One of the great challenges of European education is to prepare students and teachers to learn and work in a globalised society mediated by digital technologies. However, the Digital Economy and Society Index reports that only 20-25% of students in Europe are taught by teachers who are confident using technology in the classroom. The European Education Monitor reports that currently in European schools “…few teachers report using ICT for communication in which students are involved, leaving untapped the potential to connect students together” (2015: 59).

EVALUATE (Evaluating and Upscaling Telecollaborative Teacher Education) is a European Policy Experiment project funded by Erasmus+ Key Action 3 which examined the contribution which Virtual Exchange can make to preparing students of Initial Teacher Education for the classrooms of the 21st Century. Working together with UNICollaboration (the organisation for telecollaboration and Virtual Exchange in higher education), this conference will provide a venue for the following activities:

• The presentation and discussion of the results of EVALUATE European Policy Experiment - the first large scale study of Virtual Exchange in Europe

• Presentations by researchers and practitioners on the theme of Virtual Exchange in contexts of Teacher Education

• Reviews of different models and approaches to the evaluation of Virtual Exchange

• Presentations on training teachers to use Virtual Exchange in university education

• Discussion fora involving policy makers from the European Commission and national and regional governments on the future role of Virtual Exchange in teacher education and the possibility of induction and mentoring for new teachers

• Information sessions on other Virtual Exchange projects and initiatives such as Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange and EVOLVE.

Any enquiries can be directed to: evaluateprojecteu@gmail.com

Registration fee:

Thanks to the funding by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme, there is no registration fee for this conference. However, participants are expected to cover all of their own travel and subsistence costs.