EDIPUS, European Digital Portfolio for University Students, a project within the framework of Erasmus+ Programme, KA2 – Strategic Partnership.

The overall goal of the project is to develop a tool in order to support the better understanding of qualifications and skills, in addition to better documentation of learning outcomes (including non-formal and informal learning experiences), while bringing closer to the end users (students, young professionals, education providers, employers, etc) a more integrated method to present and assess their professional profiles so as to achieve higher employability rates. More specifically, EDIPUS, aims to put into place a digital system (Digital Portfolio Portal – DPP) which will integrate many aspects and resources of the aforementioned tools into a single access point by providing a more user-friendly tool and a concrete forum for the exchange of information between education (university students/services) on the one hand and the labour market (employers/ businesses) on the other. The project started on November 2015 and will end on October 2017.

The project is leading by European Association of Erasmus Coordinators (EAEC), Cyprus.

Partners of the project:

• Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP), Portugal
• Enoros Consulting Ltd, Cyprus
• University of Piraeus Research Center (UPRC)
• UNIMED – Mediterranean Universities Union, Italy
• Erasmus Student Network (ESN), Belgium
• Universitaet Wien (UNIVIE), Austria
• Eurocrea Merchant Srl, Italy
• Fundación Universidad Empresa De La Región De Murcia, Spain

Relevance of the development of initiative in its specific context

Almost everyone documents their lifelong learning through time in some form or another. Nowadays, this documentation is being digitalized. Computer literacy has been significantly enhanced as a skill, not just by the fact that almost everyone owns or has access to a computer and the internet, but also due to the EU policies and measures promoting the development of a more digital way of enhancing employability, skills and professional qualifications. In short, the project proposes to improve the transparency and recognition of qualifications and competencies, including those acquired through non-formal and informal education, by guiding individuals to create their personal digital portfolio and to structure it in way which best corresponds to their own individual skills and aspirations. This will result in the improvement of the young professionals’ position in the EU labour market and the reduction of the low – qualifications professionals.

The European Union through the design of various strategies and policies is aiming to facilitate the employment opportunities for young people by allowing them to enhance their skills and competences so as to become more competitive in the European labour market. In this framework, digital tools, such as Europass, have been created in order to promote a common basic template and footing for job seekers all over Europe. However, many countries still use their own systems to record and match qualified professionals with the existing job opportunities within the country and abroad, which is not always in digital form. In addition, many University Student career services provide guidance on job – seeking, however there is not a common system for professional profiling. Therefore, there is the need to create a common digital portfolio system, in which all relevant documentation will be recorded so as to ameliorate the link between the demand and supply in the labour market.

EDIPUS project, constitutes the continuation of a previous project named EDIPED (106059-CP-1-2002-1-COMENIUS-C21) which was completed in 2005. EDIPUS will build on the results of the first EDIPED project, which produced a tool for the development of an on-line digital portfolio for Educators and which since 2005 has been live and used by more than 1000 educators.  EDIPUS will in a similar fashion extend its functionality to University students, so that they will be able to use the proposed tool in order to develop their own digital portfolio and improve their personal and professional profiles through dialogue and exchange of ideas with others. This common semi-structured European Digital Portfolio together with the design and development of a coherent database of digital portfolios which will facilitate and enhance employability of young people across the EU.

In order to design the DPP (Digital Portfolio Portal) at its best, a survey has been conducted (December/January) addressed to Students, Career offices and Employers. The purpose of the online survey conducted by the partnership was to identify the needs of the target groups and set the appropriate structure of the Digital Portfolio in order to match those needs. The partnership developed three distinct questionnaires, each one addressing a specific target: higher education Students, Career Officers and Employers. The questionnaires were available online during the survey period. Partners invited their contacts to answer the questionnaire. The results being analyzed correspond to the answers of 1010 Students, 57 Career Officers and 39 Employers. The recommendations drawn from the analysis resulted will be used to set the structure and design the Digital Portfolio in accordance with the end-users’ needs.

Visibility of the action

The main target group of the project includes the university students in the participating countries, which the partners will directly involve across the project cycle. They have been asked to provide their opinion by assisting the partners in identifying their specific needs through a survey as regards to the most effective design for the Digital Portfolio template. They will also give feedback on the training course developed for the use of the Digital Portfolio Portal, on how to create a digital portfolio etc, in addition to, their feedback as regards to the local multiplier events events.

In addition to the aforementioned, the partners will reach out to higher education institutions and academic organizations, as well as, representatives from university student services, through their network, to retrieve feedback on the usability and added value of the tools proposed. Their opinion will also play a significant role in how the tools will be adjusted, during the finalization phase.

Furthermore, the partnership will also target employers organizations and enterprises in order to disseminate the project results and outputs, while engaging them to participate in the local events and more specifically in using the Digital Portfolio Database to view perspective candidate profiles.

Moreover, the partners will take advantage of their national and international networks, so as to raise awareness about the results of the project to a wider number of direct and indirect target group members. It is expected that career guidance advisors and counselors, employment services, young job seekers etc., will receive information about the project, though various means.

The consortium will formulate a database of various stakeholders, including career and labour offices, public authorities in charge of measures to increase employment, NGOs providing assistance to vulnerable groups who are in search of employment and policy makers. The partnership aims to reach out to these categories both at national, but also at EU level, given the fact that is convinced that the project outputs will be of good quality and easily applicable to other countries.

The partners through the creation and the regular update of a database, will record all type of dissemination activities and their progress, and this will form the evidence for all the relevant events and activities undertaken during the project. The dissemination strategy will also include the appropriate tools for monitoring performance and the impact of the dissemination activities (i.e questionnaires, participants’ lists, database of target group and stakeholders etc.) carried out at national and EU level.

A final dissemination report will be compiled at the end of the project, which will include an analysis of all dissemination activities carried out, the feedback received and the supporting evidence.

The dissemination activities will include the following:

• Visual identity of the project.  This includes the project logo and the project leaflet, which will provide basic information on the project (the members of the partnership, the expected results, contact information etc.). Specific templates for the deliverables have been created so as to ensure uniformity.
• National promotion of the Digital Portfolio Portal through the local multiplier events. The specific objective is to promote the Portal in all participating countries, so as to attract users and to motivate university students to make effective use of the portal for their own professional development.
• The promotion at EU level will be done mainly through the use of electronic means, the social media and the networks of the partners. The aforementioned means of promotion will also be used in national, regional and local levels, so as to engage as many potential users as possible.   Given the fact that the internet is a significant source of acquiring information, the use of these means will provide the partners with the benefit of reaching a wider audience in a fairly simple, quick and effective way.
• Design and development of informative printed material. Informative printed material (leaflets, etc), will be developed and distributed to bodies, authorities and organizations (i.e. Universities, other academic institutions, career and labour offices, EURES offices in each participating country etc) so as to inform them about the project and urge them to recommend the use of the Portal.
• Creation of a project website where information on the project (upcoming events, reports, newsletters etc) will be regularly uploaded and updated. This information will be uploaded both in the project website, as well as, on the partners’ websites;
• The creation of a database of stakeholders who would be interested in the project and are in contact with the target group, in order to involve as many actors as possible in the actual use of the Portal and its tools, as well as, ensure the sustainability of the project after completion.
• Presentation of the Digital Portfolio Portal and the Database in the form of workshops during two International Conferences: 1) ERASMUS Congress and Exhibition (ERACON May 2017) and during the Annual Conference of the European Association of International Education (EAIE September 2017).

Transferability

The structure of the project, as well as, the multi-dimensional approach is such that the project outputs will be applicable in all the countries of the partnership and guarantee their transferability to other countries. Given the fact that most of the European countries face severe employability issues, the results proposed are expected to have a significant impact in creating a more competitive professional staff across the EU labour market. The partnership hopes that the results of the project can be regarded as an example of good practice, so that more EU citizens will benefit from the proposed tools.

Sustainability

Modx has been chosen as the host website platform which is very suitable for collaborative work and is easily sustainable. The software is also an open source, i.e. freely available and widely supported, and is very reliable.  Because the Digital Portfolio Portal and the Digital Portfolio Database are designed for independent use, they will stay valid and usable with ongoing support. The Portal, the website and the database will be hosted at the EAEC server which will allow for regular checks throughout the duration of the project and after its completion. The collaborative aspect of the website will depend on the input of users (beneficiaries, independent users); this will not change once the project is completed and the website is fully developed.

The consortium members intent to keep good relations and contact even after the completion of the project proposed with this application, because the cooperation beyond national borders is always very rewarding in the sense of learning, exchanging new ideas, expanding the horizons and acknowledging various points of views and cultural aspects; elements that all fall within the scope and vision of the European Union.

The resources necessary to sustain the intellectual outputs of the project following the completion of the funding period have been already incorporated in each partners’ tasks. All participating organizations are equally committed to the overall and specific objectives of this project, as they acknowledge the long term added value and importance for the target groups identified in this application (university students, young professionals, job seekers, higher education institutions etc.). Therefore, all necessary steps, efforts and resources will be put forth to maintain the results in the most effective and productive ways so that the proposed tools become part of the everyday activities of the aforementioned target groups.

Innovative character

The EDIPUS DPP aims to replace the traditional CV, by offering a smarter and modern tool to students for expressing themselves, supporting social media functionalities as well as smart phone communication. The EDIPUS portfolios will be hosted on a smart data base platform allowing employers to discover potential employees via a smart search engine of competence preferences and of job needs. The best developed university student portfolio will be the one that will allow an employer to offer a job to a university student without requiring to meet him/her face-to-face. This is the challenge for the university students to meet.

Enhancing the employability of young people involves assisting them as job seekers to make decisions for their professional lives based on good quality information and provide them with the best tools available in order to enhance their professional profiles and improve their skills. This will also be a powerful tool at the hands of career officers, who will be able to guide the students in a precise and coherent manner. The use of these tools will give the opportunity to students to structure their profile and include all the necessary and concise information that should be made available to employers. The proposed tools will save valuable time and money for the students (for those turning to professional career advice outside the university) and they will provide them with a ready-made digital tool to enhance their career prospects.

Impact

The expected impact includes the following:

• Strengthening employability and professional profiles of university students.
• Improve the position of the target group in the labour market.
• Match the Digital Portfolios of university students with available jobs in the labour market (through the Digital Portfolio Database and the specifications set by employers).
• Increase the professional competences of the university students.
• Strengthening of occupational/career profiles of job seekers and young professionals.
• Improving the quality of career services/tools provided by the students’ university services, as well as, career consultants.
• Strengthen the engagement of employers and enhance the communication with potential employees.

The partnership aims to reach their target groups through their continuous direct involvement in the various activities for the project implementation. This will be achieved through their early engagement by asking them to participate in the needs analysis survey, in addition to the training course sessions which will be organized locally.

In addition, the partners aim to engage the member of the target group through the dissemination and follow-up activities.  In particular, the partners will reach out to their broader network in order to disseminate information on the project, its objectives and results and to build a solid basis for the sustainability of the project. These stakeholders are university students, young professionals and job seekers from different backgrounds (long-term unemployed, young people in search of employment, people with difficulties in entering the labour market, etc), Universities, Student and youth services, higher education institutions, career counselors, employment offices, employers organizations and enterprises etc.

The majority of the partners of this project are experienced organizations in the implementation of projects including the engagement of broad networks of collaborators and stakeholders in the field of higher education. Therefore, the dissemination of the project results is an activity which is guaranteed to reach a big number of members of the target group, especially university students, as well as, other relevant stakeholders.

One additional element is that the consortium will create pages/accounts in various social media channels, which will be regularly updated, providing the target group with all the necessary information on the progress made, the tools developed, the training course and events. By doing this, the impact of the project will be maximized and the results will go beyond national boundaries, reaching a wider audience. It is undeniable that young people, and especially university students, spend most of their time on social media websites, thus it will be much easier to reach them directly through these channels. In addition, the partners will inform the public about the Digital Portfolio Portal during the local events to be organized, through their networks and their connections, informative printed material and the project website.