Blended mobility

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blended mobility is a concept from the field of internationalization in the higher education sector, in which study-related mobility abroad is combined with digitized forms of teaching and learning. Blended mobility is a form of study-related mobility abroad that is characterized by a mixture of real mobility (e.g. study abroad ), virtual mobility (e.g. use of digitized learning offers from international partner universities) and blended learning approaches.

Blended mobility is used, among other things, in the context of transnational bachelor's and master's degrees. This can mean that students meet physically in one place at the beginning and at the end of study projects and work together. The remaining project time is spent by the students at the institutions in their respective home countries, where they continue to work on the joint project with the help of digital communication and collaboration tools and the Internet. The subject of such projects can be digital business models or the digitization of existing processes. In the context of the internationalization strategies of universities, blended mobility aims to promote the employability of university students.

Since 2009, blended mobility has evolved from virtual mobility and has contributed to the differentiation of international academic mobility . At the same time, Blended Mobility offers a concrete answer to possible family, financial, psychological and social barriers to physical mobility.

Definition and subject

Blended Mobility is an educational concept that combines virtual mobility through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and short-term physical mobility. The aim of this method is to achieve benefits similar to physical mobility, but with fewer barriers.

The virtual mobility part of blended mobility is mostly supported by the use of information and communication technologies (e.g. Skype , Adobe Connect, Slack , Google Hangout , Trello ) in order to keep in touch with supervisors and / or students who are many remote locations. The physical mobility part is usually short-lived and ranges from 2 to 14 days. There can be multiple periods of short term mobility. Short periods of physical mobility allow participants to focus on the actual project for just a few days, which is difficult in daily life in a local setting.

The first applications of a blended mobility format can be found as early as 2009. This project created an environment that promotes the development of soft skills, such as teamwork and communication, in an international environment through an innovative teaching paradigm in order to enable these skills without expensive and extensive curriculum changes to improve.

The blended mobility paradigm can be implemented in different variants.

The European Commission also sees and recognizes blended mobility as preparation for long-term physical mobility or as a supplement to regular study programs.

The European Commission's Digital Education Action Plan (January 2018) states that Erasmus + will continue to promote blended mobility with new opportunities to support both online and face-to-face learning and student exchanges in different countries.

Blended Mobility Initiatives

  • Being mobile project
  • Europe Now : Web platform for European mobile students and alumni of various European exchange programs
  • EUVIP : Enterprise-University Virtual Placements
  • Mobi-Blog : The European weblog platform for mobile students
  • Move-IT : Seminars to promote virtual support for mobile students
  • PROVIP : Promoting Virtual Mobility in Placements
  • VICTORIOUS : Virtual Curricula Through Reliable Interoperating University Systems
  • VM-BASE : Virtual Mobility Before and After Student Exchanges
  • MUTW : Multinational Undergraduate Team Work
  • AdriArt : Advancing Digital and Regional Interactions in Art Teaching
  • B-AIM : Blended Academic International Mobility

advantages

  • Development of social skills
  • Acquiring soft skills
  • Learning organizational skills
  • learn how to use online communication tools
  • no impairment of normal home activity
  • the opportunity to work as a member of a team of students, international and / or interdisciplinary
  • the opportunity to work on a project commissioned by a company or a proof of concept, resulting in real, innovative projects
  • experience cultural differences and similarities
  • practice languages ​​other than the mother tongue
  • can be more easily integrated into the curriculum of educational institutions
  • offers opportunities for participants with special needs (e.g. online assistance software, medical treatment ...)

disadvantage

  • harder to communicate virtually, especially if not in their native language
  • Alternative to long-term mobility, but not equivalent
  • Communication problems can arise sooner and faster
  • requires discipline
  • some degree of independence is required

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Faculty of Economics - Blended Mobility (University of Paderborn). Retrieved November 18, 2018 .
  2. ^ Klaus Wannemacher : Digital models of international university cooperation in teaching. HIS Institute for University Development, July 2016, p. 18 , accessed on November 18, 2018 .
  3. ↑ M. Vriens; W. Van Petegem; I. Op de Beeck; M. Acht (January 2010), Virtual mobility as an alternative or complement to physical mobility
  4. ^ I. Op de Beeck; K. Bijnens; W. Van Petegem; M. Eighth (2009), Home & Away. Coaching exchange students from a distance. A best-practice manual on blended mobility
  5. ↑ M. Eighth; M. Vriens; I. Op de Beeck; W. Van Petegem (2010), Virtual support for physically mobile students
  6. ↑ https://www.kuleuven.be/onderwijs/werken_opo/virtuele-mobiliteit (visited June 2018)
  7. ↑ CM Sanchez; M. Fornerino; M. Zhang (2006), Motivations and the intent to study abroad among US French and Chinese students, Journal of Teaching in International Business .
  8. ↑ M. Souto-Otero; J. Huisman; M. Beerkens; H. de Wit; S. Vujić (March 2013), Barriers to International Student Mobility: Evidence From the Erasmus Program , Educational Researcher
  9. ↑ P. Purg; K. Sirok; D. Brasil (2016) The Transformative Impact of Blended Mobility Courses
  10. ^ NF Escudeiro; PM Escudeiro, Multinational Undergraduate Team Work, Excellence in International Capstone Projects
  11. ↑ F. Maltauro; J. Anderson, Presentation: Digital within the Renewed EU Agenda for Higher Education (visited June 2018)
  12. ↑ European Commission, Communication from the commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions on the Digital Education Action Plan (visited July 2018)
  13. ↑ VMCOLAB consortium, Virtual Mobility Co-Laboratory - Students guide on Virtual Mobility
  14. ↑ http://gilt.isep.ipp.pt/projects/mutw/ (visited June 2018)
  15. ↑ Project website http://www.adriart.net/ (visited July 2018)
  16. ↑ Project website http://www.blendedmobility.com/ (visited June 2018)