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Compétences Linguistiques et Interculturelles au S..
Compétences Linguistiques et Interculturelles au Service des Entreprises en Europe
Start date: Sep 1, 2014,
End date: Feb 28, 2017
PROJECT
FINISHED
The COLISEE Project focuses on the linguistic, intercultural and enterprise skills needed by European businesses and seeks to enhance the employability of Masters’ level graduates by providing education and training which answers the needs of businesses looking for these skills. Planned changes in training include a more extensive use of digital technologies by University teaching staff. Research carried out by partner universities, and supported by national studies, shows low levels of use of digital technology in university courses at Masters’ level. Partners also note a growing demand for digital training from their staff. The objectives of the COLISEE project arise from these needs.
The first objective of the project is to improve the employability of Masters’ level graduates by including periods of mobility in the curricula of the university partners. The starting point is the demand for skills from businesses and a desire to improve the quality of training by focusing on three types of competence:
• Linguistic competence in two European languages;
• Intercultural competence in two European countries;
• Business competence and knowledge of corporate culture in at least two European countries.
The second objective: the improvement of the quality of education and training through the use of digital resources will mean breaking in part with traditional methodologies. It implies:
• The adaptation of digital environments to the students’ educational needs ;
• Increased use of digital resources;
• Staff training in the use of digital technology for education.
This second objective of the COLISEE project has led to a decision by the partners to develop a combined joint Masters’ Programme, "Multilingualism and corporate culture", the detail of which will be elaborated during the two years of the project. The three sets of competencies outlined above will be acquired by students enrolled at one of the partner universities.
A consortium of 10 partners from six European countries. The Université de Montpellier 2 Sciences et Techniques, project lead of the COLISEE project, is leading a consortium which brings together 7 comprehensive universities; the Universities of Montpellier 1, Paul Valéry; Southampton; Perugia; Linköping and the Balearic Islands, as well as two distance open universities, the Spanish National University of Distance Education and the Greek Open University. The consortium also includes an inter-university association, the Open Digital Space for the Mediterranean (E.OMED). This complementary partnership brings together the skills and human resources needed for a successful project.
The methodological approach to project management has been to share the responsibility for key activities among the partners, while ensuring the involvement of all partners in every activity. UM2 will provide financial and administrative management of the project. Project management will be carried out by Montpellier’s Faculty of Education. A Steering Committee will oversee the running of the project and make any necessary adjustments. A Scientific Committee will ensure that the targets are appropriately met.
Five work groups, each led by a university with proven expertise in the field for which it is responsible, will plan the development, training and dissemination activities:
Group 1 « Digital infrastructures »: University of SOUTHAMPTON (United Kingdom);
Group 2 « Development of Digital Resources »: National University of Distance Education (UNED, Spain);
Group 3 « Training of Teachers in the use of digital technologies »: PERUGIA (Italy);
Group 4 « Development of the Joint Master’s »: UM2, Faculty of Education, (France);
Group 5 « Internal and external dissemination and exploitation of results »: University of LINKÖPING (Sweden).
Teachers from all of the partner universities will participate in the work groups. Finally, the development and dissemination of a good practice guide on the use of digital technologies is a key element which will ensure the sustainability of the project outcomes.
Expected outcomes
Outcomes to be assessed during the project include positive changes in the professional practices of the teaching staff (300 teachers trained), improvement in the digital environment of each of the partner universities and better institutional recognition of the efforts of teachers. The training modules will be added to the continuing professional development plans of the partner universities and the joint Master’s will become part of their educational offer. Through their various academic networks, the results of the COLISEE project will be disseminated within and outside Europe to teachers and students. Finally, in the longer term, the employability of graduates with the joint Master’s degree will be evaluated.