Kein Folientitel

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Friedhelm (Fred) Nickolmann Virtual Mobility at
Virtual Erasmus Week 2006 09 March 2006

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FernUniversität in Hagen - Basics

• The only distance teaching university in
  Germany

• Established Dec. 1974 / Opened Dec. 1975
  by Act of Parliament of the State of
  Nordrhein-Westfalen
• Not a national university,
• but acting nationally (and internationally)

• Integral part of the regular public higher
  education system
• - Similar activities in research and
  teaching

• - Fully in line with campus universities
• - equal rights, equal duties
• - same tasks and functions
• - same standards and admission
  requirements
• Key figures (2005/06)
• - 44,000 students
• - 80 professors
• - 355 academic staff / 710 acad.
  support staff
• - 610 administrative staff

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Students per Faculty 1999/00 // 2004/05
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Profiles and Categories of Students

2005/2006

• Profiles
• 29-35 years median age of students
• 80 in employment
• 23 earned a first academic degree already
• 60 male --- 40 female
• 8 foreign nationality (5 living abroad)
• Categories

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Categories of Students from Abroad

• Germans living or working abroad
• Foreign nationalities with particular interest in
  German language, culture
• and science
• - employees in international environments
• - preparing for physical study in Germany
• - young academics / scientists / researchers
• - re-emigrants
• - former students from German campus
• universities

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Studying from Abroad Support 1/2

• Study material to addressees abroad sent first
  by air mail
• Return of tests and written tasks
• Special fax no web-assign
• Written examinations (ex neighbouring countries)
  
• Goethe Institute / German School
• Embassy or Consulate
• Practical course
• ? Travel to Germany (temporal visum)
• ? Aquivalents
• Library services direct lending out of study
  books, copy service for articles
• Student contact lists

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Studying from Abroad Support 2/2

• Special admission and administration office
  (Studentisches Auslandsamt Foreign students
  office)
• Special counsellors at faculties
• Study centres abroad
• Austria (7) Bregenz, Deutschlandsberg, Bad
  Goisern,
• Saalfelden, Steyr, Villach, Wien
• Switzerland (2) Brig, Pfäffikon
• Hungary Budapest
• Latvia Riga
• Russia (2) St. Petersburg, Smolensk
• Estonia Tallinn
• Third-party contribution / own budget
  (Austria, Switzerland, ...)
• - staff - supplies/ equipments - facilities

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Study Centers Offers, Activities

• Infrastructure
• (rooms, personnel, technology, library)
• Information point
• Administration
• Contact and communication
• (meeting fellow students and faculty staff)
• Counselling / Tutoring
• Seminars / lectures (face-to-face)
• Examinations (face-to-face, video)
• Needs analysis
• Collaboration with local and regional
  institutions and business

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Special example The Budapest Distance Study
Centre Fernstudienzentrum Budapest

• Since winter semester 1991/92 complete range of
  study programmes of the FernUniversität
• Hungarians enrolling for German-language
  programmes of study at Universität
• - German university degrees
• (undergraduate/graduate)
• - academic further education programmes
• growing number registered simultaneously at
  FernUniversität and at Hungarian university
• (to improve language skills and subject related
  knowledge)
• about 400 enroled students per semester

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Hungarian Students at German Universities (2002)
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Double-degree programmes (since 2002)

• Economics students of the University of Pécs
  enrole at the FernUniversität to finally obtain
  degrees from both universities
• - Additional studies (2 ys part-time)
• - 75 students enroled some already finished
• Same kind of cooperation with Széchenyi István
  University Györ (economics) and the Budapest
  Business School (economics computer science)

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The path to a Hungarian-German double-degree

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"Virtual Mobility" already in place at
FernUniversität in Hagen Summary

• All 44.000 students are virtually mobile
• - studying from home or workplace at
  FernUniversität based in Hagen -
• - 6 of students living abroad
• Study Centres abroad
• Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Russia, Baltic
  States information, support
• services, classroom meetings, exams (written
  oral videoconference)
• Double Degrees
• Hungary, Russia, Baltic States, Czech
  Republic
• "Bologna Process" Instruments
• BA/MA structure, ECTS, Diploma Supplement
• ERASMUS University Charter
• European Network activities
• EUNITE, EuroPACE, EADTU
• Use of ICTs (Online courses, CSCL, CURE)
• Open Access Studies
• studying any course without pre-requisites

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Specific Example Real systems in virtual lab


PC as virtual lab
Real systems
Home or workplace of student
Real lab

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The Bologna Declaration -Joint declaration of
the European Ministers of Education 19 June 1999

• Adoption of a system of easily readable and
  comparable degrees (Diploma Supplement)
• Adoption of a system essentially based on two
  main cycles (Bachelor, Master)
• Establishment of a system of credits (ECTS)
• Promotion of mobility by overcoming obstacles to
  the effective exercise of free movement with
  particular attention to
• - for students, access to study and
  training opportunities and to related services
• - for teachers, researchers and
  administrative staff, recognition and
  valorisation of periods spent in a European
  context researching, teaching and training
• Promotion of European co-operation in quality
  assurance
• Promotion of the necessary European dimensions in
  higher education

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Forms of Mobility of Students

• Physical Mobility (PM)
• on-site physical travel stay in a country
  abroad
• for limited period
• takes substantial amount of time / creates
  additional cost
• student experiences face-to-face activities and
  meetings, teaching and the everyday life of the
  country
• social, cultural and educational enrichment

• Virtual Mobility (VM)
• from home, university or work place / no physical
  stay abroad
• no restrictions in length of time spent studying
• time and cost effective
• limited face-to-face activities
• access to courses and study schemes in foreign
  country communication with teachers and fellow
  students abroad via ICT
• academic educational experience
• (interaction intercultural competences)

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Mobility of Students

• one scheme two different forms
• gt Physical Mobility (PM)
• gt Virtual Mobility (VM)
• to be conceived as different but equal
  educational concepts
• neither is inferior to the other
• each has its own profile and legitimacy
• complement / reinforce each other in various ways
  
• Virtual Mobility is sometimes the easiest or only
  solution for international mobility

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Thank you for your attention
www.fernuni-hagen.de