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Project overview

PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT

The Eng@ge project (January 2022 – December 2023) is a research project funded by the OFAJ / DFJW (Franco-German Youth Office). 

It focuses on Virtual Exchange, a pedagogical approach based on socio-constructivist principles that relies on online interaction and collaboration between peers from different institutions: as part of their course and accompanied by their respective teachers, students from different countries (including France and Germany) exchange information online, in one or more languages, and work together to complete tasks in small groups. 

As part of the Eng@ge project, the aim is to examine the interest that students have in virtual exchanges (some, for example, focus on getting to know each other, while others prioritise project completion) and to study the connection between the relationships that may develop between young people and the different forms of engagement that they may show during the virtual exchanges. These may be facilitated (or hindered), for example, by the way in which the course is structured, but also by the extent of social presence within the small groups. 

It is also interesting to see whether, and to what extent, the students go ‘beyond’ the VE project’s scope defined by the assigned tasks and by the course objectives, for example by keeping in touch with the partners after the end of the project or by talking about possible future prospects for what they have learned – whether in relation to future projects (other virtual exchanges, relocation, work placement, professional development), to more global or social issues discussed with their peers, or in relation to their own personal development.