This event will take place once a year during the life cycle of the JM project. It aims to foster a forum of discussion, where academics from new, old and EU candidate states have the opportunity to exchange ideas and share best practices on teaching approaches and methods in EU Studies. The format is designed as a workshop and targets the participation of 20 academics/year. Scholars, doctoral candidates, as well as other experts from the new member states and old member states, are invited to participate.

Background

The 2015 Yerevan Ministerial conference has placed teaching as the core objective of the European Higher Education Area, ‘stressing that enhancing the quality and relevance of learning and teaching is the main mission of the EHEA'(Yerevan Communiqué, p.2). The use of digital technologies is one of the methods that can boost the quality of the teaching process and the EU has adopted in the last years’ several key documents with the aim to support and guide the member states in building digital learning environments. The Digital Education Action Plan or the Communication from the Commission on a renewed higher education agenda are representative in this direction. New impetus for digital skills-based educational dimension was also reinforced through the VdL EU Commission agenda which aims to make the European Educational Area a reality by 2025(A Union that strives for more. Topic 3. A Union fit for the digital age, p.14).

But, the use of digital technologies in the teaching and learning process varies across members states, due to differences in digital infrastructure. Digital tools are quite costly and it creates additional burdens on public universities which lack the financial sources to acquire the software. Also, the lack of training of the teaching staff to use efficiently digital technologies is another factor that explains this variation among EU member states.

In this context, having in mind the important role universities play and departing from one of the conclusions expressed in the 2018 Bologna Implementation Report that there is limited evidence on the way universities use digital technologies and the policies and strategies they employ to enhance the quality of teaching(2018 Bologna Implementation Report, p. 230) and offer the students the skills necessary for the labour market and for civic participation, this academic event aims to respond to this gap and addresses the contribution of the field of European Union Integration Studies.