Virtual and hybrid learning environments Erasmus Project

Project Title

Virtual and hybrid learning environments

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: Cooperation between educational institutions and business; Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Background:
Higher education and especially small and private universities have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally, university study programs have been taught in a physical classroom setting while online channels have mainly been used for organizational reasons such as the transfer of study material and the communication outside the classroom. With the arrival of the crisis, however, this has changed abruptly. Regulations and guidelines for the containment of the coronavirus led to a rapid shift in teaching methods as universities started to transform their lectures into pure online or hybrid (blend of offline and online lecture) formats. Pure online classes, however, have struggled with technical difficulties, inefficient didactics, and low engagement during class. Hybrid teaching, on the other hand, is supposed to integrate online and offline experiences live and at the same time, thereby combining the best of both worlds. That is why hybrid teaching has been particularly interesting for many universities; for being an appropriate balancing act to implement the required countermeasures against the pandemic, while at the same time preserving proven didactics to keep the quality of education high. However, hybrid teaching has turned out to be way more demanding than anticipated; primarily for the lecturers, as they have to multitask and show awareness for two channels simultaneously. It also turned out that the didactics and engagement strategies of offline course formats could not simply be transferred to a hybrid teaching environment without clear conceptual guidelines and appropriate training.

Objectives of the project:
This project aims to solve the issues described above by developing a new hybrid approach for courses and programs offered by universities. The idea is to still teach the program at the university in presence, but at the same time, offer this program live for remote participants, without a loss of quality for either side, especially by solving the problem of decreased interaction. This is achieved in particular through a concept study of a next-level classroom equipment, the development of training materials as well as guidelines in regard to technology, communication modes and examination modes. Moreover, it includes an exemplary curriculum adaptation of a certificate program for executives in the field of blockchain and fintech.

Participants:
The project will be coordinated by a core team under the lead of University of Liechtenstein consisting of the following organisations:

* University of Liechtenstein
* Kapsch BusinessCom
* Frankfurt School Blockchain Center (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management)

The University of Liechtenstein is a small regional and public university, while the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management is a larger private higher education institution. Kapsch BusinessCom is an IT company specialized in digital transformation and technology.

Activities and methodology:
1) TPM1 – Partners meet to plan the implementation process.
2) IO1/Building a next generation classroom: installation of state-of-the art technology at the University of Liechtenstein serving as an experimental setting for hybrid teaching concepts.
3) TPM2 – Partners meet to assess the past delivered activities and achieved outputs, and plan for the coming actions.
4) IO2/Guidelines and best-practice approaches for next level classrooms: developing a framework for the technical setup and its application, new communication/interaction modes as well as suitable performance assessment alternatives.
5) IO3/Training material for students, teachers, and administrative staff: producing dedicated training materials and how-to guides for lecturers, students and the administrative staff to support the successful implementation of hybrid lectures.
6) TPM3 – Partners meet to assess the past delivered activities and achieved outputs, and plan for the coming actions.
7) TPM4 – Partners meet to assess past actions and plan the final implementation processes.
8) E1 – Hybrid conference to promote the developed hybrid teaching concepts to lecturers, university staff and other interested parties.

Results, impact and long term benefits:
Main results include the implementation of an experimental state-of-the art technological setup at the University of Liechtenstein as well as dedicated training and learning materials (such as brochures, videos and written instructions) for lecturers, students and the administrative staff to help implement the newly developed technical, communication and examination guidelines in a targeted and efficient manner. These efforts shall lead to higher overall education quality in hybrid teaching formats, better positioning to competitive education programs from non-academic institutions and more crisis-resilient teaching operations.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 290405 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITAT LIECHTENSTEIN & Country: LI

Project Partners

• FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF FINANCE & MANAGEMENT GEMEINNUTZIGE GMBH
• Kapsch BusinessCom AG