The ‘SPHERE’ (Supporting and Promoting Higher Education Reform Experts) is an EU initiative coordinated by the SPHERE Team, a consortium coordinated by OBREAL Global in partnership with the European University Association to offer focused activities for the HERE Network and national HERE Teams.
On 3 and 4 May, 2023, the SPHERE team successfully organised the first virtual seminar titled “Learning & Teaching in a post-covid context: The Status Quo”. With more than 180 participants, the virtual SPHERE launch event had a twofold objective: the first was to welcome the NEO and HERE teams and present the SPHERE 2023 programme; the second was to offer the HERE a first thematic event related to an important topic that is of universal interest, namely new developments, and trends in digital learning.
During the first day, participants had the opportunity to learn more about the European Commission’s main policy lines and priorities that will guide SPHERE and the main features of the new contract, centralised activities from which HERE will benefit, and the work programme for 2023. This event was the first time HERE, and NEOs came together to discover more about this new phase. For those who already participated in the prior SPHERE contract (2015-2021), it was an opportunity to find out what is new, communicate with peers, engage in discussions, and strengthen connections.
The second day was the thematic part of the seminar addressing “Learning & Teaching in a post-covid context: The Status Quo”. The meeting addressed the HE community, including ministries and national agency officials, senior managers of institutions, student representatives, academic and administrative staff, and focused on how the pandemic circumstances changed and impacted the teaching and learning landscape. After an introduction to changes during covid-19, participants participated in thematic break-out groups to discuss collaboration on learning and teaching within the institution, student and staff well-being, and Opportunities for international collaboration. The seminar closed with a panel led by Diana Andone, Director of the e-Learning Centre, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania, who addressed AI and the ChatGPT.
You can download the complete programme here.
