From Virtual Mobility to Virtual Erasmus: Offering Students Courses and Services without Boundaries

Abstract

In higher education, international student mobility has become increasingly important for learners as well as for institutions. But today’s mobility schemes are first and foremost aimed at physical mobility. This approach covers the majority of students, but does, however, not take into account the needs of the lifelong learners who are not mobile due to family or work commitments, or who are constrained by disability, or do not have the financial means for traveling abroad during their academic education. The need to offer all students in higher education the possibility of an international experience and the European strategy of boosting student mobility requires new and alternative mobility concepts in addition to physical mobility. The European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) initiated an operational analysis of virtual mobility under the e-move project. Different models of virtual mobility have been developed, analysed and put into practice. This chapter will explore how a particular virtual mobility scheme can be put into practice and what is required from an organisation to implement this model and incorporate it into its own curriculum.