OPEN VIRTUAL MOBILITY

The openVM project addresses the need of creating accessible opportunities for the achievement of Virtual Mobility Skills to ensure more uptake of Virtual Mobility (VM) in HE in Europe by supporting HE institutions, educators and students in acquiring, assessing and recognizing Virtual Mobility Skills, i.e., key competencies needed to successfully design, implement and participate in VM actions, in line with the Bologna and Open Education principles.

The key objectives of the openVM project are:

• To enhance the uptake of VM in HE by improving VM Skills and in consequence the readiness for VM in HE;
• To improve the achievement and recognition of VM Skills of HE institutions, educators and students;
• To create a European VM Learning Hub for achievement, assessment and recognition of VM Skills as a central reference point;
• To develop a set of innovative tools and methods to enhance achievement, assessment and recognition of VM Skills;
• To provide sustainable infrastructure, resources and guidelines for enhancement of VM Skills, design and implementation of VM in HE in Europe;
• To provide evidence about how assessment and credentialing of VM Skills contributes to the uptake VM.

To achieve this, openVM applies the principles of Open Education to promote achievement, assessment and recognition of VM Skills. Both VM and OE aim to enhance participation in international knowledge flows, use of digital media, improve teaching and learning by setting international benchmarks, attract and keep talents for the economy and research systems, innovate and build capacity.

Key innovations in openVM are:

• Online, Open & Flexible Higher Education approach to promoting the achievement, assessment and credentialing of VM Skills;
• Innovative pedagogies for achievement of VM Skills, such as Open Learning by Design and Crowd Creation of OERs and MOOCs;
• Innovative approaches/technologies for assessment and recognition of VM Skills: Evidence-based assessment, Open Credentials (Open Badges, Blockcerts), semantic/machine-readable description of VM Skills with links to competency frameworks;
• Engaging and effective learner experience in a Personal Learning Environment making use of gamification design.

To learn more about openVM project, please visit the website of the project.