On the 6th of February in the European Parliament (ASP 5G1) MEP Yana Toom will hold the workshop "Virtual Exchange for digital skills and global citizenship".
The purpose of the workshop is to present Virtual Exchange, an innovative approach to the use of digital technologies in education currently being piloted by the European Commission in various policy experimentations and the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange pilot project. Virtual Exchange fosters sustained people-to-people interaction, develops young people's soft skills and employability and can enhance teachers' and youth workers' use of digital tools to promote intercultural exchange and active, global competences and European citizenship.
In light of the European Parliament's recent report (11/12/29018) on Education in the Digital Era, the panel of researchers and a regional policy maker will give an overview of current experimentations and the evidence-base supporting this activity. This will be followed by a question and answer session with members and stakeholders.
10:30 - 10:35 Welcome by Yana Toom (MEP)
10:35 - 10:45 What is Virtual Exchange? by Francesca Helm (University of Padova/ Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange consortium)
10:45 - 11:05 Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange by Jose Diez Verdejo (Policy Officer, DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture)
11:05 - 11:20 Evidence of impact of Virtual Exchange on future teachers by Robert O’Dowd (Universidad de León, Spain and project manager EVALUATE)
11:20 - 11:30 Opportunities and challenges in integrating Virtual Exchange in European university education by Sake Jager (University of Groningen, Netherlands and project manager EVOLVE)
11.30 - 11.45 Virtual Exchange at the service of policy making by Pilar Garcés (Director General of Universities in Castilla y León, Spain)
11.45 - 12:15 Discussion and Questions & Answer session
12:15 - 12:30 Closing comments by panel and Yana Toom (MEP)