International Study

• Institutional code: MT MALTA10
• Application reference number: 101048681 — PIEche 
• Organisation ID: E10065193

Participation in Erasmus+

International Study is a Higher Education Institution built on the most modern and effective technological standards of e-learning. Its underlying mission is the achievement of a significant interaction between Institution and learners, as well as between governance and staff. Our purpose is the continuous improvement of cultural and professional qualifications of students, academic and nonacademic staff. The pedagogical pattern of permanent learning (Lifelong Learning) and the “Personal Learning Environment” clearly reveal the International Study strategy, aimed at creating and implementing a personal learning environment that makes the individual (student or working student) at the heart of the learning process. It is in International Study very nature, closely linked to the delivery of an online educational offer, to guarantee services in which the focus on the student is a key feature compulsory to overcome the widespread socio-economic barriers.

For this reason, Internationl Study educational delivers a wide range of degree courses and personalise the study path according to the students’ demands, by meeting the needs of specialization of competences as requested by the European job market.

International Study is facing a competitive and global challenge, working hard at our best to succeed in our ambitious project: International Study’s great challenge aims to build an e-learning platform of academic knowledge under a global perspective, through flexible and innovative digital technologies that can bring education also in the less developed countries of the world as well as foster equality of opportunity and ensure social integration, by creating equal conditions for accessing education, training, employment and social welfare.

International Study is committed to ensure maximum comparability, compatibility and consistency between the education systems of member states thus paving the way to the establishment of a European Education Community and the participation in Erasmus+ will represent the perfect framework to do so.

Being an active member of such networks provides the opportunity to encourage discussion about topics related to Education and Digital Society as well as challenges on the topics of multicultural societies also from the point of view of economy and coexistence, especially in EuroMed region. The partnerships encourage research activities and joint publications, as well as participation in seminars, events and professional growth opportunities and finally development of special academic programmes.

To this end, International Study pursued its internationalisation strategy by entering into the Erasmus+ programme as well as its academic and scientific cooperation mobility projects for the exchange of student and academic staff.

International Study will take as an example from the success of projects implemented by the C.E.L.L. - Euromediterranean Center of Lifelong Learning of UniPegaso Italy on the Erasmus + activities, i.e. the construction of mobility projects for teachers, for students and
technical-administrative staff; in particular, projects will be carried out that will have as their primary objective:

1. The international cooperation for to develop and reinforce the networks with the partners of International Study and boosting the internationalisation of the KA2 activities, through exchanging or developing of best practices and methods as well as sharing and confronting ideas. These international cooperation projects will be implemented thanks to memoranda of understanding that International Study has signed with various universities of the Mediterranean Area, in particular this will strengthen the international relations between Europe and North African countries, thanks to Malta’s position, with the aims to promotes the strategic role of human resources by linking cultures, knowledge and skills, through cultural exchanges between the countries bordering the Mediterranean, based on their common cultural heritage and cooperating also with organisations and institutions, like Anna Lindh Foundation and the Euro Mediterranean University (EMUNI).
2. The innovation and modernisation of education and training system for identifying and supplying the right set of skills, knowledge and competences to match the future labour market demand in sectors and fields that are strategic for sustainable growth and competitiveness.
3. The European integration and promote policy debate with Jean Monnet Actions, that will promote the knowledge on the European Union, on the EU institutions and the European citizenship. The participation in the Erasmus + programme represents for International Study one of the most effective tools for the realisation of its internationalisation and modernisation strategy, as the Erasmus programme guarantees mobility for quality learning allowing the achievement of knowledge, skills, competences and experiences, including personal and social ones, and the awareness of cultural issues, which are crucial for the active participation of individuals in today's society and labour market, as well as promoting European identity by benefiting from its diversity.

Strategy

The COVID-19 crisis shed light on the importance of digital education for the digital transformation that Europe needs. In particular, it emphasised the increased need to harness the potential of digital technologies for teaching and learning and to develop digital skills for all. In line with the new erasmus plus programme 2021 - 2027, being a telematic higher education institution, International Study will engage and help students and teachers in digital transformation, to development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem, by building capacity and critical understanding in all type of education and training institutions on how to exploit the opportunities offered by digital technologies for teaching and learning at all levels and for all sectors and to develop digital transformation plans.

International Study strategy is based on four major guidelines:

1. assuming that in an increasingly competitive world, knowledge is the key to success. As a result, such an educational entity aims at constantly promoting academic institutional initiatives that support learning throughout the course of life by offering, to students and workers alike, various continuing education opportunities in order to enable these two categories to adapt their respective skills to the ever changing labour market distortions. With this in mind, it is considered quite necessary to continue the work for the implementation of lifelong learning strategies whilst developing more flexible learning paths;



2. improving the quality and effectiveness of training with all citizens being in a position to, at least, acquire key skills. It is indeed an honour for an academic initiative of this calibre to assume the responsibility to serve as the starting point for the structuring of strong relationships with leading universities in the world activating a vivid internationalisation process wherein bilingualism and, possibly, multilingualism forms the basis of academic paths that facilitate exchanges of teachers and students aimed at creating the right background for an international society that places major emphasis on research whilst remaining capable of generating self-sustaining lines of study. In short, through this strategic objective, International Study aims at creating synergies with all local and foreign academic and productive forces thus truly becoming "the educational institution of all" and for all;


3. promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship. This objective is expected to be attained through training provided in line with prevailing educational policies with the primary aim being that of ensuring and supporting, in addition to the acquisition or development of key skills through the study of, for example, foreign languages, economics and entrepreneurship, the updating of education operational tools with the sole intention being that of sustaining active citizenship participation and intercultural dialogue. With this in mind, International Study will be binding itself to the territory with the latter becoming truly the interpreter of opportunities and societal and economic needs. Both the signing of agreements of a certain calibre, as well as the reaching of an arrangement with major social, cultural and economic – local and foreign – entities, remain categorically pivotal;


4. encouraging creativity and innovation, entrepreneurial spirit at all levels of education. In the course of its operational activity, International Study shall be constantly encouraging individuals, as well as private and public entities, to acquire soft skills, whilst, concurrently, ensuring the operational flow of the triad of knowledge, namely: education; research and innovation. International Study also acknowledges the fact that this particular objective highlights the need to better articulate the alliance between business and educational institutions, as well as to encourage a wider community of teachers, including representatives from both civil society and other stakeholders. International Study, cognisant of the fact that the creative, innovative and entrepreneurial objectives can only be seen to be made possible through the use of technology across the widest resources’ spectrum, shall aim at being guided by the pertinent European programmes in the field of education and training covering the period 2021- 2027.

Objectives

The participation in Erasmus+, would also represent for International Study the opportunity to achieve the following objectives:

• increase of both incoming and outgoing motilities for study and/or traineeship for students, academic/administrative staff;
• provide the students the opportunity to achieve a joint and/or double degree through the mutual academic recognition;
• provide foreign students the possibility to achieve a qualification and competences that they can use to enter the European job market;
• identify new development opportunities in the most popular “after disciplinary areas”;
• promote cooperation activities for cultural and scientific development with non-European countries;
• promote development and implementation of new communication and dissemination tools addressed to different group of users and in different languages.

Impact

The participation in the Erasmus+ programme will surely add an increased value to International Study. The competitive advantages and the impact linked to its participation will represent a significant growth of international partnerships and in a significant contribution to new  educational policies. Particular attention must be paid to digital methods and technologies used in distance learning methodologies. In fact, it is not a coincidence that International Study, thanks to the engagement of all its supporters, is committed to:

1. Contributing to the scientific, cultural and civil growth of the local, national and international communities in the field of research, pedagogy and higher education.


2. Offering a fully developed Quality Assurance System that assesses the performance of all activities carried out.


3. Fostering development and healthy circulation of knowledge, technological progress and cultural/professional growth of people. All this is enabled thanks to an environment inspired by dialogue, collaboration and openness to the scientific international community. Anticipating a significant impact on the national and international community, International Study is committed to inform and actively involve all stakeholders in the follow-up processes which are constant and happen throughout to all stages of a given project. The actions and the decisions resulting from the follow-up policies must be fair, transparent and directly transmitted to the stakeholders who will have the right to analyse and who are obliged to contribute to:
   
   • the process of improving the policies activated in the field of mobility, specifically in the process of creation and management of partnerships, especially those with an international value;
   • the evolution of a quality training process characterized by a strong interaction between needs, planning, provision and evaluation of the impact they have on the educational and training actions, with respect to the dynamics of any particular territorial developments;
   • any accompanying and supportive actions for land development programmes, aiming at increasing competitiveness and strengthening social cohesion;
   • to improve the impact assessment has on of the investments undertaken in education and training in regional policies;
   • to promote inclusion and diversity for to help addressing the barriers different target groups may face in accessing such opportunities within international mobility.

Indicators

In order to measure the impact of the participation, International Study intends to implement constant monitoring of the proposed objectives, through the definition and fine-tuning of the following qualitative indicators:

• substantial increase of incoming and outgoing students’ mobility;
• appeals, encouragement and support of administrative staff mobility;
• appeals, encouragement and support of lecturers’ mobility;
• greater overall satisfaction with the quality of the services provided by students in mobility;
• encouraging the diversification of the European countries interested in student’s mobility;
• further growth of in participation in European cooperation projects;
• Increase in the strategic, managerial and operational competences of researchers and administrative staff in the research of international cooperation projects opportunities and in the planning phase;
• a greater impact on teaching and research cooperation on European and non-European levels.

With reference to the quantitative indicators, International Study aims at and is proposing to achieve the following targets:

• No. of students studying in mobility;
• No. of students in mobility submitted in apprenticeships;
• No. of staff in mobility doing training/teaching;
• No. of countries to choose from for study mobility;
• No. of countries to choose from for apprenticeships mobility options;
• No. of inter-institutional Agreements for Erasmus mobility;
• No. of people engaged in the design of European and non-European scientific cooperation agreements;
• No. of international research and educational cooperation projects.

In order to guarantee the necessary sustainability and the long-term impact of existing projects, International Study aims at investing in multiple directions to give authoritative credibility and achieve ourinternational ambitions. The investments that International Study will undertake concern:

• Sharing of good practices on how to increase and measure the international competences of teaching staff and researchers;
• Development of administrative services to support lecturer’s mobility, student’s mobility and reception;
• Systematisation and internal coordination of strategies, creation of governance bodies;
• Collaboration in Higher Education Management projects;
• Students’ possibilities to access study programmes not available in their institutions/countries;
• Possibility to partake in international networks in order to conduct research and benefit from the experience and knowledge of researchers from all over the world.