Organizational models in virtual teaching cooperation – documentation and evaluation of organisational didactics in a collaborative higher education project

Abstract

A recent objective of the Saxon E-learning initiative „Bildungsportal Sachsen”, a cooperation of all HEIs of the state, is to trigger the development of „virtual teaching cooperation“. Currently, a network project labelled “Virtual Teaching Cooperation”1 is underway which intends to pilot a cross-university teaching networking, considering the didactics of collaborative teaching and learning, ideally in a specialist domain and possibly between different types of universities in Saxony. Main topics of this initiative are a) the creation of solutions regarding the effective cooperation with international partners, b) the qualification of educational personal in order to strengthen their digital competences, c) the support by the creation of preparatory courses and online self-assessments using and creating OER (Open Educational Resources) material (Bildungsportal Sachsen, 2019). While the network consists of five subprojects, with the common aim to promote networking between the respective 2–4 project partners, authors follow an organizational-didactic interpretation of the virtual teaching cooperation in vocational education. This work presents the organizational models of these subprojects with a focus on their internal communication, as well as their type, method and level of the internal cooperation between the project partners. Theoretically, authors apply rather organizational theory than the usually requested media didactic approach of educational heritage. As each sub-project has developed a different blended-learning scenario and different cooperation relationships with its project partners, who might be other institutions, universities, training centres, etc., in national or international level, it is necessary to analyse these different models by documenting the process and the current results of each subproject separately. A matrix-based comparison will be presented to determine how and with which tools these organizational models have been developed and implemented in each respective educational program.