Evidence-Validated Online Learning through Virtual Exchange

EVOLVE is an Erasmus+ Forward Looking Cooperation Project which aims to mainstream Virtual Exchange (VE) as an innovative form of international learning in Higher Education institutions across Europe and beyond. As project coordinator of this project I am responsible for the overall planning and execution of tasks and deliverables in this project.

EVOLVE (Evidence-Based Online Learning through Virtual Exchange) will be carried out by a consortium of universities (Groningen, León, Grenoble, Open University UK, Jan Dlugosz PL, Padova, Warwick, Malmö), two virtual exchange providers (Soliya and Sharing Perspectives Foundation) and two large university networks (Coimbra Group and Santander Group).

The project will provide an innovative online training and coaching programme (‘Co-Laboratory’) for university educators and other facilitators planning to design and integrate VE in their courses. For recognition of competences and skills acquired, a digital accreditation system will be implemented based on the Open Badges standard. The training will initially be open to Coimbra Group and Santander Group members and their partners. In the final year of the project (2019-2020) the training will be offered to the public at large. The impact of the implemented VEs will be measured through state-of-the art research targeting outcomes at learner and educator level. The project results and findings will be shared with policy and decision makers in universities, university associations and national and European policy networks, thus raising awareness for VE and contributing to establishing it as an innovative educational practice.

The project will run from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020. The website for this project is https://www.evolve-erasmus.eu.