Project information

VIRQUAL - Network for integrating Virtual Mobility and European Qualification Framework in HE and CE Institutions
Reference: 143748-PT-KA3NW
Duration: 3 years
Key Activity 3 : ICT / network

Summary

Europe has been investing in developing and implementing policies and tools to promote trans-European cooperation and mobility in many fields, including in Education. The Bologna Process is creating an European Higher Education Area where mobility, transparency and competitiveness are key concepts. The recent formal adoption of the European Qualifications Framework was an additional and important step to achieve mobility in higher and continuing education. Joining e-learning and mobility together, we obtain a new concept Virtual Mobility, defined by elearningeuropa.info as “The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to obtain the same benefits as one would have with physical mobility but without the need to travel”.

Objectives

The project of this network proposes to help educational and training institutions to achieve Virtual Mobility and to guarantee EQF implementation through e-learning, aiming at finding specific obstacles in institutions and proposing concrete and innovative solutions. It will promote cooperation and joint work among partner organizations and will link with related initiatives. It will address other educational networks to help the dissemination of the results.
More specifically, the objectives are:

• To define, exemplify and promote discussion about using e-learning as a scenario to foster national and international collaboration of HE /CE organizations to achieve virtual mobility implementation.
• To critically assess and exchange results, ideas and innovation about European, national and local policies and initiatives in the area of Virtual Mobility, aiming at identifying obstacles and facilitators for collaboration.
• To cooperate in the elaboration and implementation of concrete Virtual Mobility scenarios, by establishing partnerships among the network institutions, and providing solutions and specific tools for different processes and stakeholders involved in the process.
• To elaborate, implement, make available and disseminate tools to analyse, support, manage at Institutional level, contributing to improve the Virtual Mobility in Europe while trying to implement EQF requirements.

It is expected that through the results of this project network, other European HE and CE institutions will find guidance, case studies and tools to integrate Virtual Mobility in their practices, contributing to the construction of a realistic European Learning Space.

Consortium

• Universidade do Porto
• European University Continuing Education Network
• Technische Universität Wien
• Eesti Infotehnoloogia Sihtasutus
• Gábor Dénes Főiskola
• Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi – Sürekli Eğitim Merkezi
• Universidade Aberta
• TecMinho – Associação Universidade-Empresa para o Desenvolvimento
• Verein zur Förderung des Einsatzes Medien in der Aus- u. Weiterbildung