EVALUATE'S FINAL CONFERENCE:
VIRTUAL EXCHANGE AND 21ST CENTURY TEACHER EDUCATION
The final conference of the European Policy Experiment 'EVALUATE'
UNIVERSITY OF LÉON, SPAIN
4-6 SEPTEMBER 2019
The EVALUATE project, working with the UNICollaboration organisation, is organizing an international conference for educators and policy makers on the theme of Virtual Exchange and its role in 21st Century Teacher Education.
Registration for the conference is now closed. For any enquiries, please contact: robert.odowd@unileon.es
A selected number of papers from the conference will be published as an online publication. More details of the Call for Papers are available here.
The Erasmus+ European Policy Experiment report on the Impact of Virtual Exchange on Initial Teacher Education has been published online. You can download the full report and the executive summary directly from the EVALUATE website.
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.
The conference will be of interest to various groups:
Practitioners and researchers of Virtual Exchange and Teacher Education
University educators interested in learning how to use Virtual Exchange in their classrooms
Policy makers and representatives of public authorities interested in the theme of innovation and digital competence in teacher education
University management, including those responsible for internationalisation, virtual mobility and foreign language policy.
LEARN MORE ABOUT EVALUATE
Evaluating and Upscaling Telecollaborative Teacher Education (EVALUATE) (582934-EPP-1-2016-2-ES-EPPKA3-PI-POLICY) is funded by Erasmus+ Key Action 3 (EACEA No 34/2015): European policy experimentations in the fields of Education, Training and Youth led by high-level public authorities. The views reflected in this presentation are the authors’ alone and the commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
This conference has received funding and support from the University of León, Spain.