Abstract
This paper is based on research studies conducted in the academic community of students and staff members (teachers, researchers and administrative staff) from 16 European universities that focus on digital learning in international mobility. The context of our qualitative study is digital learning during an international mobility scheme when university staff and students do not go abroad for their mobility programme but take courses offered by a partner university from home. By taking the perspectives of both of these academic groups, we aimed to arrive at a clearer understanding of how the digital environment supports digital learning within mobility, ascertain the functions of digital learning and describe the opportunities and challenges that are presented to students engaged in international mobility. Empirical data was gathered using questionnaires and focus group interviews. This study puts forward the assertion that distinctive features of learning in a digital environment within international mobility are systems thinking, self-directed learning and focus on course content. Digital learning environments support motivation to learn, and independence in gaining knowledge. In international digital learning, the online courses of which are characterized by their innovative pedagogical and assessment practices, students and staff become more autonomous in their learning, and more willing to open up to meeting the challenges encountered in various educational settings. Digital learning in the context of mobility means giving meaning to one’s own activity in a digital environment and extension of the course content, meaning oral expression such as discussing and interacting with teachers and peers.
Highlights
IntroductionLearning spaces in University classrooms are equipped with more than chairs and tables
The purpose of this study is to understand and to explain University students’ and staff’ digital learning within an international mobility programme, like Erasmus + programme in the case of Europe, where mobility participants do not go abroad to carry out their mobility activity abroad but learn within their mobility throughout online courses, led by teachers from other countries, accompanied by simultaneous interactions within online activities
Incorporating experiences with learning into traditional mobility aimed at gaining a wider range of experiences with different mobility programmes, firstly, to find out the distinctive features of learning within mobility and to detect those features that relate to learning in the digital environment during academic mobility
Summary
Learning spaces in University classrooms are equipped with more than chairs and tables. International mobility of students and staff from Europe was used to gather information on experiences with mobility in general (vertical differentiation of learning background – learning experiences gained at another university during mobility) and in focus group interviews, to gain information on learning in an digital environment (horizontal differentiation of learning background – digital tools as one of the opportunities available to gather learning experiences in academia) What combines these two differentiations, are the experiences that students and staff members had while participating in learning in an international environment, experiences with digital tools during their mobility, cooperation that existed during mobility, the flexible way that work was structured to create interactive and engaging content, all of which are distinctive features of the digital learning environment. What combines these two differentiations, are the experiences that students and staff members had while participating in learning in an international environment, experiences with digital tools during their mobility, cooperation that existed during mobility, the flexible way that work was structured to create interactive and engaging content, all of which are distinctive features of the digital learning environment. (Siemens, 2014)
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