Virtual Albanian European Universities Exchange (VALEU-X) is a joint project to support the internationalisation efforts of Higher Educational Institutions in Albania through modern technology-enhanced academic exchange with European HEIs. It proposes blending on-campus teaching activities with international Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) components as a Virtual Mobility element to introduce international perspectives in formal higher educational programmes within a holistic approach of Internationalisation at Home.The project objectives include:- Enable academic staff to extend their teaching processes and content with international perspectives and elements- Help Albanian HEI to develop effective internationalisation strategies- Provide Albanian students with international experience at their home HEI- Prepare Albanian HEI for successful integration in the EU academic landscapeThe foreseen outcomes and results include:- New problem-based learning practices based on constructive collaborative methodologies.- Common international study activities involving Albanian and European students and academics.- Blended Mobility setup using Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) methods and modern ICT including Social Media.- Virtual/Blended Mobility augmented Internationalisation at Home strategies with acknowledgment and recognition mechanisms.The envisaged impact encompasses:- Build capacity at Albanian HEI for international/EU academic practices- Encourage personal growth of Albanian students to become EU citizens- Overcome limited physical academic mobility between Albania and the EU- Increase relevance of Albanian HE programs to international/EU job markets- Promote applied teaching and learning using modern technologies- Enhance the adoption of “eBologna” in Albanian HE
Qualification of academic staff at Albanian HEIs for innovative virtual teaching and learning settings .Support Albanian HEIs in adopting and implementing effective ICT-based internationalisation at home activities and integrate Albanian HEIs in a global network for “Virtual Mobility”.Qualification of administrative staff at Albanian HEIs on adopting and recognising Virtual/Blended Mobility as part of their institutional internationalisation strategy.
The VALEU-X project tackles the limited exposure of Albanian university students and academics to international experience in virtual collaborative learning. By empowering Albanian academic staff with contemporary teaching competencies, it offers Albanian HEIs a chance to explore, implement, and disseminate Internationalisation at Home practices to increase their students’ and staff exposure to a European and international academic, economic, and societal context.
<< Background >> The VALEU-X project tackles the limited exposure of Albanian university students and academics to international experience in virtual collaborative learning. By empowering Albanian academic staff with contemporary teaching competencies, it offers Albanian HEIs a chance to explore, implement, and disseminate Internationalisation at Home practices to increase their students’ and staff exposure to a European and international academic, economic, and societal context. << Objectives >> Qualification of academic staff at Albanian HEIs for innovative virtual teaching and learning settings .Support Albanian HEIs in adopting and implementing effective ICT-based internationalisation at home activities and integrate Albanian HEIs in a global network for “Virtual Mobility”.Qualification of administrative staff at Albanian HEIs on adopting and recognising Virtual/Blended Mobility as part of their institutional internationalisation strategy. << Implementation >> The VALEU-X project is implemented by the use of a collaborative teaching and learning environment which is also used as digital repository and Community of practice. All major project activities took place on, or with the help of this platform. Albanian academic staff has gained the competency to set up and re-use the virtual platform for collaboration in teaching and learning on local and international level. << Results >> The six Albanian HEI’s realized 9 local and one international pilot VCL with 339 student participants, and qualified 34 Albanian students as E-Tutors to supervise the collaborative online work. Further, 592 Albanian academic and administrative staff have been trained in online and on-site trainings complemented by 65 Staff Observation visit participants, 191 participants in three Expert Forums, and a final conference with 70 international participants and 23 project relevant contributions.