Plenary presentation at the Osijek University International Conference

On 23 May, the University of Osijek, Croatia, hosted an international conference where the plenary lecture „Student engagement from online learneing design quality perspective“ was delivered by Prof. Airina Volungevičienė.

Prof. Airina Volungevičienė also presented the results obtained and being obtained in the projects:

See the Konference programme

Conference Quality of virtual studies

On 16 May Kaunas College hosted a conference on Quality of virtual studies. One of the plenary speakers was prof. Airina Volungevičienė, the presentation was „Quality of Digitally Enhanced Learning and Teaching. Institutional Self-assessment Approach“.

Prof. Airina Volungevičienė spoke to the conference participants about monitoring, supporting and engaging learners based on learning data analysis. The results obtained and being obtained in the projects were presented:

 

For the conference programme see

Digitally competent teachers- ready for international inter-institutional online collaboration

On 9-12 May, the Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona, hosted the DigiProf project’s international training for teachers. The training was focused on inter-institutional transnational cooperation between teachers and students in online or blended learning courses. Participating teachers from Vytautas Magnus University, Silesian University in Katowice, University of Aveiro, Open University of Catalonia and DHBW University in Heilbronn, deepened their knowledge of how to plan and develop virtual mobility courses, integrating elements of faculty-student collaboration. Researchers from Institute for Study Innovations at the VMU Academy of Education shared their experience and best practices on how to create a course in Moodle 4 online learning environment that is suitable for inter-institutional collaboration. Participants also learned about the processes of student registration and virtual admission, recognition of learning outcomes, as well as the possibilities and requirements for the issuance of micro-credentials. 

As well as broadening their knowledge, the participants also started collaborating across the formal courses of the universities, creating collaborative activities for students, and thus integrating innovations in higher education. The teachers sought solutions for updating the learning content to include data-driven monitoring and inclusion of learners, differentiated assessment strategies, and clear learning outcomes for the award of micro-credentials while working in international teams. 

The content of the training was based on the training materials, which had been developed in

 project. They focused on: 

The training was organised in the framework of the project Transparent Assessment of Online Learning by Digitally Competent Teachers – DIGI-PROF.

University: Future Festival 2023

On 28 April Prof. Airina Volungevičienė gave a presentation at the Festival University: Future Festival 2023

Presentation topic „Quality of Digitally Enhanced Learning and Teaching. Institutional Self-assessment Approach“.

Prof. Airina Volungevičienė presented to the participants of the festival the results of the projects.

The projects presented:

University: Future festival 2023

The German Forum for the Digitalisation of Higher Education, funded by the government, together with its partners, organised University: Future 2023 festival on 28 April. Prof. Airina Volungevičienė, Director of Institute for Study Innovations, gave a presentation: Time to self-assess your institution’s approach to digitally enhanced learning and teaching?

This session will focus on the why and how of undertaking a self-assessment of digitally enhanced learning and teaching in higher education institutions. It will explore the rationale behind undertaking such an exercise, namely the need to take stock of lessons learnt during the pandemic, identify areas of weakness and set strategic priorities over the coming five years. As such, it will examine how a self-assessment exercise can feed into institutional strategy development and decision-making processes. This session will present desk research and case studies undertaken as part of the DIGI-HE project (2020-2023), an initiative that has explored different ways higher education institutions can boost their strategic approaches to digitally enhanced learning and teaching and enhance their capacity. More concretely, it will inform participants of the benefits of and barriers to using self-assessment “instruments”, which are tools or frameworks allowing institutions to evaluate their state of play with respect to digitally enhanced learning and teaching. It will also provide advice on how to choose an instrument which best caters for a particular institution’s needs.

International conference at the Latvian College of Business Administration

On 20 April, Prof. Airina Volungevičienė participated in the International Distance Learning Conference of the Latvian College of Business Administration and gave a plenary session „Learning analytics as a metacognitive tool to engage learners“.

Prof. Airina Volungevičienė spoke to the conference participants about monitoring, supporting and engaging learners based on learning data analysis. The results obtained and being obtained in the projects were presented:

For the conference programme see

COIMBRA University Group International Seminar

The COIMBRA group of universities organised an international seminar „Education Innovation Working Group Seminar on Learning Analytics“ on 30 March, with Prof. Airina Volungevičienė giving a plenary presentation.

Prof. A. Volungevičienės Plenary presentation – „Learning analytics as a metacognitive tool to engage learners“.

The seminar presented and discussed how the learning environment, as a metacognitive tool, can help to engage learners in the learning process.

The results obtained and being obtained in the projects were presented:

EDEN 2023 Annual Conference in Dublin

The 2023 EDEN conference is designed to explore the theme, “Yes we can!” – Digital Education for Better Futures. This theme focuses on the language of opportunity and challenges participants to dream big! While there are many big and small challenges that we can’t ignore in building a more inclusive digital future, the conference places the spotlight on the “art of the possible” in reimagining teaching, learning and assessment and delivering on the promise of better futures for all. We hope to encapsulate throughout the conference the spirit of hope and optimism through the enabling language of “yes we can”.

Conference Topics :

  1. Transformative Education
  2. Future Pedagogies
  3. Next Generation Teachers and Learners
  4. Digital Citizenship for Sustainable Futures
  5. Research Designs for Uncertain Times

More information and registration

Launch of MOOC “Inside Digital Higher Education: Self-Assessment Guide for Educators”

On February 14, 2023, the partners of the international DIGI-HE project organized a webinar to launch the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “Inside Digital Higher Education: Self-Assessment Guide for Educators”. This course has been developed by Dublin City University as part of the DIGI-HE project. The course, available on the FutureLearn platform since January, 2023, is a response to the increasing focus on digital teaching and learning in higher education and aims to help higher education institutions to develop strategic institutional responses to the changing digital learning landscape.

The webinar not only provided an insight into what to expect when participating in a MOOC, but also shared insights from the DIGI-HE project on the institutional process of technology-enhanced learning assessment in European higher education institutions. A report has already been produced on this subject, while the MOOC explores institutional case studies.

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), click here.

A new publication by ISI researchers on the potential of micro-credentials to drive social, economic and higher education innovation has been published

The year 2023 has started with great news for researchers at the Institute for Innovative Studies – the article “Exploring the potential of micro-credentials: A systematic literature review” on the potential of micro-credentials to foster socio-economic and higher education innovation has now been published in the international peer-reviewed, open-access journal Frontiers in Education (Q2)! The research was carried out within the framework of the research project “Digital Micro-Credentials in Higher Education” (project No. 13.1.1-LMT-K-718-05-0003).

The aim of the research presented in this paper is to analyse from the integrative perspective the potential of micro-credentials to foster social, economic and higher education innovations. Although the articles analysed in this paper cover the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods (2015-2022), this study aimed to synthesise the results of other researchers and provide informed insights on how further development of micro-credentials could contribute to a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by fostering socio-economic and higher education innovations. The results of the systematic literature review are discussed in the light of recent criticisms by other scholars that this process of micro-credentialisation poses a ‘moral hazard’ (Ralston, 2021, p. 95) due to its potential to accelerate the inflation and commoditisation of education.

As the study shows, the potential of micro-credentials to contribute to a sustainable recovery from the pandemic can be seen and revealed through different dimensions, for example, amongst other opportunities, they increase the chances for individuals to up-skill, re-skill, and integrate into the labour market (economic context), promote lifelong learning, remain competitive in the labour market for longer and allow for more flexibility in planning their professional development path (social context). The analysis also reveals that HEIs can be seen as both providers and innovators in the micro-credentialization process. It is important for HEIs to recognise that micro-credentials are an innovative practice that requires change and flexibility in the design of competency-based curricula to meet learners’ needs. The analysis also shows that HEIs need to work more closely with the labour market, develop services and functions for the assessment and recognition of non-formal and informal learning, create opportunities for the stackability of credits, reorganise operational structures, provide the necessary infrastructure for the delivery of micro-credentials, etc. It is believed that the introduction of micro-credentials in higher education institutions could also increase the employability of graduates.

With the results and conclusions presented, the paper contributes to the recently growing field of research on micro-credentials and provides insights for further research.

Read the full article here.

This research has been implemented within the framework of the research project “Digital Micro-Credentials in Higher Education” (project no. 13.1.1-LMT-K-718-05-0003). This project has received funding from European Regional Development Fund (project no 13.1.1-LMT-K-718-05-0003) under grant agreement with the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT). Funded as European Union’s measure in response to COVID-19 pandemic.