Background

The Covid pandemic has prevented the normal flow of student mobility in many areas, including VET and Vocational teacher education (VTE). It has also forced digitalisation further up the agenda of all schools, universities and other educational institutions. A recent systematic review of research on international mobility (Roy et al 2018) concluded that, although the evidence base was relatively weak, there were demonstrable benefits for students from short-term international mobility. Increasing the length of visits was likely to increase the benefits proportionately, but there are serious practical implications of extending visits beyond the 2-3 week periods generally undertaken by VET teacher students. Roy et al recommend various lines of further research, but our purpose here is to develop innovative approaches based on the available evidence and our own experience of mobility programmes. The DIVE project will take a positive approach to these developments. Whereas student and teacher mobility, in a physical sense, is necessarily selective, digital mobility can be inclusive, providing opportunities for all. However, this requires careful thought about the educational benefits of international and intercultural exchange. 

Internationalisation generally requires physical travel, but this is increasingly difficult in the short term, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and in the medium and long term due to climate change and the need for carbon reduction. Digital technologies offer the possibility of communicating internationally without travel, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding practices that can recreate the benefits of international mobility without the problems of physical travel. DIVE will address these issues using the experience of previous projects in the internationalisation of vocational and other teacher education, including OPVET, RECITE, RECREADE and SATE.  

The current call on digital readiness is therefore a welcome and timely intervention by the EU in promoting better and more effective online interaction with all education systems and particularly in VET.  All partners in DIVE are committed to building the scope and profile of VET in relation to 21st century challenges such as pandemics and climate change. As in all areas of life, experiential learning is the key to achieving better outcomes, and DIVE will provide such experiential learning in the context of these challenges and the increasing digitalisation of education and of everyday life. We recognise that, already, the changes in practice forced upon individuals and institutions by Covid-19 have resulted in opportunities for, and barriers to, teaching and learning. This is a paradigm change in education, which largely unprecedented. Education systems have developed in an organic and ad-hoc manner since the Middle Ages, driven by a combination of precedent, arbitrary policy decisions and latterly, scientific evidence based on empirical research. However, each of these drivers, considered individually, are incapable of generating effective responses to massive and sudden external change.