Efforts to curb the outbreak of COVID-19 led to the closure of education and training buildings, campuses and other sites and a forced shift to emergency modes of digital education. In many Member States, most institutional leaders, in particular those in mid-level positions, had little if any experience of organising teaching and learning online or the different infrastructural, human resource and administrative challenges associated with it. The gulf between responses of different institutions to the crisis has shown that leadership is one of the most important enabling factors for a successful move-to-digital. Institutions that had previously invested in building the digital capacity of their management were better prepared to adapt teaching approaches, keep learners engaged, and continue the education and training process. In defining how to move beyond the unplanned and emergency phase imposed on education providers, institutional leaders need to acknowledge that the shift to digital has been permanently accelerated and that institutions that do not embrace it will exacerbate a digital divide in education and the labour market. Students expect institutions to exist within a digital society and recognise that collaboration, socialisation and learning already happen in a variety of physical and digital environments, and to prepare them to thrive in a digital-first economy and society. StrategyHack supports the priorities of the Digital Education Plan, focuses on capacity building on mid-level institutional leaders since a resilient transformation requires strengthening the connecting tissue between the high-level management strategy level and the digital-pedagogy level which these personnel provide. We intend to: • accelerate digital transformation of staff, programmes and institutional processes within Higher Education; • promote and nourish high quality self-directed personalised learning environments with a strong digital component; • lock in gains made to perceptions of digital learning during the COVID crisis, and using these to promote more sustainable models of digital education Our consortium consisting of 3 Higher Education Institutions with expertise in the topic, two associations of Higher Education and a digital learning consultancy, will work together to take a European Approach to these challenges by creating: Capacity Building Course on Digital Education Strategies This will be designed around a set of 15-20 digital management skills, grouped around 5 dimensions of change', namely pedagogical, organisational, technological, economic & political and institutional change. with a micro-module being designed to acquire each skill by following a challenge-based approach that will instruct participants by giving the opportunity to practice and develop the required skill. The course will take a self-directed free flowing approach, to allow participants to personalise their own learning pathways based on their specific needs. Peer-learning methodology for Digitisation Strategy Improvement We will describe a problem-based methodology for institutional leaders to cooperate within and across institutions to solve specific strategy problems. Inspired by coaching, design-methodologies and hackathon events, we will design intensive online events, with participants over several sessions identifying a problem, sharing best practice on potential solutions, and then working in small groups to propose solutions. Each event will address a challenge such as "How do I conduct assessment remotely and securely for my institution?; How do I map staff's digital competence? How do I address accessibility challenges in my department online?" and aim for institutional leaders to leave the event with a set of concrete ideas to try and implement within their institution. We will: · develop the methodological handbook to run these digital leadership development events; · run six events, focusing on different areas of priority · publish the 'hacked' institutional strategy proposals via the project's website, to inform other actors on insights gained Model Management System for digital education This will consist of a strategy-guidance document, that will give institutional leaders a map to build their institutional strategies and cover: • Leadership documents to integrate digital learning into the institution's identity • Strategic approaches to manage risk and sustainability • Methodologies to manage resources efficiently • Tools and techniques to tackle the most challenging operational activities in digital education Over the course of the project we intend to reach between 150-250 institutional leaders, each of which will gain additionally capacity to deploy digital within their institutions and communities. We will further carry policy recommendations to regional, national and European levels to inform policies within the Commission and the Bologna Process.
Our project aimed to promote an innovative pedagogical approach to digital teaching, emphasizing effective utilization of digital and open tools for enhanced learning experiences. We wanted to foster the implementation of organizational and institutional changes necessary to support digital education, while embracing technological advancements by guiding institutions in adopting relevant technologies to deliver engaging and future-ready education. By addressing these pressing needs, we aimed to bridge the gap between education and technology, empowering educational institutions to thrive in our rapidly changing world. This project represented an opportunity to catalyze positive change and resilience in education, ultimately and hopefully shaping a brighter future for students and therefore society as a whole.
The research stemming from the previous ERASMUS+ project "EDUHack" and the COVID-19 pandemic unveiled the limitations of conventional education systems. As the pace of technology speeds up, alternative ways of teaching are becoming more and more necessary and widespread, and educators are compelled to embrace new technologies to ensure continuous access to high-quality, relevant, education. Institutional leaders, both in research and education, found themselves in a predicament when it came to managing and organizing innovative approaches. The sudden shift towards remote learning and digital platforms revealed the need for leaders who were well-versed in leveraging technology for educational purposes. Many leaders lacked the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate this new terrain, leading to inefficient implementation and suboptimal outcomes; on the contrary, those that had already invested in digital skills were better equipped to adapt to the changing landscape. Our decision to apply for this project derived from the realization of the need for a transformative approach that focused on embracing digital skills and innovative strategies for Higher Education Institutions.