E-learn Weblog of Willem van Valkenburg

Earlier this year the TU Delft, as project coordinator, submitted a grant proposal for the Erasmus programme of the European Commission. The title of our proposal is "OpenCourseWare in the European HE context: How to make use of its full potentianl for virtual mobility".  The participating organisations are:

• Delft University of Technology (TUD)
• Universidad Politécnica Madrid (UPM)
• Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
• Université de Lyon, VetAgro Sup
• OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC)
• Creative Commons (CC)
• European Association of distance Teaching Universities (EADTU)

The aim of the project is to facilitate (virtual) student mobility through increased use of OCW.

The focus of the project will be the creation of preconditions for a strong European OCW-framework. A stronger framework will also mean closer cooperation between European institutes, which may result in mutual use of material and even joint degrees. A better functioning OCW-system will enhance quality and increase the usage of online courses and therefore facilitate virtual mobility. An objective in itself, but it may also result in a decline of obstacles and therefore an increase in real student mobility. On top of that, an improved European OCW network will improve conditions for Lifelong Learners, who are an important user group of OCW/OER'.

The objectives of the project are as follows:

• To formulate and promote a clear set of recommendations how to make optimal use of OCW in order to promote virtual mobility for regular students and lifelong learners on the basis of research and best practices
• To make arrangements with relevant partners to put these recommendations into practice as part of an on-going cooperation
• To initiate a European OCW-network in order to make optimal use of its potential'.

We definied eight work packages within the project:

1. Pedagogic and cultural issues: analyzing successful models for or the promotion of virtual mobility through OCW, including best practices (Lead: UPM)
2. Models for sustainable cooperation between: legal issues, recognition, promotion, quality control, joint development.  (Lead: UPM)
3. Educational innovation with OCW, in particular in the context of (Virtual) student mobility (Lead: KU Leuven)
4. Comparing and assessing national policies and governmental roles (Lead: TU Delft)
5. Project Management and Financial Management (Lead: TU Delft)
6. Quality Assurance (Lead: TU Delft)
7. Dissemination (TU Delft)
8. Exploitation of results (TU Delft)

I look forward to collaborating with the others on this project. The project will probably start end of this year or early next year and has a duration of about 2 year.