Virtual Collaboration in European Teacher Education

The project ‘Virtual Collaboration in European Teacher Education’ will design, develop and implement virtual exchange (VE) formats in the initial teacher education programmes of the participating higher education institutions, namely the University of Education Freiburg, Germany and the Aix Marseille University, France. The aim is to enhance student teachers’ professional awareness as European teachers, by developing their digital and intercultural skills, as well as their transnational professional attitude.

The VE will be integrated in general teacher education courses, conducted jointly by the participating higher education institutions for two consecutive academic semesters, and will be continuously improved, based on the results of an online survey for participating student teachers and teacher educators. Lessons learned will culminate in the production of a course manual for teacher educators and will be disseminated through a professional development workshop, a scientific article, and a conference presentation. The creation of a VE alumni network will also be envisaged, so that students can share their VE experiences and stay invested in the process of integrating VEs throughout the continuum of teacher professional learning.

The project will essentially enable the participating higher education institutions to become active members of international VE networks, promoting their expertise in developing VE formats in European teacher education.

For testimonials and the alumni page, please click here

1. Virtual Exchange formats are developed and integrated into courses and curricula of the participating higher education institutions.
2. Student teachers‘ professional awareness as future European Teachers is enhanced.
3. VE formats help student teachers and teacher educators to enhance their intercultural competence, their digital and language skills.
4. The IT services at the University of Education Freiburg are utilised to enable the synchronous and asynchronous interaction of both German and French student teachers.
5. An online alumni network of VE participants is created.
6. The participating higher education institutions become members of international VE networks to promote the development of VE in European teacher education.

Project name: Virtual Collaboration in European Teacher Education

Project management: Prof. Dr. Vasileios Symeonidis

Team: Jens Alber / Lukas Kaiser / Tom Türk

Contact person: Jens Alber: jens.alber@ph-freiburg.de 

Project partner: Aix Marseille University, France (link) 

Funding: German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

Project duration: 03/2023 - 12/2023

Online workshop on teacher education

On November 21, from 4-6 p.m., the VCIETE project team will offer a webinar on virtual exchange in higher education via Zoom. Vasileios Symeonidis, in collaboration with Verena Bodenbender (PH Freiburg) and Maria Impedovo (Université Aix-Marseille), will present the VCIETE project at the PH Freiburg. Moreover,  important aspects of virtual exchange and teacher education will be discussed with experienced lecturers in the field of VE as well as with people from the IT department. Most importantly, the workshop will take a look at modern teacher education through discussions and suggestions on Virtual Exchange. The invitation to this workshop can be found here.
If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please register until Friday, 17.11.2023, by sending a mail to Jens Alber (jens.alber@ph-freiburg.de).
We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Field trip to Aix-en-Provence

We are happy to confirm a new excursion to the South of France!
The course on Virtual Exchange in Teacher Education by Prof. Vasilieos Symeonidis will again include a physical component. Thanks to the cooperation between the PH Freiburg and the Université Aix-Marseille, participants of the VCIETE program will take part in an excursion to Aix-en-Provence.

Where: Université Aix-en-Provence
What: Seminars, workshops and cultural activities
When: December 03-06/07

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The initial Newsletter, published in July 2023, can be found here.

The second Neswletter, published in October 2023, can be found here.

The third and final Newsletter, published in December 2023, can be found here.

Jens Alber

jens.alber(at)ph-freiburg.de

Vasileios Symeonidis

vasileios.symeonidis(at)ph-freiburg.de

Prof. Dr. Vasileios Symeonidis

Project manager

Jens Alber

Project assistant

Lukas Kaiser

Student assistant

Tom Türk

Student assistant

INSPE Aix-Marseille, France

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