What is HIBlend?

The HIBLend project has been designed with an overall aim to raise interest in and enhance higher education institutions’ capacity to develop high-quality blended mobility opportunities for students. This will be done through the design, testing, and dissemination of a comprehensive framework offering guidance on quality considerations for existing models and approaches to blended mobility, and main processes related to the improvement of existing activities, as well as the set-up and delivery of new ones. 

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The project design includes three major focus areas/pillars of work: 

1. The design of a comprehensive framework for quality-driven blended mobility based on: 
   • Different types of emerging blended mobility models and approaches 
   • Multi-actor quality considerations for various types of blended mobility models 
   • Institutional approaches to guaranteeing the quality of various types of blended mobility models at different stages 
2. Internal and external validation of the framework through two different test case scenarios 
   
   
3. Framework dissemination and uptake through an interactive digital toolbox and the community of practitioners     developed throughout the project

Under the first pillar, the partners will map and structure the existing and emerging theoretical and practical models of blended student mobility. They will also investigate quality expectations of various actors (students, academic and administrative staff, funders, policymakers) and institutional approaches to guaranteeing and controlling quality.

Methodologically, this will be done by means of a mixed method involving a large-scale survey of higher education practitioners, focus groups and a mini-Delphi study based on a series of expert/stakeholder workshops with various higher education actors. These methods will be instrumental in harvesting rich qualitative data from HE professionals and institutions that are more advanced with the topic and evaluating its value and potential for transfer to other institutional settings with all interested participants. 

This work will result in an informative, guiding typology of various approaches to blended mobility and an in-depth overview of the related quality expectations and institutional approaches to address them in practice. These two steps will lead to the design of a comprehensive framework offering guidance for institutions on the key principles and processes underpinning the quality of existing blended mobility programmes or the design and delivery of brand-new activities for students. 

The second pillar will involve the internal testing of the framework by TAMK and MU based on their ongoing cooperation in physical and online mobility, and the external validation by interested higher education institutions identified through an open call for participation. 

The third pillar will focus on the interactive visualisation and dissemination of the framework through a project digital toolbox, consisting of a ‘heat map’ of good practice examples and institutional (e.g., video) testimonials raising awareness of quality blended mobilities among institutions and students.

  Visit the HIBLend website for more information.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.