The InCompEdu project tackles the common challenges in the sudden switch to online teaching at the HEI in the EU, due to COVID-19, by identifying and sharing the good practices, knowledge and experience gained at the partner universities and beyond. The challenges include both mastering of new digital skills and the methodologies of creating and conducting online courses. The project consortium involves 6 academic partners from 6 different countries, that is, Croatia, Finland, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovenia, led by the University of Gdansk, Poland. The target groups to be addressed are the community of academic teachers and HEI Authorities responsible for study programmes. These groups have been forced to make rapid changes in course programs and teaching methods. The project’s activities will focus on two aspects, that is, digital competence of academic teachers, and the development of new competences in creation and implementation of online/hybrid courses and innovative curricula. Regarding the target group of academic teachers, the project will support building their digital competencies in using the IT tools in online higher education through the knowledge gathered and shared by the academic community and experts. The technical possibilities of a variety of platforms will be examined, and the use of individual tools will be demonstrated in practise. Support will be provided in developing of more effective and inspirational curricula for online courses. Regarding the target group of HEI authorities, the project will allow them to gain understanding of the wide range of challenges in online education, concerning not only the technical aspects but also the online classes methodology. Furthermore, the project will promote to exchange of views and building common understanding among those who are responsible for the transition programs on the education system level and those who are responsible for activities and development at the university level. Such initiatives may exist at the university level, but the project activities will strengthen cooperation at the European level. The outputs of the project include identification of challenges and good practices with transferring to online mode. This output will produce two deliverables, that is, a Report on identified challenges and problems that occurred during the transition to online teaching mode in the Covid-19 pandemic period, and Inspiring good practices - a booklet of educator stories. The Report and Booklet will be based on questionnaires and interviews with academic teachers/experts presenting their success stories in transferring to online education. Outputs of the project also include "Building the digital competences in the academic community of tomorrow", which focusses on analyzing and finding open educational platforms that can easily be adapted and modified to work within a specific university to meet the needs of remote learning. The key technical problems in remote learning will be identified and appropriate learning management systems examined to fit the needs in various fields of higher education. This output will produce two deliverables, the first of which is a Technical Platforms booklet, presenting IT platforms that are considered to meet most of the expectations for online learning. Those will be chosen by using a Delphi analysis method, which enables reliable and creative examination of ideas and actions with involvement of a wide range of experts. Another deliverable is Filmoteque: the training videos for academic teachers on how to teach using IT systems at various levels of the curriculum. and will cover multiple fields. The third project's output will be "Reimagining on-line courses for the future of high education" that will develop innovative concepts of effective online classes as well as innovative tools/methods of learning and working in online group stimulating creativity and teamwork. The methodology applied in this output will be Design thinking, which involves teamwork in diverse, interdisciplinary groups, allowing developing of unconventional ideas. In the InCompEdu project, the solutions developed during the DT sessions will be tested during the model online classes. This intellectual output will produce one deliverable - a booklet "Towards effective courses" presenting the results of the workshops conducted in accordance with the DT methodology and tested during model lectures/classes. Innovativeness of the project lies in benchmarking and exchange of best practices with other European universities. InCompEdu project is expected to provide deeper and wider understanding of practices at the European level and push to have a critical look of the choices made and search for points of improvement. Before all, the project is expected to support peer learning and exchange of experiences and end up with new jointly developed methodologies and inspiration from colleagues at the European leve
The main goal of the project was to improve the quality of online higher education by providing academic teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively use tools and platforms in their teaching. In addition to building the digital competencies of academic teachers, the InCompEdu project also aimed to support University Authorities in improving the quality of online higher education. This was achieved by providing University Authorities with an understanding of the challenges related to online education, including the technical aspects and methodology of conducting online classes. Successful implementation of online teaching requires the integration of activities in many areas of the university's work, both related to IT and to the area of improving and evaluating the quality of education. The project aimed to present the experiences of European universities, possible IT solutions to be used, and a new approach to creating courses in a cross-sectional way, using DT methodology. Overall, the Incompedu project aimed to provide academic teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to adapt to the changing landscape of education, ensuring that they can provide high-quality online education to their students.
A significant challenge faced by academic teachers and university authorities following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic was the lack of digital skills and knowledge of online teaching methodologies. The sudden shift to remote teaching highlighted the need for educators to have a strong understanding of digital tools and technologies and the ability to effectively deliver content and engage with students online. Additionally, many academic teachers were not familiar with the methodology and best practices for conducting online classes, which further compounded the challenge. InCompEdu project aimed at filling this gap of knowledge and develop innovative solutions to make it possible for teaching staff and, consequently, students to have high quality education and ease some of the challenges they faced.