“PLACEDU: Digital social place for the next normal in education”
COVID-19 revealed how weak the educational landscape is. It left many students without access to a blackboard, a computer, or basic learning resources. Most EU countries closed the higher education infrastructure for some time. While the efforts to maintain education during this closure were high, the students mostly had to rely on individual capabilities and tools. The most challenging aspect for the universities became the fact that the majority of institutions could not offer additional value when teaching only via the current online platforms.
As studies have shown, e-learning can cause social isolation, and it requires strong self-motivation, and time management skills. The current remote learning is having difficulties in delivering proper education not only because of a mismanagement of resources, but mainly because nobody understands how remote learning has to happen without the connection to the physical social space.
PLACEDU will address the most pressing issues of emotional, social, and communicational features that are lost in e-learning. The project aims to equip teachers with new skills in virtual learning by providing training based on those features that are lost when switching to e-learning.
In this regard, the main target groups of the project are (a) teachers of higher education institutions, so that they can deliver a more fulfilling educational experience via e-learning; and (b) students who will, as a result, experience more activities that boost their motivation and weaken their social isolation.
The PLACEDU project will produce the following outputs (IO1) a map of the existing tools and platforms that enable remote learning within HEI; (IO2) “The digital place”, a platform for the enhancement of remote learning; and (IO3) a manual and a digital guidebook for the implementation of the platform.
The PLACEDU project will be implemented by 7 partners from 6 countries: Lithuania (XWHY and Vilnius University), Slovenia (University of Ljubljana), Cyprus (CSI), Belgium (OTB International), Iceland (University of Island), and Greece (SOCIAL POLICY ACADEMY).
The project is co-financed by the Erasmus+ KA2 Programme of the European Commission