The internationalization of higher education is not regarded as a goal in itself anymore, but as a mean to improve the quality of education and increase the relevance of HEIs within the society at large. Notably, for higher education institutions from developing countries, internationalization brings significant benefits in terms of the improvement of the academic effectiveness, through the mutual exchange and experience of different practices in teaching and learning. Moreover, it fosters the development of human capacities through international collaboration, and students obtain intercultural competences by being exposed to an international setting.Internationalization of HEIs in the Balkan region has been primarily achieved through student and staff mobility as well as Erasmus + CBHE projects that involved a limited number of staff. HEIs have realized that trying to approach to internationalization through these initiatives leaves room for fragmented and individualistic results which prevents internationalization to be embedded within the institutional structures. In this vein, "internationalization at home” (IaH) is vital as it refers to the policies and processes that purposefully integrate international and intercultural aspects into the curricular and co-curricular activities for students. By leveraging on the potentialities of information and communication technologies, this project aims at removing the financial and formal barriers that prevent internationalisation to reach a wide number of students and staff. The process to integrate learning material and teaching approaches, and the technical solutions that will be devised, will allow promoting a framework that can be re-used in other contexts, thus providing an additional tool for effective internationalisation in higher education.
- to formulate a coherent and detailed IaH concept that could be mainstreamed into the partner HEIs roadmaps following on from their specific exigencies- to level up the scope and viability of IaH activities implemented in partner HEIs- to train expert pool capable of developing and integrating IaH into HEI environment- to launch an online platform as a tool for IaH implementation- to establish/modernize the existing structure/entities responsible for IaH at HEIs
This project is committed to continuing the development of cross-regional cooperation between Western Balkans countries, with particular focus on the development of the knowledge transfer process in the region and to strengthening international, intercultural ang global dimension via Internationalization at Home implementation at partner HEIs to enhance the quality of education and to make a meaningful contribution to the society. Moreover, it fosters the development of human capacities.
<< Background >> This project is committed to continuing the development of cross-regional cooperation between Western Balkans countries, with particular focus on the development of the knowledge transfer process in the region and to strengthening international, intercultural ang global dimension via Internationalization at Home implementation at partner HEIs to enhance the quality of education and to make a meaningful contribution to the society. Moreover, it fosters the development of human capacities. << Objectives >> - to formulate a coherent and detailed IaH concept that could be mainstreamed into the partner HEIs roadmaps following on from their specific exigencies- to level up the scope and viability of IaH activities implemented in partner HEIs- to train expert pool capable of developing and integrating IaH into HEI environment- to launch an online platform as a tool for IaH implementation- to establish/modernize the existing structure/entities responsible for IaH at HEIs << Implementation >> Implemented a unified pedagogic Train-the-Trainer (TtT) program. Identified expertise from EU-funded projects and other international projects, enhancing it through training/retraining. Utilized expert pool and repository for 12 pilot courses on innovative teaching. Created a digital platform for collaborative knowledge exchange. Established a request for knowledge mechanism for HEIs. Executed a dissemination plan and devised an exploitation/sustainable strategy. << Results >> Trained 36 experts in a unified pedagogic TtT program. Created a knowledge repository and a request for knowledge toolkit. Developed 12 pilot courses with 52 experts trained. Conducted re-training sessions for 562 academics, administrative staff and students. Established an online Moodle platform with courses in English, Albanian and Bosnian, featuring training materials and portfolios for IaH implementation. Each WB HEI formed agreements with a minimum of 2 businesses under the INTERBA project.