As a result of the digital revolution, coupled with the characteristics of millennials, everything that has been practiced under the name of education is being questioned, criticized, and challenged by educators, learners, parents and obviously students. Unfortunately, the gap between “what is taught” and “what is needed in real life” is not closing, not in terms of content nor in delivery of teaching and practiced learning. EU "Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan" stresses the importance of practical experiential learning models and experience of real-world entrepreneurs in education; suggesting entrepreneurial learning methodologies into the classroom. The Project is about compiling an open access digital video case library in International Business (IB), aiming towards more attractive education and training in higher education and in VET. This digital platform is structured similar to an IB textbook. However, in this web and video based version, students do not need to read through the chapters of a textbook. Instead, all information is delivered in a video format, each chapter being covered with real life cases. In addition, chapters are explained by top executives instead of academics. Top executives talk about a specific problem that they faced in the IB area and how they solved it. Following these video cases, a questions and answers (Q&A) section is added to the video by academics. The Q&A section is similar to teaching notes in printed case studies or textbooks and can be used as part of class discussion, linking the specific example to the theory in each chapter. The Project partners are: KU Leuven, Belgium; University of Leeds, UK; University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland and El Izi, UK; KU Leuven being the Applicant Organisation. Each of the four universities are known for their academic excellence and research strengths, covering a wide geography among EU countries. El Izi, UK takes part in the Project as an SME, bringing the technical know-how and prior experience of conducting a similar project in Marketing. The partners have jointly decided to take this Project beyond its present scope, testing, adapting and expanding it according to the needs of the EU. Therefore the Project in line with “Europe Strategy 2020”, involves cooperation and collaboration of partners in the field of Higher Education while introducing an innovative method towards more attractive learning. The Project idea itself is an example of Open Educational Resource (OER), with core values of: Open access, education for all, equality in education and integration of innovative teaching methods with digital technologies - all aligned with the objectives of Erasmus+. One of the main intellectual outputs of the Project will be the development of a new video case collection for IB under MNCs Whiper’g name, both for the academic world and the business, narrated by top executives of well-known companies, by employing innovative teaching methods and using digital technology. Anybody who wants (both youth and adults) to learn IB will be able to benefit from this e-learning digital tool which will allow learners to get free access to it whenever and wherever they wish to log in; irrespective of their socio-economic background, leading to equity and inclusion of education for youth and adults who might otherwise face economic, cultural or geographic obstacles. This supports the idea of flexible learning in line with learners' needs and objectives, as a tool for continuing education programme. More specifically, partners will produce 12 video cases and share with the IB community through its website at www.mncswhispering.com. The Project also addresses the international dimension and multilingualism, as these case videos will be produced in English, Dutch, Polish, and Slovenian; but all will have English dubbing as the lingua franca of IB. In addition, the Project will produce intellectual outputs on IB curriculum and best practices in IB teaching, based on survey results, pilot studies conducted in four universities, classroom applications, participant feedbacks with the joint collaboration of partners. The major impact of the Project will be on IB students and lecturers, who will be exposed to entepreneurial learning with the help of digitalization. Learning IB through watching videos on real business cases, is expected to prepare students better for the business life. Hence by teaching students relevant knowledge for the labour market, the Project will reinforce cooperation between HEIs and commercial enterprises, leading to a win-win situation for both. In addition, based on the tested successful outcome, this teaching method could be adapted to other areas of Social Sciences, such as Economics, Finance, Organisational Behaviour as well as being adopted by other EU countries and beyond; having a much wider and longer impact than the initial scope of the Project.
As specified in the project application, the Video Case Library for International Business (VCL4IB) project - under its MNC Whispering moniker - has developed innovative teaching resources and practices for a digital era by using the original methodology developed by the project partner El Izi for its Brands Whisper'g® collection. The project applied innovative methodology to produce video cases for teaching international business (IB), along with supplementary teaching materials. Video cases were co-created by academics and MNC managers (‘whispering’ their solution), while knowledge clips were produced relating business practices to theoretical concepts. The overall purpose of the project has been to develop an IB curriculum through the development of a video case collection that can be applied in today’s teaching environment. The specific objectives of the project were to (1) identify students’ and lecturers’ needs in terms of IB curriculum and video case usage, (2) identify an IB curriculum fit for the purpose in today’s economic environment, (3) develop a video case collection, including supplementary teaching materials to address these needs, and (4) develop an e-textbook consisting of video cases that can be used as a standalone or supplementary teaching material. A diverse team of teachers, trainers and researchers as well as technicians and administrators from five different partners participated. A total of more than 2800 people have benefited from the project activities and results, including lecturers and students from both partner and peer universities, assisting in the curriculum assessment (approx. 250 people), pilot testing of the video case collection through online and classroom teaching (approx. 1600 people); lecturers and business people participating in and benefiting from MNC Whispering multiplier events (approx. 150 people), and other dissemination activities including webinars, panels, workshops and conferences (approx. 850 people). The project activities include (1) the development of a survey to measure IB curriculum preferences, requirements as well as video case preferences, their usage and digital preparedness among lecturers and students in institutes across Europe and beyond; (2) the development of a table of contents for state-of-the-art IB topics addressing current needs; (3) the development of a video case collection, including supplementary materials such as written teaching notes and knowledge clips; (4) the pilot testing of all the video cases in order to perfect the script, delivery and teaching objectives; (5) the development of an IB video case based e-textbook and a manual for lecturers on how to integrate these videos into their syllabus; and (6) dissemination activities such as: training sessions on how to produce video cases and how to teach using video cases, including presentations, articles, panels, workshops, and webinars. The project results include: (1) assessment report of video case teaching skills and requirements; (2) a state-of-the-art IB curriculum; (3) a video case collection of 14 English video cases, 4 Dutch video cases, 3 Polish video cases, 3 Slovenian video cases; (4) 14 English teaching notes, 4 Dutch teaching notes, 3 Polish teaching notes, and 3 Slovenian teaching notes; (5) 21 knowledge clips in English; (6) an e-book and a detailed manual on how to blend these video cases into lectures; (7) training videos, articles and presentations on how to best produce and teach with video cases (approx. 25); (8) a license agreement signed with The Case Centre for the distribution of the whole collection worldwide. There are currently 42 teaching related materials included in the MNC Whispering collection at The Case Centre’s website. The Case Centre comprises a vast collection of cases, having more than 135,000 items in its collection. It is a rich and open source for academics, across the globe. Our Project commitment was 12 video cases and 12 teaching notes in English. We delivered 14 video cases, 14 teaching notes, 21 knowledge clips in English and one license agreement for global distribution. A long term impact of the Project will be on IB students and lecturers, who will be exposed to business learning with the help of real-life examples via a video case collection. Digital and entrepreneurial teaching requirements grew exponentially because of the Corona pandemic, which occurred mid-way through the project. Hence our video case collection has become even more relevant in today’s HE environment. In addition, our collection has tested an innovative video case methodology and extended its application both geographically and across other disciplines of business studies. Therefore it could be applied in other areas of social sciences and adopted by other EU countries and beyond; having a much wider and longer impact than the initial scope of the Project. We believe our license agreement with The Case Centre will also act as a leverage in this regard.