation • Pilot course: 15th – 29th September 2008 withtutorialsupport • 29 coordinatorsfrom 10 different EU countries • Participants’ satisfaction (1 to 5 scale): • course organization (4.1/5) • course tutoring (4.0/5) • developed interest in virtual mobility (4.5/5) • information provided in the course (4.3/5). • 93%participants stated that the course provided them with the necessary information in order to be able to function as a VM coordinator successfully. • 57% of the enrolled participants are going to tell his/her colleagues about the coordinators’ course. • 43 % will tell his/her colleagues about the MoreVM project. • The average willing to actively promote VM activities in his/her own university/college/school was higher after the course than before the course (from 3.4  4.2).

15. Recommendation for future users Profile of Virtual Mobility Coordinator and the Supervision Scheme Can be used by institutions which are offering or developing virtual mobility courses or which coordinate these courses It can provide them with information who is the ideal candidate for the position of virtual mobility coordinator and which competences and responsibilities he/she is involved in It provides the supervision scheme showing how all coordinators´ activities relate to the development of successful management of virtual mobility

16. More VirtualMobility! ‘Virtual mobility is a great opportunity to actually feel as if you're on student exchange, even though the time and responsibilities would not allow me that. The experience was great and "meeting" and communicating with other students from different countries was interesting, refreshing and we did have a lot of fun, especially at the virtual Dubai fair.’ Ana Huravik, a formervirtualmobilitystudentfromtheCzechRepbulic ‘The virtual mobility course I enrolled in 2007 enabled me to recognize the potential advantages and pitfalls of cross-cultural communication without passing any country’s borders. In addition it allowed me to reflect on my own language and culture making me one time more aware of uniqueness of each single nation and its culture within today's Europe.’ Anuša Hojnik, a formervirtualmobilitystudentfromSlovenia

17. More VirtualMobility! VM 101 Website: http://www.morevm.org/ Next VM 101 course start: October 2010