virtual placement
GeoHCI 2013 - Geographic Human-Computer Interaction
GeoHCI 2013 aims to provide a much needed venue for members of the human-computer interaction and geography communities to create and share knowledge on topics that span this disciplinary boundary.
For the increasing number of HCI researchers and practitioners whose work has a geographic component, GeoHCI 2013 will offer a unique opportunity to discuss best practices and open research questions with like-minded members of the HCI community and with geographers, whose field has a rich understanding of spatial phenomena. For geographers, GeoHCI 2013 is a chance to do the same with experts in HCI-related areas such as online communities, mobile and online maps, location-based social networks, crisis informatics, ubiquitous computing, and augmented reality.
Researchers and practitioners in HCI, geography, and related disciplines who are interested in participating should submit a two-page position statement as described in the call for papers. Position statements are due January 11, 2013 and should be submitted through our EasyChair site. The workshop, co-located with CHI 2013 in Paris, will be on April 27.
On April 28, we are hosting an optional second workshop day that will consist of various "in the field" activities. We are actively seeking proposals for participant-led field trips. Have a great new citizen science app you want to demonstrate? Want to lead an OpenStreetMap data collection activity to bring everyone at the workshop up to speed on the OSM state-of-the-art? Can you guide us on an augmented reality tour of Paris? Let us know! Position statements that are accompanied by field activity proposals will receive extra consideration.
Manual: ‘Make it work. Integrating Virtual Mobility in International Internships’
This manual is the main result of the EU-VIP project. This publication provides a framework for and a description of the conditions of success for integrating virtual mobility in international internships. Next to this it defines the context and definitions used in the EU-VIP project and it presents the conclusions regarding the perspectives from the different stakeholders: students, higher education institutions and companies.
Quick guide in English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish (pdf)
Enterprise-University Virtual Placements
International work placements or internships, as they are generally known, are gaining more and more importance in the context of internationalization of higher education and globalization of our (professional) world. Traditional international work placements, where the learner travels to the company abroad, are not always feasible for all students because of financial, geographical, social or other reasons. For those physical placements abroad that do happen, there are also a number of difficulties to overcome, mainly related to a lack of communication between the student, the foreign company and the institution for higher education.
Virtual mobility or ICT-supported interaction to realize international collaboration, offers possibilities to address these issues. The EU-VIP project looked at how virtual mobility can support or even enable international work placements and addressed the three stakeholders that are involved in an international work placement: the higher education institution, the student and the receiving company or organization. To this end 19 pilot projects were executed.
Firstly, the project established a state-of-the-art regarding virtual and blended placements. Starting from this document and additional research the partnership put together a scenario for organizing virtual and blended work placements. This scenario served as a general framework to design and implement 19 pilot projects. These pilots all varied on the scale from a very limited to a very far reaching integration of virtual mobility activities.
Before executing the pilots, pilot participants (students, teaching staff, administrative staff, company mentors...) received local training adapted to their specific needs (development of technology skills, help while implementing the general scenario, how to undertake e-coaching). After pilot execution, all participants contributed to the evaluation of the pilot, via surveys and/or interviews. The feedback from the pilot participants was used to further expand and fine-tune the framework and to identify critical success factors for the integration of virtual mobility in internships.
During the project al lot of attention was also paid to identifying the needs and the benefits for all stakeholders. To this end two stakeholder meetings were organized to collect feedback on (intermediary) project outcomes. These meetings were aimed at representatives from higher education institutions and from the business world. The students were addressed through the organization of two BEST symposia.
The EU-VIP outcomes:
- Manual ‘Make it work. Integrating Virtual Mobility in International Internships’
This manual is the main outcome of the project. It provides a framework for and a description of the conditions of success for integrating virtual mobility in international internships. Next to this it defines the context and definitions used in the EU-VIP project and it presents the conclusions regarding the perspectives from the different stakeholders: students, higher education institutions and companies.
- Quick guide in English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish
The quick guide is a summary of the main findings presented in the elaborate manual. Interested in the topic but no time to read the full document? Than this guide might be just what you need.
- Video training material, explaining the context and definition of the project, stakeholder perspectives, guidelines to integrate virtual mobility in international placements and presenting the 19 pilot projects.
The EU-VIP partners:
- Media and Learning Unit, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE), project coordinator
- Aalto University (FI)
- BEST (FR)
- Coimbra Group (BE)
- EAL, TietgenSkolen (DK)
- EADTU (NL)
- EFMD (BE)
- EuroPACE ivzw (BE)
- FernUniversität Hagen (DE)
- Laurea University (FI)
- KHLeuven (BE)
- University of Padua (IT)
- University of Bologna (IT)
- University of Turku (FI)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- West Pomerian Business School (PL)
New handbook: "Make it work! Integrating virtual mobility in international work placements"
International work placements or internships, as they are generally known, are gaining more and more importance in the context of internationalization of higher education and globalization of our (professional) world.
Traditional international work placements, where the learner travels to the company abroad, are not always feasible for all students because of financial, geographical, social or other reasons. For those physical placements abroad that do happen, there are also a number of difficulties to overcome, mainly related to a lack of communication between the student, the foreign company and the institution for higher education. Virtual mobility, or ICT-supported interaction to realize international collaboration, offers possibilities to address these issues. The European Commission supported project EU-VIP (Enterprise-University Virtual Placements) looked at how virtual mobility can support or even enable international work placements and addressed the three stakeholders that are involved in an international work placement: the higher education institution, the student and the receiving company or organization.
As a result of the EU-VIP project, partners have recently published a new handbook entitled “Make it work! Integrating virtual mobility in international work placements.” The publication provides a framework for and a description of the conditions of success for integrating virtual mobility in international internships. Next to this it defines the context and definitions used in the project and it presents the conclusions regarding the perspectives from the different stakeholders: students, higher education institutions and companies.
The handbook is available as a free download from the project website. Furthermore, you can find on the website a quick guide, which summarizes the main findings presented in the handbook. The quick guide is available in English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish.
The editors of the handbook are Mariet Vriens and Wim Van Petegem.
For more information on and other outcomes/training materials of the EU-VIP project, please check the project website.
Promoting the learning mobility of future workers: experiments with virtual placements in university-business arrangements
The article first addresses the contribution of traditional placements, followed by the strengths and weaknesses of virtual ones. Next, real pilots with virtual (work-based) arrangements are discussed. Regular universities experiment with virtual placements in on-campus courses and curricula, within the framework of self-organised learning, whereas open universities experiment with virtual placements in off-campus courses and curricula, within the framework of social-collaborative and networked learning. Subsequently, the results of the different arrangements, their pros and cons, are described. Final conclusions from the study are drawn regarding the development of professional skills in students, implemented didactics and applied technology.