The document discusses the re-definition of teacher collaboration through virtual exchange and presents initiatives aimed at modernizing education in Europe, particularly through open and distance learning. It highlights various projects, partnerships, and conferences organized by the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) that support professional development and collaboration among educators. Additionally, it outlines the challenges and benefits of virtual mobility and the integration of open educational resources in higher education curricula.

1. Re-defining Collaboration of Teachers
through Virtual Exchange
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Airina Volungevičienė
EDEN President
Director of Innovative Studies Institute at Vytautas
Magnus University, Lithuania
EADL – FLUID conference
Presence at a Distance: Technologies and Methods for
Learning Engagement
May 18, 2017
Copenhagen, Denmark
Re-Defining Collaboration of Teachers Through Virtual Exchange. Airina Volungevičienė. The
presentation is licenced under Ceative Commons licence.

2. The most extensive and established professional
network in open and distance learning
 Founded in 1991
 nearly 200 institutional members
 >2000 individual members in NAP – Network of
Academics and Professionals
 30 European or national networks present in
membership
 Over 400 institutions represented from 52
countries within and outside of Europe
2

3. Partnerships
 Traditional and open universities, colleges
 National associations and bodies
 Researchers of open, flexible, distance and
e-learning
 School level education – the “Open
Classroom” initiative
 Vocational training
 The corporate sector
3 /14

4. Mission
 Support endeavours to modernise
education in Europe
 Recognise excellence – EDEN Fellows
and Best Research Paper Awards
 Network and collaborate, facilitate
knowledge and practice exchange
 Improve understanding amongst
professionals in distance and e-learning
 Promote policy and practice across the
whole of Europe and beyond
4 /14

5. Core missions
• Policy and feasibility studies
• Professional development – EDEN “Academy”
• Innovative projects
To support our members
and partners in their
endeavours to
modernise education in
Europe
• Annual Conferences
• Network of Academics and Professionals
• Disseminating good practice, project results and
policy
To facilitate the
exchange of knowledge
and practice in all
sectors and levels of
education
• Support for early-stage researchers
• The European Journal of Open, Distance and e-
Learning EURODL
• Bi-annual Research workshops
To further research in
the field
5

6. Spotlight on two EDEN initiatives
• Short training courses embedded in
EDEN conferences
• Fully online and blended courses
combining the best of online and face to
face (e.g. MOOCs + workshops)
• Contributing the the sustainability of EU
projects
EDEN
“Academy”
• EDEN Fellow and Senior Fellow awards
• Young Scholar Award
• Best Research Paper Award
• Best Practice Initiative
• Open Badges
Recognition
schemes
6

7. The EDEN Conferences
 EDEN Annual Conferences since 1992
Jönköping, 14-17 June 2017
 Open Classroom
Conferences
Athens 20 - 22 Oct, 2017
Kaunas 9-10 Nov, 2017
 Research Workshops
Oldenburg, 4-6 Oct 2016
 Synergy Workshops
Since October 2013
7 /14

8. 8
http://www.eden-online.org/2017_jonkoping

9. 9

10. Publications and
Information Services
 Conference Proceedings
 Policy and feasibility studies
 EDEN web site, NAP Members Area, Bulletin
Board, Online Social Media (Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube)
 Member’s Newsflash
 European Journal of Open Distance and
E-Learning (EURODL)
11/14

11. EDEN’s current involvement in projects
 ReOpen
 OpenMed
 ARMAZEG
 D-Transform
 OBN
 eLene4work
 t- Mail
11

12.  FREE
 LINKS-UP
 TE@CH.US
 TESPIS
 HEXTLEARN
 REVIVE
 EDRENE
 LOGOS
 RURAL
WINGS
 ETTCAMPUS
2.0
 REVE
 ELBEP
 LEARNOVATIO
N
 EAGLE
 NEMED
 SPUTNIC
 KITE
 MEGATRENDS
IN ELEARNING
PROVISION
 B-LEARN
 MOBILE
LEARNING
 SEEQUEL
 NEST
 VISIR
 STAY IN
 E-SOLVE
 POERUP
 I-TUTOR
 CARENET
 REVIVE VET
 MOVE-ON
 EQUNET
 SEVAQ+
 ETTNET
 EQUIPE
12 /14
EDEN’s previously realized projects
 LEHO
 OPENPROF
 LACE
 TALOE
 VM-PASS
 DIGISKILLS
 ODS
 CARER+
 PROM
 ELENE2LEARN
 EMPORT
 ETTCAMPUS
 HELIOS

13. Recent trends and challenges
• Virtual Exchange
• Virtual Mobility
• Open Education
• Open Educational Resources
• Open Educational Practices
13

14. Virtual (blended) mobility
“set of information and communications
technology supported activities, organized
at institutional level, that realize or facilitate
international, collaborative experiences in a
context of teaching and/or learning”
European Commission Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
establishing "ERASMUS FOR ALL". The Union Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport (2011). Brussels.
Accessed on April 10, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/education/erasmus-for-all/doc/legal_en.pdf

15. Virtual mobility: involved actors
• Higher education institutions (2+)
• Teachers in student VM (2+, organizing VM
academic exchange)
• Students in VM (student groups in 2+
countries)
• Teachers in VM (professional development in
2+ institutions (research, academic teaching,
socio-cultural exchange))

16. Impact upon students.
Scenario 1. Physical mobility

17. Scenario 2.
Virtual mobility (not to replace, but to enrich and enhance
physical student mobility)

18. VM integration into an organization
1. Strategy and management
2. Curriculum designing
3. Teacher and academic staff
training
4. Support system
6. Quality assurance
7. Marketing, business and
communication
- VM implementation internal rules
- Bilatral agreements for VM
- MA study program designed with OER for VM
- 3 intensive academic staff training mobilities
- Develop OERs and VM modules
- University non- academic staff prepares
support systems for VM implementation
- Quality assurance procedures prepared for
peer reviewing and application in the future
- openstudies.eu portal implements marketing
and communication function
5. Infrastructure

19. VM impact for HE institutions
• Development and exploitation of intercultural studies
• Joint study programs, quality enhancement and expertise
sharing, transparency of professionalism and academic
processes
• Modernisation and internationalisation of curriculum
(transferrable quality standards, modular curriculum based on
learning outcomes, updating pedagogical models)
• Multi-institutional instead of bilateral collaboration
• Improvement of education attractiveness and HE
competitiveness
• Expanded areas of learning for students
• Additional transferrable skills and knowledge areas
• Teacher professional development
• Additional skills and experience for students

20. VM impact for teachers
• Personal professional development:
– Interpersonal communication, online communication,
linguistic skills, ICT competences
– teaching quality improvement, new teaching methods
applied and experimented
– new knowledge, skills and experience in multiple EU HE
institutions
• Professional networking, exchange of good practices
• International, intercultural professional activities
• Transparency and recognition of teaching and professionalism
• Career opportunities
• Research enhancement – especially in teacher VM

21. VM benefits for students
• Upgraded transferrable skills:
– Linguistic, interpersonal communication
– ICT competences
– Additional learning skills (networking, critical thinking,
intercultural knowledge and skills, quality schemes)
• Curriculum and study quality enhancement
• New learning methods suggested by various HE institutions
• Transparency of learning, individual portfolio development
• Enhanced employability
• Intercultural, international experience and expertise
• Enlarged academic areas of studies
• Support for home students and LLL groups, international study
accessibility for physically and socio-economically disadvantaged

22. LLL Erasmus program Multilateral Virtual Campuses
Teacher Virtual Campus: Research, Practice, Apply
502102-LLP-1-2009-1-LT-ERASMUS-EVC
EDUCA ONLINE, Berlin, December 2, 2010

23. TeaCamp developed
− international virtual mobility module for virtual learning
called “Virtual learning in Higher Education” (VLHE)
− the module is developed and studies organized by 13
teachers from:
1. Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania, coordinating institution)
2. Innovation Centre of University of Oviedo (Spain)
3. Jyvaskyla University (Finland)
4. Jagellonian University (Poland)
5. University of Aveiro (Portugal)
6. Baltic Education Technology Institute (Lithuania, enterprise)

24. TeaCamp Curriculum content and teaching/ learning scenario
development (sub-modules)
Sub-module Culture
models (1/2)
(JYU, FI)
Collaborative
online
learning
(CC1N, ES)
Information
literacy
(JU, PL)
Learning
technologies
(BETI, LT)
Learning
strategies
(VDU, LT)
Assessment
strategies
(UA, PT)
Culture
models (2/2)
(JYU, FI)
Assignment 1 2 2 2 2 2 1
Portfolio Moodle portfolio as a required part for international, intercultural experience record – as a learning
outcome for culture model sub-module
Weight 8,33 16,66 16,66 16,66 16,66 16,66 8,33
TeaCamp assessment strategy

25. • Moodle

26. All curriculum designing partners (6 institutions) reached the agreement on
the following learning outcomes:
7. define the technologies and standards used in distance education
(Learning technologies)
8. apply learning management systems based on these standards
(Learning technologies)
9. compare learning styles and learning strategies (Learning strategies)
10. identify and apply online resources in order to implement learning
strategies virtually (Learning strategies)
11. design assessment strategies for virtual learning (Assessment strategies)
12. use tools to support scenarios of virtual learning (Assessment strategies)
Challenge 1. Agreement and consistency in learning outcomes

27. Challenge 2. Learning recognition and certification
• Students are issued a certificate which
lists all learning outcomes achieved by
the student
• All teachers from all institutions sign the
certificate
• All student achievements are recognized
within partner institutions (in the
framework of study curriculum or
competence recognition)

28. Challenge 3. Measuring learning achievements
Assessment strategy is based on:
– formative evaluation of collaborative international group work results (10 activities)
– summative assessment is calculated on the basis of artefacts, small project – based
activity outputs (completed/ not completed, 8,33 % each) and individual Moodle
portfolio tool (imported assignments with individual)
– Formative evaluation using portfolio tool is used for “Culture models” sub-module 2
assignments – individual student presentations prepared on the basis of student
experienced collected during the whole module
– Metacognitive assessment using an online questionnaire for pre, per and post testing
Problems encountered:
• Failure to agree upon summative evaluation criteria for each activity and performance
indicator description. Possible reasons are:
1. very different experience among teachers, institutions
2. very short period of time for curriculum designing focusing mainly on virtual mobility
organization and teaching practice
3. lack of plugin in Moodle for assessment strategy designing (vs Blackboard)

29. Challenge 4. Recognising learning outcomes to institutional contexts
• Moodle networking service is implemented to access TeaCamp international Moodle
from single – institutional Moodle platforms
• Students use portfolio tool to import their collaborative group work results and later to
export them to their institutional Moodle portfolios
• Comparative Erasmus assessment tables are used for grade calculation and for
recognition of TeaCamp module learning outcome at individual institutions, e.g.:
Lithuanian
grade
Evaluation ECTS grade
10 Excellent: outstanding performance with only minor
mistakes
A
9 Very good: above the average standards, but with
some errors
B
8 Good: generally sound work with number of notable
errors
C
7-6 Satisfactory: fair but with significant shortcomings D
5* Sufficient: performance meet the minimum criteria E
4 Very weak: Considerable further work is required F/FX
3 Unsatisfactory F/FX
2 Bad F/FX
1 Unfair behavior or failure to appear for evaluation F/FX

30. Erasmus+
Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices
KA2 – Strategic partnerships for HE
Challenges for teacher
collaboration in the project
Opening Universities for Virtual
Mobility (OUVM)

31. IO4. VM curriculum (modules) for a MA program
(interdisciplinary Education)
• The program is
interdisciplinary, covering
modules from the field of
education, IT,
management, etc.
• A unique online program
version adapted for VM
• Modules can be used
individually or in a set
• Each partner can
implement individually or
in collaboration after the
end of the project
• Intellectual output
licencing should be agreed
in Kaunas
Modules Coordinating Collaborating
School Leadership UAb VMU
Education for Sustainable Development UAb VMU
Pedagogy of online education UAb UNIOVI
UNIPV
Human computer interaction UNIPV UNIOVI
Web Ethics UNIPV VMU
Narrative Ethics
Summary
UNIPV VMU
Management of Education Innovations VMU UNIOVI,
UAb
Curriculum Designing and Management VMU UNIOVI
Adult Education Concept VMU UNIPV
Intercultural education and communication VMU UNIPV
Learning, Development and Personality UNIOVI VMU
Education in Information and Communication
Technologies
UNIOVI VMU, UNIPV,
UAb
Control of Computer Network and Services University of
Siauliai

32. Partner Leads No.
of
modules
Collaborates
in
development
of modules
Collaborating with Modules in
total per
Partner
VDU 4 +3 ULEIC, UNIOVI,
UNIPV
4+6 = 10
ULEIC 2 +3 VDU, UNIOVI,
UNIPV
2+8 = 10
UNIOVI 2 +3 VDU, ULEIC, UNIPV 2+8 = 10
UNIPV 2 +3 VDU, ULEIC,
UNIOVI
2+8 = 10
MA program module development

33. Openstudies.eu

34. Challenges and collaboration
• Different experience
• Different quality
assurance
requirements
• Different scenarios of
contact hours
• Different experience
in online learning
• Different
understanding of
collaboration
• Time/ point of view/
other challenges

35. Challenges for study timelines and
other intercultural issues

36. However – it works!
Visit http://openstudies.eu

37. Open education in Europe is targeted at Open
Professional Collaboration
• Across boarders
• Across education and businesses
• Across education sectors and all levels

38. openprof.eu2014-1-LT01-KA202-000562
Open Professional Collaboration for Innovation
OpenPROF
1. LieDM association
2. Šiauliai VET centre Auxilium pro Regionibus Europae in
Rebus Culturalibus
3. FFE - Fondo Formacion Euscadi
4. UAb – Universidaded Aberta
5. EDEN – European Distance and E-Learning Network

39. openprof.eu2014-1-LT01-KA202-000562
Innovations suggested by project
Key innovations in training of teachers and trainers, as
well as adult educators:
– open educational resource and open curriculum
development and licensing
– open collaboration, as well as
– designing curriculum for diverse target groups
including the mode of work - based learning

40. openprof.eu2014-1-LT01-KA202-000562

41. openprof.eu2014-1-LT01-KA202-000562
OER development and
integration into the courses
Version Developed OERs
(theory or practice/
activities)
Adapted OERs
(from partners or internet)
(theory or practice/
activities)
Version
EN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Translated into the National
language
or
into the English language
Translated into the national
language
National 1b 2b 3b 4b 5b 6b 7b 8b
48 OER in partner national and English languages
(24 created and 24 adapted)

42. openprof.eu2014-1-LT01-KA202-000562
Requirements for teachers for
collaboration in OpenPROF
• Digital competence
• Openness for idea sharing, critics
and learning
• Benevolent attitude towards
collaboration and innovations

43. openprof.eu2014-1-LT01-KA202-000562
Challenges for teachers creating
and adapting OER
• Tools to be used for OER creation
• Tools to publish OER
• Requirements for OER editable
version
• How much the OER should be
adapted to become a new OER?
• How open are we - should the OER
be open for commercial use?

44. openprof.eu2014-1-LT01-KA202-000562
OpenPROF.eu

45. “And it is undoubtedly true that technology has transformed
what we do and the way that we, and future generations,
will think. But to ignore the pitfalls is to open ourselves up to
risk, and sharing experiences is one potential way
to overcome that.”

46. New challenges for teachers and
organizations
46

47. ReOPEN: Recognition of Valid and Open
Learning
• Addressing objectives of "Opening Up“
• Implementing recommendations of EC JRC research study on “Validation
of Non-formal MOOC – based Learning” (2016) by
– establishing validated open learning practices
– offering learner credentials for online and open learning (OOL)
curriculum:
• verification of learner identity
• setting learning agreement and other instruments
– establishing digital badges for recognition of learning achievements
– establishing collaboration among teachers and institutions to provide
transparent information on potential recognition of OOL
– providing teachers with the tools for OOL development and recognition
2016-1-LT-KA202-023131

48. To be discussed at EDEN http://eden-online.org
Airina Volungevičienė
Airina.volungeviciene@vdu.lt
EDEN President
Director of Innovative Studies Institute
Vytautas Magnus University
Lithuania