European Virtual Seminar on Sustainable Development

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European Virtual Seminaron Sustainable
Development

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• More than 300 European universities have
  signed the COPERNICUS-Charter, thereby declaring
  that they will give sustainable development a
  place in their activities.

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• The aim of the EVS (European Virtual Seminar on
  Sustainable Development) is to promote an
  international and multidisciplinary dialogue on
  sustainable development issues between students
  from all over Europe by using modern ICT.
• In this seminar students are directly confronted
  with different views and opinions on sustainable
  development issues. Views and opinions that are
  highly related to different social, cultural,
  political, economic and environmental backgrounds
  students are living in.

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Whats the EVS about?

• collaborative learning
• place and time independent learning
• using modern information and communication
  technology
• promoting an international and multidisciplinary
  dialogue on sustainable development issues in
  Europe
• co-operation between institutions for higher
  education

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Short history

• 2000 small project funding by the EU coordinated
  by the Open Universiteit Nederland
  COPERNICUS-CAMPUS
• 2001 pilot 9 institutions from 4 countries
• 2002 1st run 11 institutions from 5 countries
• 2003 2nd run 15 institutions from 10 countries
• 2004 3rd run 18 institutions from 11 countries

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EVS partners 2004-2005
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Pedagogy

• collaborative learning via internet
• international and multidisciplinary compound
  groups
• two phases in EVS course
• Individual work electronic learning environment
  and team building
• Group work research proposal, research, report,
  policy summary
• assessment and marking
• group products (report and policy summary) by the
  expert
• group process (cooperation group members) by the
  tutor

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Content

• Overall theme Sustainable Development in Europe
• Case studies (2004)
• The future of sustainable agriculture in Poland
• European spatial planning and policy The regions
  with the Mediterranean forest Dehesa
• European Water Framework Directive Danube basin
• Nature and biodiversity conservation Romanian
  forests
• Sustainable enterprises in European countries

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Community

• student groups international multidisciplinary
  (4-6 members)
• tutors coaching assessing group process
• experts assisting groups assessing group
  products
• institutional coordinators project management
  formal issues

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Electronic learning environment

• Web based course materials (Blackboard Learning
  System)
• Web based course materials (case studies,
  guidelines etc.)
• Tools for communication interaction
• group areas (open and secured)
• electronic discussion boards
• chat facilities
• e-mail facilities
• File exchange

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• Organisation
• Sharing expertise and investing staff time and
  resources by all partners.
• There is no joint budget for exploitation or
  further development / improvement of EVS.
• Institutions can become a partner on 3 different
  levels
• Students and an institutional coordinator
  participate.
• A tutor also participates.
• A case study is made as well and the expert
  participates.

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Formal issues and quality guarantee

• Studyload EVS course 120 hours (October-January)
• Students receive credit points from their
  institution
• EVS as optional or obliged course in curriculum
• Guidelines for coordinators. tutors, authors,
  students

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Students participation

• To participate in the EVS students should
• be interested in sustainable development issues
• be interested in group work
• be able to read and write English
• have access to a computer and internet connection
• have an open mind to E-learning

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• Learning objectives EVS
• describe and operationalise the concept of
  sustainable development
• analyse sustainable development issues from a
  European perspective
• link local, national and European policy-related
  issues to societal processes of change towards
  sustainable development
• co-operate with students from different cultural
  and disciplinary backgrounds.
• use the computer conferencing system effectively
  for collaborative learning

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Virtual collaborative learning lessons learned

• International cooperation takes a lot of time,
  because of differences in culture, different
  educational paradigm, etc.
• Staff members and most students are enthousiastic
  about EVS concept of international and
  multidisciplinary collaborative learning
  (necessary skill for learning on SD)
• At the start of EVS most students lack specific
  computer skills for virtual collaborative
  learning, and often they dont have experience in
  group work

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• Team building in EVS needs a lot of attention,
  because students dont know each other at the
  start and all social processes are depending on
  virtual communication and interaction (students
  suggest to organise a summer school after EVS)
• The role of the tutor is crucial for coaching and
  monitoring of the student groups, especially when
  problems arise in a group (students ask for more
  steering and feedback from the tutor)
• Total number of dropouts (about 50) can be
  explained by the complexity of the EVS
  (international, multidisciplinary, virtual,
  groupwork, etc.), but also the course management
  should be stricter (selection of students, credit
  points for students, formal position of EVS in
  curriculum, etc.)

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EVS screen dumps webportal
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main menu
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content area (case study Danube)
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communication area a group discussion board
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group products - report
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The future of the EVS

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Embedded into the Virtual COPERNICUS-CAMPUS
under the eLearning-Programme of the EU
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Thank you for your attention! Hans-Peter
Winkelmann www.copernicus-campus.org