What is Telecollaboration?How can your university get started?

Robert O'DowdUniversidad de León, Spain robert.odowd@unileon.es

In 2020, at least 20% of those graduating in the European Higher Education Area should have had a study or training period abroad.

(Communiqué of the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009)

But what happens to the remaining 80%?

European Commission Report: “European Higher Education in the world”: Higher education policies must …ensure that the large majority of learners who are not mobile… are nonetheless able to acquire the international skills required in a globalised world (2013:6)”

Telecollaboration: Intercultural Online Collaborative Learning in the classroomTelecollaboration involves virtual intercultural interaction and collaboration projects between classes in geographically distant locations under the guidance of educators.

What’s in a name?•Virtual Exchange •COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) - •OIE (Online Intercultural Exchange) •eTandem, eTwinning

Telecollaboration – Online Intercultural

Exchange

Develops intercultural competence, FL skills and

e-literacies

Internationalisation of the classroom

Authentic Intercultural

Experiences for non-mobile

students

Different set-ups which Telecollaboration can take

1. A Class of learners in Germany carry out collaborative tasks online with a class of learners in Ireland – using German and English

3. Before leaving on mobility programmes to the UK, students from Italy are ‘matched’ and interact online with British students

planning to travel to Italy.

2. A class of students in Spain collaborate online with a class in USA. This is combined with week-long study visits by both groups to partner

universities.

Example 1: A Bilingual Exchange between Foreign Language Learners

Example 2: Sharing Perspectives: Content & Exchange

http://www.sharingperspectivesfoundation.com/

Example 3: Virtual International Partners (VIPs)

• Students planning Erasmus mobility are ‘matched’ with partners in country of destination

• They interact with their partners based on task-sheets provided by International Office.

• They submit final report on exchange.

• Credit given in Erasmus application form

Where can your teachers find partners and get training in telecollaboration?

UNICollaboration.euThe Home of Telecollaborative Exchange for University Classrooms

If you choose ‘classes’ then you’ll be able to search or browse a list of classes which are interested in taking part in online exchange projects...

To learn more about how online exchanges work: Click on the ‘Training’ tab in the top menu bar. Here you’ll find accounts of different exchanges (‘Sample projects’) and information on how to set

up and run an exchange (‘Training modules’)

Interested in finding out more about telecollaboration…

• Contact:– robert.odowd@unileon.es– See this presentation again: http://www.slideshare.net/dfmro

• Read our Report on Telecollaboration in Europe: – http://www.scoop.it/t/intent-project-news – INTENT Project news: http://www.scoop.it/t/intent-project-

news