The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on higher education (HE) and international study programmes. The sudden shift to online teaching and learning brought about challenges at different levels, from competences and pedagogies, to teaching and learning tools, collaborative work and quality assurance. In this context, Joint Programme (JP) coordinators, managers, teachers and students have been among the hardest-hit HE players. By their nature, JPs are international collaborative programmes built on physical mobility of students and teachers, joint, inter-cultural and trans-national processes and activities. Due to the pandemic, JP had to respond quickly to avoid disruption in program activities. Responding to the EC Digital Action Plan (2021-2027) and priorities of the Erasmus+ Call Partnerships for Digital Educational Readiness, the main objective of the project is to contribute to the development of a digitalized, innovative and quality-oriented HE, by providing instruments to sustainably mainstream new forms of virtual teaching and learning into the degree courses beyond risk-mitigation approaches. This will be done by focusing specifically on JP, felt to be a perfect laboratory where different innovative pedagogies, tools and resources can be tested and experimented. As the name suggests, GO-DIJIP will be a call to Action inviting approx. 150 JP coordinators, managers, teachers to explore & share existing practices and innovative learning & teaching methodologies; develop their digital skills; integrate digital collaborative environments into JP; collaborate trans-nationally towards quality digital education. Students (up to 25 directly involved) will also play a key role in this all-round innovation process by bringing in the end-users perspective and supporting staff members in assessing key needs, priorities, and values when innovating HE programmes. Finally, Partner HEIs, Networks and, indirectly National/European authorities, will be called to reflect around the importance of adjusting policy frameworks so to allow a smoother and more effective and inclusive transition to digital collaboration in HE. The project be framed around a set of well-defined, realistic and consecutive Intellectual Outputs responding to the specific objectives outlined above, i.e.: • IO1 - AMPLIFIER open collaborative platform will effectively contribute to the sharing and amplifying of best practices & tools related to the digital transformation and integration of JP. It will be designed to provide inspiration for teaching with technology through open access to pioneering practices and projects of particular relevance to JP. As important, it will explore and develop digital spaces for student led production of knowledge in JP • IO2 - APLIFIER contributions will serve as a base to select the best practices for shooting 4 video-testimonials (IO2). They will serve as “tracks of pedagogical practices” that can be transferred and adapted to other contexts in a transversal way, contributing to inspire and raise awareness on the potential and benefits of new forms of virtual education • IO3 - The GO-DIJIP Online Staff Training Course (IO3) will be the core of the project. The course will respond to these needs of JP practitioners by developing an open, technology-sustained, experiential training course focused on how to best integrate digital environments into JP. First a Pilot Training Course targeting approx. 20-25 JP academic and administrative staff members at Partner HEI will be tested. The course will be complemented by a face-to-face training workshop. Based on participatory feedback, an Open Training Course targeting approx. 50 external HEI partners and stakeholders will be developed. • IO4 Previous activities will lead to the creation of a digital Handbook and Policy Recommendations in order to reach a different target and encourage a digital transformation not only with a bottom-up push, but also guided and supported by policy makers. Outputs and results will be disseminated and multiplied extensively during two Multiplier Events, as well as during internal and external events of Partners, Associated Partners and Networks. All project activities are designed to be carried out collaboratively and transnationally, by involving the different practitioners in the field (academics, administrators, students, HEIs governance bodies, etc..) and applying the most advanced teaching/learning technologies in the field. Through this transnational partnership, the project aims to align digital skills, promote common standards and quality guidelines to respond to a sustainable transition to quality digital education. In the long term, GO-DIJIP outputs are expected to contribute to innovate the HE sector, with a specific focus on JP; to make HE more inclusive and accessible through structured and effective digitalization; to integrate such innovative elements and approaches into the wider national policies.
The GO-DIJIP project aimed to develop a digitised, innovative, collaborative and quality-oriented HE by inviting JPs coordinators, managers, teachers and students to explore and share existing practices and innovative learning and teaching methodologies already implemented within the wider international community of JPs. More specifically, the project aimed to develop digital competences and knowledge for HEIs staff active in JPs and/or interested in JPs development, with a focus on how to use digital tools to efficiently market JPs. Finally, GO-DIJIP aims to become a point of reference for, on one hand, HEIs interested in enhancing the integration of virtual elements into JPs and, more generally, into their internationalisation strategy and, on the other hand, for National or supranational authorities, which could use the Go-DIJIP policy recommendations as a guide for a more comprehensive review of the legal framework of JPs, to allow the flexibility needed to respond to the need for innovation and digitalisation, while maintaining and guaranteeing a high quality in education. Taking into consideration the identified target groups and their needs, the project was framed around a set of well-defined and realistic objectives, i.e.: 1. to share good practices and to map innovative instruments to mainstream new forms of virtual teaching and learning and to enhance digital marketing applied to JPs. To this end, the GO-DIJIP Project has developed the first Intellectual Output (IO1): the AMPLIFIER Platform with embedded Video Testimonials; 2. to develop the digital competences of both educators and administrators, focusing on how to best develop and integrate virtual environments into JP. To this end, the GO-DIJIP Project has implemented the third Intellectual Output (IO3): the Virtual Staff Training Course; 3. to raise awareness among key stakeholders on the importance of virtual collaborative education in all its forms and to stimulate reflection on current challenges and barriers hindering the full development of JPs. To this end, the GO-DIJIP Project has developed the fourth Intellectual Output (IO4): the GO-DIJIP Handbook and Policy Recommendations. A detailed description of the IOs is provided in section 5 of this report.
The GO-DIJIP project stems from the need to cope with the challenges of a new digital educational environment abruptly imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Driven less by quality considerations, and more by necessity, the rush towards digital education risks evolving at the expense of high-quality standards. In this context, Joint Programmes (JPs) practitioners have been among the hardest-hit Higher Education (HE) players. By their nature, JPs (and Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters) are international top-quality collaborative programmes built on physical mobility of students and teachers, joint and trans-national processes and activities. Due to the pandemic, academics had to swiftly adapt JPs teaching activities and key joint elements to new virtual settings. At the same time, administrators had to re-adapt international-student-support services. Students, on their hand, were affected with strong limitations to mobility, social interactions, etc. JPs were not only urgently in need of rapid solutions to mitigate negative effects, but also had to become intrinsically more open and flexible to respond to change. According to the 2020 EACEA survey report, 90% of ongoing EMJMs re-adapted their activities to blended/virtual formats in 2020/21, many of them seeing it as an opportunity for innovation. In order to better understand current needs, in Oct. 2020 project partners conducted a survey, addressed to JP coordinators, focusing on perceived opportunities & risks to JP digitalisation. All respondents (representing 12 consortia from about 30 countries) agreed on the importance of sharing tools and good practices, 60% highlighted the need for awareness-raising & training initiatives for a new pedagogical approach, including virtual collaboration, while only 20% indicated the need for "tailored made" IT tools. The lack of adequate staff training to deal with distance education was identified as one of the biggest challenges. GO-DIJIP was therefore designed to address those needs and the wider goals of the EC Digital Action Plan and Erasmus+ Call Partnerships for Digital Educational Readiness. Its overall aim was to contribute to the development of a digitalized, innovative, and quality-oriented HE, by providing instruments to sustainably mainstream new forms of virtual teaching and learning into degree courses beyond risk-mitigation approaches. This was done by focusing on specific Target Groups, i.e. JP coordinators, managers, teachers and students/alumni. JPs are indeed felt to be a perfect laboratory where different creative and innovative pedagogies, tools and resources can be experimented and tested before being applied to different and wider contexts as a comprehensive approach to the overall challenge of digital education. Responding to the Call’s priorities, the project aimed at contributing to building capacity to implement online, blended and distance teaching and learning; to develop the digital pedagogical competences of educators and project managers; and to develop and use high-quality innovative digital content.