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TEACHING & LEARNING

Virtual Mobility

Toolkit Introduction Virtual Mobility Virtual Exchange Blended Mobility

Virtual Mobility offers students an easily accessible way to gain international experience while studying from home. Courses are offered fully online, by one ‘hosting’ institution that offers the course in the context of their study programme(s) and recognised within the curriculum at participants’ ‘home’ institution. With self-learning often being a part of the structure, this format is more flexible and student-driven.  

This can expose students to another academic culture and different perspectives. An interesting added value is that students can take courses not available at the home institution and in this way build a distinctive profile in their curriculum. This can serve a first ‘stepping stone’ for students to continue with other internationalisation experiences (such as semester exchange or taking a degree abroad) later in their academic path. 

From an institutional perspective, this is an excellent opportunity to promote your university and disciplines to students of ENLIGHT universities, who might choose to continue their studies at your institution (e.g. “vertical mobility”). It allows institutions to expand opportunities for your students through a complementary study offering and aligning curricula. This may be particularly interesting in the context of very specialised degree programmes that have limited student numbers and resources. In the long-term, Virtual Mobility can also serve as a testbed for the development of joint programmes. 

The sections below provide guidance on integrating Virtual Mobility into the curriculum, designing pedagogically meaningful activities, and understanding administrative requirements. 

Curriculum Design

Integrate your Virtual Mobility into local curriculum  

All ENLIGHT universities share a commitment to fostering virtual mobility and support online course offers in the alliance. While some partner institutions do not have a tradition of delivering courses online, others are more experienced in this field. Ultimately, ENLIGHT aims to provide a reliable and sustained online learning offer for all students. 

While you might open a virtual course to students from the ENLIGHT network, the other partners might do the same. This means that your students, too, can then eventually participate in virtual courses at other ENLIGHT universities which will help them reach the outcomes of their study programmes and build their academic profile.  

If you are interested in creating a virtual mobility offer for students, ideally your online course should not just be a one-off learning opportunity but should be offered on a regular basis. Only then can it be integrated into the formal curriculum.  

How to initiate the integration of virtual mobility as a part of the curriculum?  

If you are taking first steps, it might help not to create a new course, but review your current course offer and  

1) ... open an existing course to students from the ENLIGHT network or   

2) ... adjust the design of an existing course so that both your local students and the ENLIGHT students can participate in the course online. 

!If you are teaching your class on-site, you might want to explore hybrid modes of teaching (link to pedagogical guidelines) where you can allow for online participation in your on-site classroom or lecture hall!   

!Careful, once you adjust a regular course to be held online, the pedagogical/didactical approach will be impacted!  

Where to integrate Virtual Mobility into the curriculum?  

Preferably, virtual mobility courses are included as electives in the curriculum, where students have some freedom in choosing courses that align with their programme learning outcomes. This will help you to integrate virtual mobility into your regular teaching load. 

You should avoid “adding-on” virtual mobility courses to the curriculum without connections to students’ learning pathways. Instead, situate your virtual mobility course in modules or study phases where students will be able to value intercultural/international perspectives and immersion into your course topic.  

 

Shaping students’ learning pathway   

For some of your students, this might be the first international experience in their study programme and they might be inspired to continue an international orientation with other Stepping Stones in the ENLIGHT network, others might turn to online courses instead of a semester mobility.   

Virtual mobility also offers a low-threshold opportunity to study courses linked to students’ field which they cannot find at their home campus.  

Considerations for Curriculum Development  

The following overview illustrates potential cornerstones of virtual mobility formats. Not all of them can be implemented in a single course or immediately in the first trial run of a virtual mobility, but they can serve as source of inspiration:   

  • Complement to local curricula – While your virtual mobility course might illustrate a regular offer to your local students, it could be a unique opportunity for international students who cannot rely on a similar expertise or disciplinary perspective at their own institution. Thus, it allows them to add a fruitful learning experience to their local curriculum. 

  • Change of perspective – Students can broaden or deepen discipline-specific knowledge and skills and thus build a distinctive academic profile in their study programmes. 
  • Flexible learning – Due to the online interaction as well as due to asynchronous learning elements that students complete at their own pace, students can participate more flexibly in a virtual mobility format. It can also be a suitable format to include lifelong learners into learning spaces together with traditional students.