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Consolidation and expansion of a Virtual Campus
Start date: Nov 1, 2010,

The OIKODOMOS Virtual Campus (www.oikodomos.org) has been created with the support of the LLLP programme 2007-2009. We have developed, implemented, tested and evaluated an innovative pedagogic model based on a blended learning approach which combines on-line learning activities carried out in web-based environments with seminars and design studios physically taking place at the participating universities. An ICT platform was specifically created to support the pedagogic methodology of the Virtual Campus. It consists of two environments: Workspaces and Case Repository. The first one supports project-based learning, such as the development of a project –architectural and/or urban– in a collaborative manner. The second one is a digital repository of housing case studies, which is constructed also collaboratively by learners and tutors. Learning activities were implemented in three Joint Workshops –based in Ghent, Grenoble and Bratislava– each one dealing with a specific housing topic: life-long dwelling, housing for diversity and effective housing. Urban and housing projects were carried out in the virtual environments, in the local design studios as well as in the Joint Workshops. Community representatives, local authorities and housing experts participated in these activities contributing to identify design projects, formulating the program needs, and assessing the project results. This valuable pedagogic experience needs to be systematized, documented and disseminated among the academic and research communities to expand the application of the pedagogic model beyond the partnerhship. Also, the results of the three Joint Workshops should be brought back to the local communities (authorities, citizens, associations) of the regions where the urban and designs projects were developed. To achieve these goals it is necessary to: provide multilingual versions of the project outcomes (in digital and print forms); create a multilingual compendium of the project results to be distributed in different media formats (web, video, prints); disseminate the findings of the design workshops (student projects, lectures) among the local communities through exhibitions and ad-hoc events; enhance the web portal with communication spaces that enable formal and non-formal learners understanding and assessment of the results of the learning activities; organize an international workshop to enhance the number of participating institutions in the Virtual Campus; organize an international conference addressing both contemporary housing issues and innovation in architectural pedagogy; and, finally, publishing articles and papers in specialized journals as well as in local media.
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