University Goes Digital for a Sustainable Global Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

University Goes Digital for a Sustainable Global Education

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Cooperation between educational institutions and business; Research and innovation

Project Summary

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The lockdown that forced teachers to make distance courses overnight both opened up avenues for those who had never used such tools before and showed the limits of an improvised shift to distance learning. This project will respond to that context with the design and experiment of a model of distance education that allows all students to develop competencies, whatever their background, and that makes the most of the possibilities of new technologies for a pedagogy that engages, motivates and supports all kinds of students.

The purpose of the Project University Goes Digital is to improve digital skills of University teachers, to reinforce their capacity to respond the challenges Universities are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic or will face on future similar challenges. With active involvement of the lecturers and students from the beginning of the project, ATHENA will create, test and implement innovative digital practices, putting technologies in use to create new pedagogical approaches and achieve better learning and teaching experiences. The project seeks to foster cooperative learning environments, making them transformative and inclusive through the effective adoption of new technologies, such as e-learning, gaming platforms, virtual and augmented reality, systematically modelled to activate key competencies in digital learning. The project will create templates that lecturers can adopt and adapt to their classes, using different pedagogical approaches. It will be a toolkit that includes ebooks, videos, games, quizzes, AR and AI.
The partnership is formed by 4 Universities (PT, FR, IT, AT), 1 technological partner (PT) and 5 associated partners: the Francophone University Agency (AUF) and others four from PT, Brazil, Cape Vert and Tunisia. The Universities partners will bring the know How of the courses areas and the capacity to implement the project. Webwise develops innovative learning resources based on technologies. The 4 associated partners will be involved on the dissemination and exploitation of results, maximizing the potential of the network.
Target groups: lectures from HE and HE Students.
RESULTS:
O1 – a multi-regional Platform Digital Learning Live HUB for Lecturers (eLEARN-HUB) to support lecturers to implement online/e-Learning courses. The eLEARN-HUB wil have: 1) a Pedagogic Model of Digital Learning, with course learning design (learning outcomes, syllabus, schedule, teaching methodology, assessment, academic resources, technological tools); and 2) a Prototype of Digital Learning Solution.
O2 – an Universal Toolkit for Digital Learning, to be used and tailor made by lecturers form all the scientific areas
O3 – O6 – four online courses: Technology in Architecture, Organization and Leadership, Logistics and Research Methodology.The 4 Courses will be tested with pilot groups of professors and students, with active online participation of teachers from non-European Countries (Cape Vert, Brazil, Tunisia). The final version of the courses will be implemented in training events with lecturers from the 4 partners. In the testing phase, using pilot courses and staff training events, Lecturers of the 4 Universities of the project will be given the skills to develop digital tailor made courses for their students, using: GBL VR/AR, video classes, and AI systems. 
MAIN ACTIVITIES:
Activities from the Management and Quality Management Plan
Activities from de Dissemination Plan
4 learning Teaching and Training Activities to train the Lecturers in Online Courses on Technologies in Architecture, Organization and Leadership, Logistics, and Research Methodology.
4 Multiplier Events (master Classes), one in each Country of the partnership to disseminate the project results and deliver a Lecture by an expert on the subject.

PEDAGOGIC METHODOLOGY
Athena employs innovative, student-centered, and personalized learning pedagogical approaches through the involvement of all the stakeholders in a design thinking process to create a pedagogical model for digital learning and a digital technological solution for online learning.

EXPECTED IMPACT
1. Empowerment of Lectures and Students regarding their digital teaching and learning competencies.
2. Increase Universities’ capacity to face the challenges of digital learning.
3. The capacity building of a large network in several regions of the world (Europe, Africa, and South America)
4. consolidation of a transnational network of cooperation to improve the Higher Education European Space, creating common solutions for global challenges.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 292965 Eur

Project Coordinator

Iscte – Instituto Universitario de Lisboa & Country: PT

Project Partners

• webwise Inovação Lda
• Université Gustave Eiffel
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE
• SIGMUND FREUD PRIVATUNIVERSITAT WIEN GMBH
• POLITECNICO DI MILANO