virtual mobility

The second project meeting of the Re.ViCa Consortium of which ATiT is a partner took place in Lisbon on 9/10 June where discussions focussed on the preparations for the meeting of the International Advisory Committee taking place on 11 June. The main objective of the Re.ViCa project is to identify relevant parameters and success factors for evaluating and comparing Virtual Campuses, based on thorough research and expert input. The recently launched web site for the project provides further information about the work being undertaken. http://www.avnet.kuleuven.be/revica/

The International Advisory Committee met on 11 June and spent the day discussing the current state of progress of the project. This included a discussion on topics including critical success factors which are important in considering Virtual Campuses, a taxonomy and categorisation approach and a set of definitions of key terms. Members of the International Advisory Committee will meet again in Berlin right before Online Educa Berlin on 3rd December 2008.

Re.ViCa is also being presented at the EDEN 2008 Annual Conference taking place in Lisbon, 11-14 June. The EDEN conference this year is called "New Learning Cultures", and brings together more than 500 academics and researchers from all over Europe. Of particular interest to ATiT at EDEN this year is the awarding of the title of EDEN Fellow to Sally Reynolds during the conference in recognition of her contribution to the professional development of open, distance and e-learning in Europe.

The VENUS Handbook entitled 'Creating New Opportunities for Universities' has just been published. This handbook is based on the experience of the partners in the VENUS project who organised Virtual Seminars on a broad range of European subjects and a Summer School on the Use of Social Software in Business and Higher Education.

The handbook contains practical advice about how universities can set up these kinds of services and opportunities and provides plenty of guidelines, checklists and tips. With summaries available in French and German, this handbook guides the reader through the different steps involved in this process, from choosing a pedagocial approach, selecting a suitable topic to preparing speakers and supporting participants.

Edited by Sally Reynolds, Kamakshi Rajagopal and Bieke Schreurs, more information is available from the VENUS site http://www.venus-seminars.net/

The final VENUS Training Workshop on how to organise virtual seminars and summer schools via videoconferencing takes place on Monday 11th February. This workshop highlights in very practical ways how you can bring intercultural dialogue into your classroom, create new instructional design models and find ways to put in place a highly innovative Faculty of Extension, for more information see http://www.venus-seminars.net

A handbook ‘European Cooperation in Education Through Virtual Mobility’ has been published by EuroPACE ivzw (BE), SPACE (BE), ICWE (DE), TietgenSkolen (DK) and ATiT (BE).
It includes short summaries of innovative projects or activities, with a specific focus on outcomes, challenges and recommendations. This handbook can be downloaded at www.being-mobile.net
Read the full press release.

The Virtual Mobility Forum (November 28, Berlin) is a one day Forum is organised as a pre-conference event of Online Educa 2006 and brings together experts and practitioners in the area of Virtual and Physical Mobility. It is a mix of presentation and discussion formats, combining case examples and practical experience with discussions and brain-storming exercises in an effort to come up with clear advice and good practice that others can use in their own Virtual Mobility schemes.

The forum is organised by the Being Mobile and VICTORIOUS project teams.

ATiT recently started work on a new project promoting the concept of virtual mobility with 4 other partners called 'Being Mobile'. This targeted dissemination project aims to raise awareness about how European cooperation in education can be heightened through Virtual Mobility and will manage several targeted dissemination activities including a workshop, a conference, publication of a best practice handbook and a web site.