Collaboration in the Virtual Classroom – successful kickoff for Virtual Mobility module

Long-term partnerships pay off – the Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) module was successfully launched again in the third year between TU Dresden and Shiraz University. Since 2019 the two partner universities have been organising modules that give the possibility to Iranian and German students to come together in virtual settings and work collaboratively on an 8-week long case study.

This year 30 German students, 15 Iranian students and 13 Iranian experts are participating in the module “Collaboration in the virtual classroom”. The students work in small groups of 4 to 6 participants and develop project ideas for a sustainable transformation of the energy sector in the Middle East in international and interdisciplinary cooperation. Being supported by E-Tutors and industry experts, students have the unique possibility to apply their theoretical knowledge in practice and receive immediate feedback. The student teams work in small groups on the virtual platform Microsoft Teams where they are provided with tools and communication tools for their collaboration. The work is divided into two virtual blocks and a pitch in the middle and at the end. Today´s kick-off meeting has notified all of the stakeholders about the start of the case study and gave the opportunity to all of the participants to meet each other in a virtual meeting. After the presentation of the agenda, first Prof. Schoop from the chair of Information Management again clearly explained the strategic partnerships that contributed to the realization of the Virtual Collaborative Learning Arrangement. Thus, the module Collaboration in the Virtual Classroom surrounded by the VCL framework, which has been tested and extensively iteratively developed for over 20 years now. On the other hand, there is the intensive internationalization and Interdisciplinarity that reaches its new zenith within the occasion of the COIIIL project.

Afterwards, the participants were welcomed by Prof. Dr. Safavi and Dr. Salimi from Iran. The interdisciplinary and international cooperation was emphasized as profitable for all students, especially the connection of teaching and practice through the implementation of Iranian business experts who support the students in the development of their project ideas creates a real business context. During the pitches, the groups present their ideas in front of a jury of industry experts.

In a third step the module and its goals were introduced by Mattis Altmann from the chair of Information Management. Moreover, it was stressed that through the formative feedback of E-Tutors, students have also the chance to evolve their organizational and communication skills within the scope of the project. Beyond that the task of E-Tutors is to accompany the groups of students in their working process and monitor group activity. This will allow the E-Tutors to give feedback, highlight the areas of improvement and encourage students to develop them as well. Team performance is also visualized by Learning Analytics which offers the students a new perspective for self-reflection and support E-Tutors in decision making.

We are excited about the start of the new project and are looking forward to the presentation and discussion of the results! For a first impression of what we are doing check also the teaser below.

Link to the Teaser.