EUA – Digital Learning Dispatches

We are pleased to announce a forthcoming Digital-HE projectworkshop on the topic of “Developing a High-Performance Digital Education Ecosystem: Strategy and Organisational Culture”.

The DIGI-HE project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, explores different ways higher education institutions can boost their strategic approaches to digitally enhanced learning and teaching and enhance their capacity. Led by the European Universities Association (EUA), the project partners include:

The COVID-19 crisis has enhanced practice and fuelled discussion on the digital provision of learning and teaching.

Almost 90% of institutions are now boasting a strategy, and are much better acquainted with fully online, blended and hybrid forms of learning than before.

Recent months have also brought some concrete lessons learnt and insights on what works and what does not, and magnified gaps and shortcomings from infrastructure and educational resources to digital skills needs and the psycho-social implications of digital formats and approaches.

Many institutions are strongly determined to seize the opportunities emerging from the crisis and further enhance and develop a “high-performance digital education ecosystem”. But where does one start and what should be considered? In addition, how could institutions be supported through national and European measures, also in view of “Europe’s Digital Decade”?

This first workshop, of a three-part series aimed at supporting institutions in the assessment of their achievements and opportunities in digitally enhanced learning and teaching, will focus on “institutional strategy and organisational culture”.

It will be followed by similar events on curriculum and internationalisation. All three workshops will consider the use of existing self-assessment tools for digitally enhanced learning and teaching and touch upon issues currently explored under the DIGI-HE project.

Free of charge and open to all EUA members, the workshop will be of interest to higher education leaders responsible for learning and teaching and its digital transformation. Participants will actively contribute to the discussions and peer exchanges – a major source of inspiration and learning. Therefore, attendance is limited to 30 people, with a maximum of two participants per institution. Registration remains open until 5 October 2021.

For further information, please consult the programme . For questions about the workshop, please contact EUA at digihe@eua.eu

Over the past fortnight the NIDL team was pleased to contribute to two webinars offering strategic reflections on the increasing digitalisation of Higher Education. This two-part webinar series was part of the Digi-HE project being led by the European Universities Association (EUA). The project aims to promote critical self-reflection in supporting institutions to develop their capacity and strategic approaches to digitally enhanced models of teaching and learning.

In the next phase of this project, a number of Thematic Peer Groups (TPGs) will get underway shortly involving around 30 different higher education institutions across Europe. We were delighted to have some many institution al applicants for this phase of the project. The TPGs will enable participants at each institution to engage in regular lively discussions and share their experiences relevant to the chosen theme related to digitalisation in the context of teaching and learning. The selected themes include:

Curriculum and Assessment
Strategy and Organisational Culture
Strategic and International Partnerships

We look forward to meeting up with a diverse group of participants in this next phase of the project. However, before then the following recordings kindly made available by EUA may be of interest to those who were unable to join our recent webinar series.

In reverse order, the second webinar which took place on Friday 5th February (recording above) discussed the findings of our report which presents the results of a survey of digital learning and teaching in European higher education institutions.

One of the key takeaways from the survey in terms of supporting teaching with new digital technologies is the value of an environment that fosters rich professional conversations with and between colleagues.

The first webinar back on January 26th (recording below) explored the question, what does digital education look like from an institution-wide perspective when successfully implemented in a mature way? This webinar coincided with the launch of another Digi-HE project report focusing on the development of a high performance digital education ecosystem. The report provides advice and guidance for higher education institutions wishing to undertake self-assessment of digital learning and teaching using selected instruments reviewed as part of this study.

if you have any questions about the Digital-HE project or anything arising from the two webinars, then please do not hesitate to contact us. The project team meets regularly and we would be happy to provide further advice concerning the range of self-assessment tools reviewed for fostering a culture of strategic reflection and quality enhancement.