The Higher Education (HE) sector suffers globally from a number of flaws which are currently being enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Communication of the European Commission it is stressed that “If education is to be the backbone of growth and inclusion in the EU, a key task is preparing citizens to make the most of the opportunities and meet the challenges of a fast-moving, globalised and interconnected world.” (COM(2018) 22 final, p. 3). This document points towards a strong need for enhancing online, distance and blended learning in the EU including support for teachers and learners. This need has been also expressed in the Extraordinary Erasmus+ call to support Digital Education Readiness in response to Coronavirus pandemic. To make the HE institutions ready for Digital Education (DE), the two main project objectives are: A) to synthesize the main pedagogical and technological principles in the development of DE approaches including preparation of the supporting teaching materials, and development of a basic structure for DE recognition, B) to apply, test and validate these principles in different pilot modules/courses targeting different student cohorts at all partner universities. The project consortium is composed of partners with the distinct experience in DE on different levels, ranging from a few months to decades. The consortium partners represent universities with different history and educational profiles, from general to technical and business oriented. The project consortium consists of: 1) Brno University of Technology (CZ), 2) University Politehnica of Bucharest (RO), 3) University of Agder (NO), 4) Bifröst University (IS). Two Intellectual Outputs will be developed: (1) Digital Education Methodology, including several case studies with the description of relevant pedagogy, teaching materials, digital learning tools and simulators in DE; each partner university will contribute with two methodological cases for two different study disciplines covering engineering, quality management, mathematics, media studies, leadership. (2) Digital Education Recognition, where possibilities of recognition of higher education achievements will be explored including use of the blockchain technology in digital recognition of ECTS. A needs/gaps analysis will be prepared as well as a case study and a pilot concept for digital recognition based on blockchains. Other project activities: -4 transnational project meetings, one in each partner country, -4 Multiplier Events, one in each partner country, -4 Learning/Teaching/Training activities, one organized by each consortium member. The project is innovative in both methodology and results. The most important innovation characteristic is applying an advanced DE strategy based on the Design Thinking and the Universal Design methodologies to transfer multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge in HE. Anticipated main project results: -8 DE methodologies for HE institutions in 8 different topics, -one case study about application of blockchain technology in DE recognition, including design, implementation and testing of a recognition system. The project target groups: i) students of a variety of study programmes with diverse background and learning skills, ii) teachers involved in DE, iii) education and ICT experts with specialization in online learning. We envisage the following short and long term impact on target groups and institutions: a) Partner institutions Short Term: increased level of knowledge based on exchange of evidence on DE concepts, focus groups and results of the pilot training; increased knowledge to be transferred into more extensive projects Long Term: introduce schemes into daily practices; contribute to changes in economic policies and learning techniques b) Authorities/experts Short Term: increase knowledge and awareness on circular bio-economy concepts Long term: stimulate DE concepts schemes policies; developing ideas for further improving modern educational mechanisms c) Academic service providers Short Term: increase awareness levels about the possibility of introducing modern DE concepts / blockchain technology support in their own administrative rules; increase responsibility in promoting modern curricula and courses Long Term: increased capacity of the involved HEI to cooperate with authorities in designing appropriate DE concepts d) Students/learners: increased awareness of the potential of DE concepts; increased capacity of learning based on modern practices; increased chances to be enrolled on the unique European labour market based on Digital Education Recognition Addressing Priority 1: Making better use of digital technology for teaching and learning put forward in the Digital Education Action Plan of the European Commission, the BoostEdU project will provide a solid methodological basis and valuable recommendations for the efficient implementation of Digital Education across European universities.
The consortium wanted to achieve the following: to equip learners and teachers with the skills to navigate digital tools, platforms, and resources effectively and provide a variety of multimodal learning resources that cater to different learning preferences and needs including text-based materials, videos, interactive simulations, educational games, and other innovative formats. On the other hand, we agreed that digital tools should preferably enable personalised learning experiences fitting individual student needs, learning preferences, and trajectories. We thought of the organisation of learning facilitating interactive discussions, group work, and peer feedback thus fostering a sense of community and enhancing learners’ social skills. With all these ideas in mind, we aimed at achieving the following two main project objectives: (A) to synthesise the core pedagogical and technical principles required for the development of modern approaches to DE including relevant supporting materials along with the design and testing of a basic structure for DE recognition; (B) to apply, test and validate these principles in various pilot modules/courses targeting different students in different study programs at all partner universities.
Rapid development of novel technological tools changes the ways higher education institutions (HEI) organise teaching and learning processes, but the changes are slow and do not catch up with the possibilities offered by the technology. Part of HEIs already started implementation of innovative educational approaches supported by digital tools, but many HEIs were unprepared for the Covid-19 pandemic which required a rapid replacement of face-to-face teaching with an online one. Project partners experienced difficulties during the shift to online education including not only technical issues, but also lack of digital literacy skills needed to effectively use online learning technology. The lack of face-to-face interactions impacted students' focus and engagement. Asynchronous communication by email or discussion forums led to delayed responses and limited instances of real-time interaction. Transfer of traditional assessment to online formats was painful, as was organisation of laboratory work, or hands-on experiments. The partners applied for the Erasmus+ funding to address a strong need for the enhancement of the online, distance and blended learning supporting teachers and learners with better resources for off-campus learning.