A series of pre-mobility VE project to prepare European university students for the period abroad

1. Marie-Thérèse Batardière, Marta Giralt, Catherine Jeanneau, Florence Le Baron-Earle, Veronica O’Regan
15 September 2020
A series of pre-mobility VE project to prepare European
university students for the period abroad

2. Limerick
Lille-Douai
León
Paris
Madrid
Louvain Cologne
UL Virtual Exchange partners
o Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain)
o Universidad de León (Spain)
o Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
o IMT Lille-Douai (France)
o Université de Paris-Saclay (France)
o University of Applied Sciences, Cologne
(Germany)

3. VE participants per language
2014-2020
16
participants
172
participants
573
participants

4. VE partners and participants
2014
16 students
2015
34 students
2016
24 students
2017
58 students
2018
172 students
2019
152 students
2020
573 students
UL - León
(16 students)
UL - León
(24 students)
UL - Louvain
(10 students)
UL - León
(34 students)
UL - León
(10 students)
UL - Madrid (24
students)
UL - Lille (24
students)
UL -
Madrid (86
students)
UL - Paris (31
students)
UL - Cologne
(55 students)
UL - Madrid (73
students)
UL - Paris (35
students)
UL - Cologne
(44 students)
UL - Madrid (70
students)
UL – Paris (28
students)
Autumn 2020
UL - Artois
(114)
UL - Strasbourg
(120)
UL - Oviedo
(67)
UL - Cologne
(26)
UL - Graz (148)

5. UL has won the
‘Best Irish Erasmus
programme’ for the
last two years
(2019, 2020)

6. Aims of the UL virtual exchanges
Developing
intercultural
competence
Honing
linguistic
skills
Improving
digital
literacy
Fostering
peer
learning
Experiencing
virtual
mobility
Preparing
for physical
mobility
Preparing for physical mobility
The better prepared students are before their placement,
the better their experience will be.
(Coleman, 1997; Byram & Dervin, 2008; Kinginger, 2016)

7. 5 core tasks (basic initial template)
1. Introduce yourself
2. Present university life & cultural
features from your respective
countries / Compare these elements
with your partners
3. Provide advice about living abroad /
what to put in the suitcase
4. Write letters from abroad
5. Interact with partner(s) via
videoconference
Name of student
Name of student
Name of student
Name of student

8. VE implementation challenges
Asymmetry of:
o Academic Calendar/ Time Zone
o Language proficiency/ CEFR levels
o Partner’s task preferences
o Student numbers
o Weight of project in curriculum
o etc.
Task design
flexibility
&
Coordinators’
commitment

9. 'She sent me videos and websites
about where she and her sister live,
because that’s where I’m actually
going on Erasmus, so she said that
I can stay over for like a week or
two if I don’t find an apartment’
Building a rapport beyond the VE
‘Working as a group on
these various tasks […]
helped ’broaden my
horizons as they say’.
Broadening horizons
'It has made me feel better
telling her how I feel about living
abroad as she is in the same
situation as me. And I definitely
feel more prepared for my
Erasmus than before I started
this project.’
Getting ready for mobility
Overcoming logistical issues
‘The actual French
components were
doable, even for
beginners, but we
definitely spent more
time trying to
coordinate the
tasks than actually
doing the tasks.’
‘I learnt a lot about
Spanish culture (...)
When I go on Erasmus I
would feel more
confident. I cannot wait
to go to live in Spain and
meet new friend’
Raising (inter)cultural awareness

10. The upscaling of number of partners, size of cohorts,
and range of disciplines of study.
VEs development through iterations
Plans to use this momentum to
continue to expand the project

11. Going from strength
to strength
Awarding Erasmus + Badges
since Autumn 2018
Alternative Mobility Module
from Autumn 2020

12. • Video description of “Ready, mobility, go!” here:
• https://ahssresearch.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/re
ady-mobility-go-a-series-of-pre-mobility-online-
projects-promoting-intercultural-awareness-
among-european-university-students/

13. ● marie-therese.batardiere@ul.ie
● marta.giralt@ul.ie
● catherine.jeanneau@ul.ie
● florence.lebaron-earle@ul.ie
● veronica.oregan@ul.ie