Enhancing Student Mobility through Online Support

The aim of the ESMOS project is to improve quality of student's mobility experience by providing them with a high level support through the means of Virtual Learning Environments and other online technologies. The partnership has investigated the current practise within each institution, as to support for mobility students, particularly investigating the use of technology.

We have also examined the factors that affect students on placement; identifying problems with meeting student mobility numbers in the UK and other countries. We have further examined the potential of the technology each project partner is currently using and have developed an understanding of the relationships which need to be developed between the Universities and their placement organisations in order to identify where and how VLEs and other online technologies can be utilised effectively.

The ESMOS partnership will apply and disseminate a current model that has been effectively evaluated and produce 2 best practice/case studies. We will then validate the methodology and the final product, develop guidelines for effective support, using the technology, for students undertaking placements and disseminate the project outputs to European Universities participating in Socrates ERASMUS and Leonardo da Vinci mobility programmes as well as the network of partners within the project partnership.

The main target groups will be student tutors and academics, HE students participating in placements and student mobility programmes in the enlarged European region and placement tutors in the placement organisations at departmental, faculty and University level. Undergraduate and postgraduate students from higher/further education institutions will directly benefit from on-line support provision whilst on their work placements/study exchanges abroad.

In addition, tutors will be also benefit from the guidelines and protocols for supporting mobility through an online environment, helping them to set up their own support mechanisms that will aid their students in acquiring better experience from their study abroad.

Extracted from: ESMOS