Intent Project Experience, UniCollaboration platform and International placement by Francesca Helm (University of Padova) Presented at the Italian VMCOLAB Awareness Seminar “European Co-Laboratory for the Integration of Virtual Mobility in Higher Education Innovation and Modernization Strategies” on 27 March 2014 in Padova.

1. INtegrating TElecollaborative NeTworks into
Foreign Language Higher EducationForeign Language Higher Education
Francesca Helm, University of Padova, Italy
Seminar “European Co-Laboratory for the Integration of Virtual Mobility in Higher
Education Innovation and Modernization Strategies”
Padova, 27 March 2014,

2. Agenda
• The INTENT project
• The Unicollaboration Platform
• Position Paper• Position Paper
• Important developments on local and international levels
• Future plans

3. INTENT
• Integrating Telecollaborative Networks into Foreign Language
Higher Education
• Financed By The European Commission - Lifelong Learning
Programme
• Co-ordinated by Robert O’Dowd at the Universidad de Leon, Spain
• 8 European partners (PH Heidelberg, Grenoble III, Padova,
Czestochowa, Groningen, UA Barcelona, Open University UK)
• October 2011-March 2014

5. Study of Telecollaboration in European Universities
Online surveys from December 2011 - February 2012
Language versions: English, German, French and Italian
Three surveys with responses from 24 European countries:
Experienced teacher telecollaborators (102 complete responses)
Inexperienced teacher telecollaborators (108 complete responses)
Experienced student telecollaborators (131 complete responses)
Qualitative Case studies:
7 representative examples of telecollaboration around Europe
Aims:
Identify types of telecollaborative practices undertaken by European
university educators
Explore the barriers to telecollaboration and the strategies used to
overcome these barriers

6. Principal Findings
Languages used in exchanges:
Despite predominance of English, French, German, Spanish were common and there are
examples from many ‘lesser taught’ languages as well.
Intended outcomes of exchanges:
Predominance of improving intercultural competence but also linguistic competency,
digital literacy and learner autonomy.digital literacy and learner autonomy.
Consequences:
Greater interest in physical mobility.
Students become more open to others, accepting and understanding of difference and
to realise that their own points of view are not necessarily “the best or only ones”.
Long term friendships with their telecollaboration peers, keeping in touch once
exchanges are over and some even visiting one another.
Students want more: “Our University should organise more exchanges”, “more than one
term”, “more time to speak”, “more Skype sessions”, etc.

7. Barriers
Despite positive outcomes and the fact that
“Telecollaborative exchanges are recognised by many universities as valuable activities
for internationalisation and for the development of student mobility.”
“Telecollaboration not only benefits students’ learning but can also contribute to
educators’ academic careers, by establishing connections to new academic networks and
engaging in staff mobility visits with other universities etc.”engaging in staff mobility visits with other universities etc.”
Telecollaboration remains the domain of individual teachers, who invest
massive amounts of time in this activity
There remains across Europe a lack of institutional support in terms of
Incentives for teachers to do this (eg. course release for pedagogical innovation)
professional development training for teachers,
credits for students,
integration into study programmes,
engagement with institutions in the developing world, in particular sub-Saharan Africa.

8. Read our Report on
Telecollaboration in Europe:
www.intent-project.euwww.intent-project.eu

9. UniCollaboration Platform
• Interactive platform for telecollaboration/online intercultural
exchanges in HE
• Information resource for teachers, mobility coordinators,
administrators, students:
– Sample Projects
– Tasks, Task sequences
– Practitioners, Institutions, Classes– Practitioners, Institutions, Classes
– Training and ‘how to’ materials
• Tools for practitioners:
– Create tasks, classes, compile ePortfolio
– Search for partners
– Plan and prepare collaborations
• Social functions: forum, messaging, blogs
• Announcements and site activities on home page

11. Usage
• Currently:
– About 600 registered users, ca. 155 logged in
during past 4 months
– More than 35 countries– More than 35 countries
– Each continent
– Many languages, especially English and other
major languages, but also minority languages

15. INTENT - Integrating Telecollaborative
Networks into University Foreign Language
Education

16. ePortfolio
Designed to help teachers assess long-
term development of intercultural and
telecollaborative skills.
Short introduction to some of the
principles behind evaluating student
work along with a walk-through
technical guide for using the portfolio
platform.platform.

17. The INTENT group have held workshops in
partner countries and across Europe as part of
local events and international conferences.
Workshops have been conducted in different
languages to familiarise participants with the
practice of telecollaboration and use of the
platform through hands on experience
INTENT - Integrating Telecollaborative
Networks into University Foreign Language
Education

18. INTENT - Integrating Telecollaborative
Networks into University Foreign Language
Education

19. Recent additions
• Collaborations
– Link classes and exchange information
• Integration social media
– Share new classes, tasks and announcements on– Share new classes, tasks and announcements on
Facebook and Twitter
• Translations (in progress)
– Translations in project languages

21. • Position paper
– Why? To support us in dialogue with stakeholders
on the role of telecollaboration in higher
educationeducation
The position paper is on the UNICollaboration
website and we are collecting individual and
institutional endorsements.
INTENT - Integrating Telecollaborative
Networks into University Foreign Language
Education

22. Important developments on an
international levelFebruary 2013
The U.S. Department of Education and Cultural Affairs Bureau (the world’s largest
funder of exchanges) established a Virtual Exchange Unit.
May 2013
The European Union’s Executive External Action Service (the EU foreign policyThe European Union’s Executive External Action Service (the EU foreign policy
bureau) organized briefings by Virtual Exchange program implementers, funders, and
researchers with senior EU policy-advisors and funding bureaus.
May 2013
At the Foreign Service Institute Overseas Security Seminar, U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry announced the Obama Administration’s plan to launch the J. Christopher
Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative. This initiative will fuel the scaled expansion of the
Virtual Exchange field and contribute substantially to enabling all youth to have a
meaningful cross-cultural experience as part of their education.

23. Future plans
• Link up with other organizations doing similar work
(Exchange 2.0 coalition)
• Engage with decision-makers, lobbying activity,
promote policy change – as in the USpromote policy change – as in the US
• Prepare follow-up EC-funded projects
• Carry out more research,
also using MIT’s tools for
measuring impact

24. Important developments
on a local level
• Virtual exchanges are appearing in course curricula as
optional credit-bearing courses
• Students are doing virtual placements, eg. Facilitating
in the Soliya Connect Program, Sharing Perspectives
• Language Centre has plans to set up a Virtual
Exchange Unit, to offer students more opportunities
and to support university professors in setting up
virtual exchanges

25. Thank you!
francesca.helm@unipd.it
Online Intercultural Exchange
in Higher Education
Intercultural Horizons, Siena, 7-9 October 2013
http://www.scoop.it/t/intent-project-news
www.uni-collaboration.eu