EnterMode Virtual Transnational Workshop
During the months of September and October 2020, the University of Ioannina, on behalf of the EnterMode consortium, organised 4 online workshops for the capacity building of higher education teaching staff and companies’ trainers. The objectives of the workshop were:
- To present the Internship Model and the Teachers’ Guide to partners and HEI staff involved in internships, provide a space for discussion and allow for hands-on activities related to designing internship procedures inside HEIs, communicating with companies and monitoring and evaluation on internships
- To present the Internship Model and the Trainer’s Guide to Companies, discuss their views on the Model, introduce them to the EnterComp framework and challenge-based learning and also discuss Incubation needs and internship monitoring. Also, to allow for a space to discuss how challenges are set up, present and discuss challenges proposed by companies and co-produce challenges
- To present the Internship Model and the Serious Game to students, involve them in testing the game, receive comments and discuss the role of the Serious Game in an internship and finally to test challenges with them.
- Finally, to proceed to the finalization of the trainers’ guide, get to know the University of Ioannina Mentoring programme and discuss the future of internships with a special focus on Virtual Internships
Due to the restrictions in travelling and face to face meetings during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the consortium decided to organize the Workshop in a Virtual format, with all participants joining through video-conferencing facilities. The Virtual Workshop took place on four different days, from 23 September to 14 October, with each session having a duration of approximately 4 hours.
The first three workshops were addressed each to one of the main target groups of EnterMode, which are the major contributors to the implementation of internships in higher education:
- Higher Education institutions (academic and administrative staff involved in the implementation of internship programmes)
- Companies and organisations interested in hosting students for internships programmes
- Higher Education students
More than 30 people took part in each of the workshop sessions, with up to 61 people participating in the third session, addressed to students.
During the first session, after a comprehensive presentation of the Internship Model and the Mentors’ Guide, the EnterMode Community of Practice was introduced to participants. Following this, explanations were provided about designing internship procedures inside HEIs, communication with companies and the monitoring and evaluation aspects. A special attention was dedicated to the need of shifting internship to a virtual format, in the present Covid19 times.
The second workshop, addressed to companies, focussed on the companies’ view on the model and explored in details the relation of the model with the EntreComp framework and with the challenge-based learning method. Partner companies were invited to present potential challenges and discuss their implementation process.
The third workshop session, addressed to HE students, focussed on the presentation of the serious game developed by EnterMode and included a session in which students were invited to test the game and provide comments on their experience directly afterwards.
The last workshop, held on 14 October 2020 and followed by a planning meeting, was addressed to the project consortium only and aimed to discuss the feedback and lessons gathered during the workshops.
Participants confirmed the usefulness and the feasibility of the approaches proposed by EnterMode. The suggested challenges produced by project partners were in scope and feasible, while the students confirmed the applicability of the serious game. Virtual internships appeared as a future extension of the model.
For a comprehensive account of the workshops, we invite you to read the full report produced by the organisers and host – the University of Ioannina.