Background of the project. Based on in-depth analysis of relevant documents and statistical data it was observed that European Union(EU) faces a major challenge in higher education and lack of innovative, interactive, stimulating and open education which develops both teachers and learners’ skills. On the other hand it can be observed, that EU priority is to increase the awareness of consumers with regards to their markets’ rights protection and there is lack of specialists on this topic.Objectives: The main objective of the project is to enhance the quality of innovative higher education on consumer awareness. It will be done through detailed objectives which include: creation and implementation of the innovation and interactive open educational module (MOOC), development of a model for academic innovative teaching and finally creation an open space of integration and exchange of good practice between Universities from EU. Indirect objective concern increase of European consumers market awareness.Participants: Consortium representatives from 8 Universities representing different models of consumer protections In Europe and different teaching styles: 16Bachelor students: 80Non-members of Consortium (during Multiplier Event - Universities’ authorities, employees, researchers, teachers, practitioners): 200Description of activities:Project involves the implementation of MOOC which include four issues:1.Consumer protection 2.Institutions which address consumers right protection 3.Legal rules concerning consumer rights protection on goods and services market 4.Legal rules concerning consumer rights protection on digital marketCourse materials will use online affordances (interactivity, communication, collaboration) as well as rich media (video and audio, mobile, online and offline) to engage students in their learning process. Intellectual Outputs(IO) produced by partners throughout the project, will provide an added value for European higher education: Book “Consumers protection standards in Europe”, Mobile Application, Collaborative Platform. Within IO the Consume-aware MOOC guide will produced in order for all interested universities to be able to implement one by themselves. The project incorporates 6 transnational meetings, 2 Intensive Programmes for students and teachers and 1 Multiplier Event.Methodology to be used in a project:In order to ensure the highest quality of project results, as well as effective time management and significant range of dissemination, there is a strong need of multinational cooperation in order to exchange good practice and experience gained on different cultural backgrounds. The most important methodology of managing such a huge international project, is to correctly divide tasks and decide on organizational structure:-Project Coordinator-Financial Manager-Steering Committee-Technical Committee-Dissemiantion and Communication ManagerDescription of results:At Consume-aware project, first of all a framework will be developed of common features for MOOCs to ensure goals achievement: learner-centered, openness to learners, digital openness, independent learning, media-supported interaction, recognition options, quality focus, spectrum of diversity.Then, during the project a Consume-aware MOOC will be designed and implemented. It will be done in a way which will provide that all unnecessary barriers to learning are removed, while aiming to provide students with a reasonable chance of success in an education and on a job market in the future. As a result it was agreed that MOOC will have following features: (1) free of charge, (2) free admittance (3) genuine open access– it will ensure the integrated mobility of students as they will participate in truly international course with international teachers and international class mates without changing their location. Consume-aware model of ready-to-implement MOOC on consumer protection, as well as guidelines on how to prepare effective MOOC in general. It will have a major significance for enhancing the quality of innovative higher education on European scale as all resources will be in open access with relevant know-how and good practice.Impact:MOOCwill provide high quality materials and a rich virtual learning environment to enable an independent learner to progress through self-study. Independent learning is essential to take students forward in their further academic or professional development in life.Moreover the project will:• promote digital skills as a key means for personal and professional growth in contemporary education for teachers and students• educate future specialists on the issue of consumers’ rights and protection (with focus on e-consumers)• enhance the integration, iinternationalization and development of networking and cooperation between the European Universities• promote good practice examples in lifelong learning in expanding Europe.• promote ICT as a powerful tools for teaching
Background of the project. On the basis of an in-depth analysis of relevant documents and statistical data it was observed that European Union faces a challenge in higher education - a shortage of innovative, interactive, stimulating and open education which develops both teachers and learners’ skills. On the other hand it can be observed that EU priority is to increase the awareness of consumers with regard to their markets’ rights protection and there is a lack of specialists in this area. Objectives: The main objective of the project was to enhance the quality of innovative higher education on consumer awareness. It was done through detailed objectives which include: creation and implementation of an innovative and interactive e-learning platform, development of ready-to-use didactic tools with guide on how to use them, and finally, creation of an open space of integration and exchange of good practice between Universities from the EU. Indirect objective concerned increase of European consumers market awareness. Participants: 8 Universities representing different models of consumer protections in Europe and different teaching styles. Non-members of the Consortium: during Multiplier Event - Universities’ authorities, employees, researchers, teachers, practitioners. Description of activities: the creation of an e-learning platform which includes mobile app as a didactic tool, a scholarly researched book, an e-book with exercises, videos as case studies and lectures, guides on how to use the platform and create similar projects, and a syllabus. The course materials use online affordances (interactivity, communication, collaboration) as well as various media (video and audio, mobile, online and offline) to engage students in their learning process. The Intellectual Outputs (IO) produced by partners provide an added value for European higher education: (1) the book “Consumers protection standards in Europe”, (2) a mobile application, (3) an e-learning platform www.consume-aware.eu. Description of results: IO1 – the platform is an IT Tool and pedagogical material which supports the didactic process. It is divided into two parts: for student and for teacher. Therefore, this is easy to navigate by all types of the interested users. All parts include the guide on how to use the content so it can be easily transferred to different higher education institutions. All tools were tested in terms of their innovativeness and attractiveness to stakeholders and they offer unique approach to education with many interactive materials. IO2 – the book is a pedagogical material which can be used as a background for studying. This is a scientific, research-based publication which includes papers on legal framework of consumer protection in Europe. The book is divided into three parts. The first one considers consumer’s awareness about the market threats and rules. The second one analyses the issue of consumer rights form the companies and business perspective. The third one analyses the consumer rights, models of its protection, institutions which address it. IO3 – the mobile application is an IT Tool and innovative pedagogical material. It is available in a form of a quiz (gamification) asking questions about the consumer rights with a purpose of raising awareness and linking to e-learning platform for a comprehensive information. It results from our analysis that this approach is unique in Europe and there are no tools which assess the level of consumer awareness on this scale. It will be a form of entertaining study using a mobile quiz, which at the same time consists of questions easy to answer after reading the book (O2). Main impact: The project participants (higher education teachers) both working on intellectual outputs and cooperating during transnational project meetings were exchanging good practice, developing their skills and knowledge and reaching goals of the project like enhancing the quality of teaching methods used during classes, exchanging good practices and synergy of different teaching styles and experiences. The partner institutions increased internationalization through tight cooperation with European partners, implementation of more technologically advanced didactic methods within their courses, development of networking and promoting work on “ready-to-use” didactic solutions.