Education Mobility as a Service: A Study of the Features of a Novel Mobility Platform

Abstract

The European Union’s Erasmus+ program strongly supports mobility for finding training or work opportunities. However, in the era of pandemics, there is a need to find remedies for restricted movement. One solution is to create a platform for collaboration in the spheres of work and training. This article aims to identify the crucial factors for the development of a novel ecosystem for the European education mobility. This mixed-method study employed interviews with 140 respondents. The authors utilized the NVivo software, specifically its Word Frequency Query functionality, to identify relevant features in the four main categories: competence acquisition, pedagogy, organization, and technology. Findings suggest that the acquisition of competencies should be oriented towards the future labor market, students prefer gamified activities, the platform should be organized to allow for easy job and training searches, and 2D and 3D solutions should be combined for versatility. Overall, future-oriented content, motivation, and technologically diverse activities are positively perceived by students and can be seen as a major trend in creating similar tools. This type of user experience research could also be extended to a group of teachers and administrative personnel engaged in education mobility as service activities. This research was conducted as part of the ERASMUS+ project eMediator.