Exchange

Internationalization is about Mobility, Movement and Motion. Mobility of thoughts, ideas, concepts on the more abstract level and mobility of students and staff in the very real meaning of packing the bags and take part in an international academic experience.

In order to allow students to fully benefit from the value of international education it is crucial to allow comprehensive validation and recognition of the academic credits and of the skills and global competency acquired during such a virtual or physical mobility. Here are a few tools for Higher Education Institutions for the purpose of implementing mechanisms of recognition of learning and the conversion of credits and grades:

ECTS:   

The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is a tool of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) for making studies and learning outcomes of courses more transparent and thus helping to enhance the quality and convertibility of academic courses and degrees.

What is the different vocabulary you need to familiarize yourself with before getting started? Visit the ECTS Glossary and use the ECTS User Guide

How can we translate the Israeli academic credits to ECTS and vice versa?

The Bologna Training Center at Ben Gurion University has prepared a detailed presenation on ECTS and it's use in the Israeli context. You can also contact them directly and they will assist and guide you through the maze of ECTS and other Bologna Process related issues.

How can we convert grades?  

In order to convert grades, you can use the EGRACONS tool. The EGRACONS tool is a free, user-friendly web-based tool for grade conversion available to HEIs who supply their degree grade distribution tables. It enables a transparent interpretation of student achievements abroad.

Examples for grade conversion are also available on the European Commission's website. 

How can we validate and recognize soft skills?

An innovative emerging tool are Digital Badges: Open Digital Badges are verifiable, portable digital badges with embedded metadata about skills and achievements. They comply with the Open Badges Specification and are shareable across the web.

Several educators believe that Open Digital Badges have enormous potential for fostering student learning and changing how learning achievements will be recognized, made more visible and reach beyond institutions.

Learn from Erasmus+ Project Asset on the implementation of Open Badges and Soft Skill Assessment tools

What about recognition of online learning and virtual mobility?

These two documents publishes by NUFFIC are excellent resources for universities, course directors and admissions staff etc. to understand how to overcome the challenge of assessing the value of a huge variety of certificates, badges and other micro-credentials:

Practitioner's Guide for the recognition of e-learning. A step-by-step approach towards academic recognition of stand-alone e-learning.

Academic recognition of e-learning. Recommendations for online learning providers.