In response to the COVID-19 unprecedented crisis schools and universities closing down almost immediately and simultaneously, education all around the world needed to change its course of action and move the majority of the class interaction online. The project partners noticed that the cohort of students most affected by the consequences of the global health crisis was made up of the mobile students (both incoming and outgoing). Apart from the need to adjust to online teaching and learning, the mobile students also had to adapt to the new conditions of living in lock-down in a foreign country with little to no cultural background/information and sometimes isolated from other students with whom they could connect and share. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis on mobile students cannot be denied and nobody can predict the extent in which their academic and personal development track has been shaken. The main objective of the CONFIDENT project is to address the needs of mobile students signaled in times of crisis and equip them with proper instruments and tools in order to enhance their confidence, their readiness to take on the world and enrich their personality. The project will allow mobile students to consolidate and expand their soft skills which are most of the times neglected and tap into these competences whenever they will need them in their work and personal life. The newly acquired transferable skills will be of much use in the new world the students will live in and will help them better cope with future challenges. The project reunites 3 partner universities of a larger consortium, ENGAGED, who have already worked together for the submission of a project within the European Universities call, namely: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (UAIC), Romania, Hochschule Bremen City University of Applied Sciences (HSB), Germany and Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), Finland. Other three universities from the larger consortium will be Associated Partners (Hanze University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands, Polytechnic Institute of Braganza, Portugal and Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland). Five (5) Intellectual Outputs will be carried out throughout the project: 1 Online Self-Assessment Intercultural & Digital Competence Tool (IO1) which will assess the students’ competency level in the field of Intercultural Communication and Digital Learning and will be a starting point for the construction of the IO2 and IO3, 2 Learning Modules in Intercultural Communication (IO2) and Digital Learning (IO3) under video form which will be openly available on the partner universities’ websites, 1 Cyber Café (IO4) whose role will be to gather the mobile students around the two focal topics of the project (Intercultural Communication and Digital Learning) and at the same time provide a virtual space for social and personal interaction. The final IO5 will be comprised of the Satisfaction Survey and Analysis Report which will highlight how the mobile students evaluated their newly acquired skills. The IOs will be tested and implemented during the Intensive Fall Week for Mobile Students (C1) which will host mobile students from the partner universities. Three (3) Multiplier Events will be organized in each of the partner institutions with the aim to raise awareness regarding the development of mobile students’ soft skills which are much needed in today’s global, digital world. The Multiplier Events will be organized as follows: the 1st Multiplier Event will be hosted by University of Applied Sciences Bremen, Germany (dissemination of IO1 - Online Self-Assessment Intercultural & Digital Competence Tool). The 2nd Multiplier Event will be organized in Tampere by Tampere University of Applied Sciences (dissemination of IO2 - Online Open Module in Intercultural Communication and IO3 - Online Open Module in Digital Learning) while the 3rd Multiplier Event will take place in Iasi at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (dissemination of IO4 - the Cyber Café for Mobile Students and IO5 -Satisfaction Survey and Analysis Report). Four (4) Transnational Meetings among partners will be held as part of the management and communication strategy to expose, develop and analyze the results of the IOs. The results of the project will enable the staff involved in the project (IROs and administrative offices, teaching staff) get acquainted with the expectations of mobile students so that they can cater better to their needs. It will be at the same time an opportunity to reflect on the added value of these competences and their practical use in the students’ daily life. The main desired impact of the project at local, regional, national and EU level is the development of shared awareness on the usefulness of intercultural and digital skills before, during and after an international mobility, spreading from the partners of the project to other partner institutions and stakeholders.
CONFIDENT project aimed to ease mobile students’ integration in the host university by developing their Intercultural Communication and Digital Learning competences, making them proactive and curious about other cultures by means of the digitalization tools which are currently in the spotlight of the educational process. Project’ objectives were to: Increase the Intercultural and Digital Competences for mobile students; Improve mobile students’ knowledge related to the cultural and social aspects of their mobility; Get the students accustomed with the digital learning platforms used at the host universities and raising the awareness regarding the challenges of online learning, ethics and security in the cyber world; Provide meaningful digital tools for the mobile students by means of which they can interact and share their experiences, fears, hopes and expectations with other students; Fostering the growth of the “internationalization at home” by making available the online open modules in Intercultural Communication and Digital Learning to non-mobile students as well; Raise awareness among the European universities regarding the development of intercultural and digital learning skills of their mobile students.
During the recent Covid-19 crisis, the partner universities noticed that one of the most affected cohorts was made up of the international mobile students, both incoming and outgoing. With the universities closing almost immediately and simultaneously, education all around the world changed its course of action and most of the class interaction was moved online. In the case of our target group, the need to adjust quickly to sometimes unfamiliar tools and practices of online learning was doubled by the need to adapt to the cultural context of the host country, without the chance to experience it directly. The decision to apply for a project able to cover these stringent needs was backed-up by the identification of relevant expertise in intercultural communication and digital learning at the partnership level and was supported by the team members’ willingness to collaborate in finding proper solutions. Intercultural communication and digital learning competences remain highly and constantly important for young people after the pandemic crisis, as they live part of their professional and personal life in an interconnected virtual world, interacting online with peers from different cultures, and experiencing global citizenship.