XL for HE Project: Extended Learning for Higher Education teachers and trainers
The necessity and pervasiveness of the digital transition are recognised at many levels. Their impact on education is there for all to see, and European education and training systems have been facing unprecedented pressures and challenges for more than a year due to the COVID-19 induced crisis. In many countries, the use of digital education tools has been perceived and adopted as (almost) the only possible way to continue to guarantee students’ right to education during lockdown periods. What occurred was thus a ‘reaction’ to an unexpected stimulus. In a way, therefore, the pandemic acted as a catalyst, as an accelerator in stimulating teachers to become aware of and use tools to perform remotely all the processes linked to teaching.
This was particularly evident in the field of Higher Education, with classrooms in universities closed for months, with the difficulty of carrying out lessons, exercises, and tests, especially where practical/application content was more significant.
On average, the solutions adopted in an emergency have made it possible to plug the gap, but they have also made it possible to understand two fundamental concepts:
- It is necessary to move from re-action to pro-action, not only because the Covid-19 pandemic (or other similar situations) could prolong or re-emerge, but also because -although unintentional and dramatic- it is emblematic of the suddenness and rapidity of the factors of change that characterise the present time.
- Digital education, whether in presence or at a distance, blended or extended, synchronous or synchronous, poses challenges in terms of spaces, tools, methods, human resources (and their skills): any immediate solution is by its very nature temporary and only partially effective and efficient. Strategic and long-term results require a strategy to guide teachers in addressing these challenges.
The “Extended Learning for Higher Education teachers and trainers” project intends to respond to this need by focusing on teacher training in extended learning methodologies and tools, in the belief that their knowledge and use can make students’ learning easier and more effective.
The XL project involves six countries, namely Ireland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, and France, and aims to create a community of teachers who can exchange experiences, learn from each other, and develop common ideas. The project seeks to identify the strengths and weaknesses of blended learning and to offer a new learning option, i.e., "anywhere and anytime," which allows people to manage their own time, pace, and place of study.
Join our online community on Linkedin: XL4HE Trainers & Teachers - Online Community
Project Results:
Project website: https://www.extendedlearning.eu/
Local Team:
- Ernesto Exposito (Full Professor)
- Philippe Arnould (Assistant Professor)
- Houssam Kanso (Assistant Professor)
- Mamadou Lamine Gueye (Assistant Professor)
Partners :
- University of Mälardalen (Sweden)
- University Miguel Hernandez (Spain)
- Institut of Formation IFOA (Italy)
- Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy)
- University Technologique of Dublin (Irlande)
- Belgium IT Academy Support Center BiASC (Belgium)
- Université de Pau et des pays de l'Adour (France)
Disclaimer UE
Project n. 2021-1-IT02-KA220-HED-000027596
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This website reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
