For all my colleagues and friends in the field of IT, for learning and teaching at universities, specifically in university alliances: We will present our lessons learned from Unite! University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering after 4 years, in a hybrid presentation at October 13, 14:30-16:00 CET at KTH Royal Institute of Technology / online. Please book a spot for online participation if you are interested in – or even visit us at KTH in Stockholm ❤️
Please find more information here:
https://www.unite-university.eu/unitenews/european-digital-campus-lessons-learned-from-unite
Presentations and insights from my wonderful experts and colleagues such as Joakim Petersson, Jesus Alcober, Juha Martikainen, Jarek Krysiak, Katharina Gasplmayr, Christian Hoppe, Roberto Bertonasco, Behnam Taraghi and more ….
[podcast] Internationale Lehre mit Teamwork und Unite! #tugraz
Es freut uns, dass wir nun den 28. Teil unserer Podcast-Serie „Lehren – Lernen – Lauschen“ auf der TELucation-Webseite zur Verfügung stellen können. Diesesmal spricht Daniel Frühwirth zu „ Internationale Lehre mit Teamwork und Unite!„:
In diesem Podcast erzählt Daniel Fruhwirt vom Institut für Thermodynamik und nachhaltige Antriebssysteme über seine Leidenschaft für internationale Hochschullehre. Er berichtet, wie er im Rahmen des Unite!-Netzwerks gemeinsam mit Partneruniversitäten aus Turin, Barcelona, Wrocław, Darmstadt und Stockholm mehrere innovative Lehrveranstaltungen zu Verkehrssicherheit und Nachhaltigkeit entwickelt hat. Daniel erklärt, warum projektbasiertes, interdisziplinäres Arbeiten in kleinen, internationalen Gruppen Studierende optimal auf die Berufswelt vorbereitet, und schildert, wie sein hybrides Format nicht nur Fachwissen, sondern auch interkulturelle Soft Skills vermittelt. Außerdem gibt er praktische Tipps für Lehrende, die internationale Lehrprojekte starten möchten, und gewährt einen Ausblick auf kommende Vorhaben.
[#28 – Daniel Frühwirth zu Internationale Lehre mit Teamwork und Unite!]
Und nicht übersehen – der Podcast ist auch in allen gängigen Portalen verfügbar:
[presentation] Unite! Higher Education Interoperability Framework (HEIF) use cases and other interoperability activities by Unite! „Digital Campus“ team #unite
We did a presentation for the HEIF community about our activities in UNITE!:
The Unite! HEIF Use Cases presentation (January 28, 2026) provides a comprehensive overview of the technical and organisational work carried out by the Unite! Digital Campus consortium
[report] Streamlining course catalogue metadata amongst European university alliances. An overview of existing standards, developments, perspectives and challenges (Technical Report) #unite #tugraz
Our report titled „Streamlining course catalogue metadata amongst European university alliances. An overview of existing standards, developments, perspectives and challenges (Technical Report)“ is now online available:
The digital transformation of higher education has created new opportunities and challenges for European university alliances aiming to foster seamless collaboration across institutions. Unite!, a leading European University Alliance focused on technology and engineering, has initiated the Cm.2 Digital Campus work package to develop an integrated digital learning environment. A key component of this initiative is the establishment of course catalogues that facilitate student and staff mobility within the alliance. However, the lack of standardised metadata models and the diverse approaches of partner universities to course cataloguing present significant obstacles to interoperability. This report presents the work of the Unite! Metadata Standards Working Group, established within the Cm.2 “Digital Campus” framework to address these challenges. The purpose of this document is to present a clear, coherent view of the metadata for a course catalogue of a European university alliance. Because the subject matter involves many interrelated topics and dependencies, the needed linear presentation does obscure the logical connections between them. The goal was the identification of sustainable and scalable approaches to course catalogue integration. The report outlines several entry points. Nevertheless, it is designed to bring colleagues on board who are not yet familiar with the background and the various use cases for course catalogues. Consequently, it opens with a basic introduction to the essentials of virtual mobility, the recognition of study achievements using the ECTS users’ guide (EC DG EAC, 2015) and highlights the difficulties of international / multilingual domain vocabulary and other basic issues (chapter 2). As described, we then presented the various access points from multiple perspectives: existing metadata standards (chapter 3), the (potential) role of national standards (chapter 4), two examples from other European university alliances (ENHANCE and YUFE, chapter 5), and results of an exploratory analysis of attributions in university course catalogues (chapter 6). Findings from the analysis of some Unite! partners‘ course catalogues highlighted inconsistencies in metadata usage, challenges related to terminology, and gaps in machine readability. Chapter 7 then summarises challenges surrounding metadata for joint course catalogues and finally, chapter 8 describes strategies for a common course catalogue in university alliances and provides a draft on how to develop and decide upon a course catalogue. This report aims to serve as a foundation for future discussions and technical developments within Unite! and other European alliances seeking to establish interoperable course catalogues. By addressing the challenges of metadata fragmentation and system integration, university alliances can enhance the accessibility and effectiveness of digital learning infrastructures, ultimately improving mobility and collaboration across higher education institutions.
Recommended Citation: Kubik, T., Schön, S., Bertonasco, R., Alcober, J., Diard, J., Ebner, M., Francisco, A., Gasplmayr, K., Hoppe, C., Koschutnig-Ebner, M., Krysiak, J., Martikainen, J., Petersson, J., Szymanska-Kwiecien, A. & Taraghi, B. (2025). Streamlining course catalogue metadata amongst European university alliances. An overview of existing standards, developments, perspectives and challenges (Technical Report). Graz University of Technology. DOI: 10.3217/0xewj-6mb92
This is an impactful contributions, methodological rigor, and exceptional novelty in the field of european alliances in higher education.
[report] Implementing the European Student Card within the European university alliance Unite! #unite #tugraz
Our report about „Implementing the European Student Card within the European university alliance Unite!. A technical report on status, developments, and plans of Unite! universities“ is online available:
This report describes the implementation of the European Student Card Initiative (ESCI), launched by the European Commission in 2022 and comprising Erasmus Without Paper (EWP), the European Student Card (ESC), and the ERASMUS+ App, within the Unite! alliance. The first part focuses specifically on the ESC, drawing on the actions taken and the information gathered within the framework of the initiative. The Unite! alliance, comprising nine universities (Aalto University, Grenoble INP graduate school of engineering and management, University Grenoble Alpes, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Graz University of Technology, Universidade de Lisboa, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya/BarcelonaTech, Technical University of Darmstadt, and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology), aims to promote the concept of a European campus. The report outlines the nature of this initiative, the strategy adopted since 2023, and the current state of implementation within the Unite! alliance (as of August 2025). It presents two solutions for establishing ESCs within the alliance, including internally developed software solutions, such as a virtual student card application created by Politecnico di Torino, and options involving external service providers, such as Capmonetique in France at UGA (as part of the Unite! partner INP-UGA). The report also highlights potential improvements and broader implications of implementing the ESC, with the objective of supporting and informing other universities about the available solutions.
Recommended Citation: Bertonasco, R., Diard, J., Landfahrer Berglez, K., Schön, S., Alcober, J., Büttner, W., Cruz, L., Ebner, M., Espadas, C., Ferrian, C., Fink, J., Gasplmayr, K., Hoppe, C., Järvelä, H., Krysiak, J., Oller, M., Petersson, J., Reignier Tayar, N., Schmidt, A., Sessler, C., Szymanska-Kwiecien, A. & Tadaszak, R. (2025). Implementing European Student Card amongst the European university alliance Unite!: A technical report on status, developments, and plans of Unite! universities (Technical Report). Graz University of Technology. DOI: 10.3217/nzz7b-vam63
This is an impactful contributions, methodological rigor, and exceptional novelty in the field of european alliances in higher education.
[publication] Work-in-Progress: Key Prerequisites for IT Infrastructures for Learning and Teaching of the European University Alliance “Unite!” #alliance #tugraz
We wrote a short work-in-progress publication about „Work-in-Progress: Key Prerequisites for IT Infrastructures for Learning and Teaching of the European University Alliance “Unite!”
Abstract:
In the dynamic landscape of higher education, digital technologies are crucial for fostering collaboration and knowledge dissemination. European universities are embracing this shift through “European Universities”, transnational alliances aimed at enhancing academic exchange and innovation. The Unite! alliance, as part of its Erasmus+ project, established the “Community Digital Campus” (Cm.2) to develop a modern digital campus framework. Based on an analysis to identify and document the technological, organizational, and legal needs for such a campus, using desk research, surveys, and stakeholder discussions, key requirements are formulated. Key requirements identified include ensuring interoperability among digital infrastructures, robust decision-making processes for IT, strategic support for existing systems, and addressing budgetary considerations for federated systems.
[article @ book’s homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]
Reference: Ebner, M. et al. (2025). Work-in-Progress: Key Prerequisites for IT Infrastructures for Learning and Teaching of the European University Alliance “Unite!”. In: Auer, M.E., Rüütmann, T. (eds) Futureproofing Engineering Education for Global Responsibility. ICL 2024. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 1260. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-85652-5_34
[presentation] Building OER Competence Across the Unite! Alliance. Insights from the „Unite! OER Courses“ Project #OER #tugraz #research
For the 2nd Unite!-Ed Future Conference, we presented the results of our OER course, titled „Building OER Competence Across the Unite! Alliance. Insights from the „Unite! OER Courses“ Project„
The „Unite! OER Courses“ seed fund project successfully advanced Open Educational Resources (OER) competence among students and lecturers across the Unite! alliance. A major milestone was the development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on OER, licensed under CC BY 4.0 International and translated into 11 languages, including Turkish and Indonesian, with the help of AI avatars and tools. Since its launch on May 6, 2024, the MOOC has attracted over 1,200 participants. Additionally, an OER course in English was introduced on the Unite! federated learning management system Metacampus.
To further enhance capacity, a dedicated OER training for lecturers was conducted, which resulted in the publication of a collection of tools and methods for future OER training initiatives. In this contribution, we build upon previous work, particularly insights from our project report (Unite, 2024) and various presentations on the topic, including preliminary findings on the impact at partner universities (Schön et al., n.d., submitted for JODDE).
Methodologically, we addressed different research questions primarily through a case study, allowing us to analyse the implementation, reception, and institutional effects of the OER initiatives within the alliance. The collected data provides valuable insights for the establishment of a future Unite! Open Science Academy.
This presentation will share the project’s achievements, methodologies, and outcomes while addressing challenges and opportunities for promoting OER practices in international higher education settings.
Find the slides here:
Schön, S., Ebner, M., & Vicente-Saéz, R. (2025, März 13). Building OER Competence Across the Unite! Alliance. Insights from the „Unite! OER Courses“ Project. Presentation at Unite! Ed Future Conference, March 13, 2025. Graz University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.3217/hm2aw-dvh27
[presentation] The Metacampus as a Teaching Hub for the Unite! Alliance #unite #moodle
For the 2nd Unite!-Ed Future Conference, Katharina presented details about the Metacampus, titled „The Metacampus as a Teaching Hub for the Unite! Alliance„:
The Unite! alliance has developed the Metacampus, a federated LMS based on Moodle, to facilitate seamless collaboration and resource sharing among partner universities. This presentation showcases how the Metacampus supports teaching and learning across the alliance by addressing diverse needs and enabling innovative approaches. Key use cases where the Metacampus proves particularly beneficial are outlined, along with resources created to guide users, including detailed documentation, courses, and instructional videos (produced with AI avatars). Activities such as targeted training sessions and the streamlined submission of requests and special requirements via an integrated request form are highlighted. LTI pilot activities, aimed at integrating local LMS systems with the Metacampus, are presented, along with insights from regular E-Learning Support Group meetings. Success stories demonstrate the platform’s impact and potential for enhancing collaboration within Unite!. In conclusion, challenges extending beyond technical solutions are addressed, such as the lack of incentives to adopt Unite!-specific courses or to fully utilize the Metacampus. These insights foster dialogue on how to further support teaching and learning within the Unite! alliance.
Find the slides here:
Gasplmayr, K., Schön, S., Alcober, J., Ebner, M., & Molins, X. (2025, März 13). The Metacampus as a Teaching Hub for the Unite! Alliance. Presentation at the Unite! Ed Future Conference 2025, March 13, 2025. Graz University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.3217/eeqtz-1f759
[publication] Erfahrungen und Einsichten zum Aufbau einer IT-Infrastruktur für das Lernen und Lehren in der Universitätsallianz „Unite!“ #unite #tugraz #researc
Wir haben unsere Erfahrungen und Einsichten im Rahmen der europäischen Allianz einmal zusammengefasst und unter „Erfahrungen und Einsichten zum Aufbau einer IT-Infrastruktur für das Lernen und Lehren in der Universitätsallianz „Unite!““ publiziert, damit wir gerne auch in einen gesamtheitlichen Diskurs kommen:
Die Universitätsallianz Unite! fördert seit 2019 die Mobilität der Studierenden durch die Entwicklung verschiedener IT-Plattformen. Eine umfassende Bestandsaufnahme von Martin Ebner und Sandra Schön (beide TU Graz) bietet spannende Einblicke in die aktuellen Herausforderungen zum Aufbau einer gemeinsamen IT-Infrastruktur für das Lernen und Lehren – und nennt dabei auch fallübergreifende Einsichten und Lösungen.
[Online-Beitrag bei Hoschulforum Digitalisierung]
[Beitrag bei ResearchGate]
Zitation: Ebner, M. & Schön, S. (2024) Erfahrungen und Einsichten zum Aufbau einer IT-Infrastruktur für das Lernen und Lehren in der Universitätsallianz „Unite!“, Hochschulforum Digitalisierung, online am 18.11.24, https://hochschulforumdigitalisierung.de/universitaetsallianz-unite/
[open education] OER about OER #training #OER
We are excited to announce the publication of our new resource: OER about OER – Materials, Tools, and Methods. This collection, was initiated by Sandra Schön and me and enriched by the Unite! OER Courses project is designed to support educators, trainers, and institutions in developing and delivering Open Educational Resources (OER) courses.
The document includes practical insights into planning and running OER trainings, introduces open licenses, and provides templates, exercises, and creative methods like the „OER business model cards“ to help spark
discussions on sustainable OER use. Whether you’re new to OER or looking to deepen your knowledge, this resource is a valuable tool for expanding your understanding and application of OER in educational settings.
You can access the full document at https://doi.org/10.3217/5bq59-j6c60
Cite it: Schön, Sandra & Ebner, Martin (2024). OER about OER. Materials, tools & methods. A collection of Open Educational Resources materials, tools and methods. Report of the Unite! OER Courses project, August 2024. URL: https://doi.org/10.3217/5bq59-j6c60