BACKGROUND

Many universities in Europe and globally are exploring tools and methods that can guarantee students’ ongoing engagement and their active participation online, as well as complementary ways to provide them with an intercultural and international experience, in addition to physical mobility, and with the today much required transversal competences and soft skills. One approach that can help deliver online learning is Virtual Exchange (VE), a distinctive e-solution to enable deep, interactive intercultural learning through online facilitated discussions.
Universities exploring blended mobility and VE for the first time and those already experienced in these activities, typically face two main challenges:

 i) to design and implement blended mobility and VE schemes that are inclusive and intercultural, and
 ii) to integrate and accredit blended mobility and VE activities as a stable component of their educational offer.

In this context, the FRAMES “Fostering resilience through Accredited Mobility for European Sustainable Higher Education innovation” project is working to foster a harmonised implementation and accreditation of VE, as an integral part of (blended) mobility approaches, among European Higher Education Institutions, making the European Higher Education Area more innovative, intercultural and resilient. The project is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and spans over 2 years (March 2021 – February 2023).

OBJECTIVES OF THE EVENT

• To present the key results developed by the FRAMES consortium, namely the scenarios, the toolkit, and the strategic framework for integrating VE in Higher Education
• To explore the constraints and opportunities related to the implementation and accreditation of VE in Higher Education

TARGET AUDIENCE

The event will be of interest to academic staff interested in VE, officers in charge of mobility and internationalisation, IT staff, as well as top management, senior staff with internationalisation roles, and anyone interested in exploring the opportunities VE can offer to innovate mobility in higher education.