Project Background

Through the experience of past and present projects that have been exploring and refining the concepts of Virtual Campus and Virtual Mobility a gradual shift of concepts is noticed: from the "well-defined" clear, 100% online Virtual Campus to Virtual Mobility, whereby the more traditional universities open their borders, collaborate supra/intra institutionally and often (inter)nationally, and/or involve non-traditional students through e-learning. Actually, there is no strict definition of Virtual Campus or Virtual Mobility anymore. Every campus becomes a Virtual Campus, and every mobility has some form of Virtual Mobility included. “Blended models” gain more and more interest and attention.

All in all, there seems to be a common feeling that a redefinition of the “Virtual Campus” concept is necessary, in order for it to be applicable to the educational needs of today. The Re.ViCa project has exactly been set-up with this aim. The project furthermore makes an inventory and systematically reviews cross-institutional Virtual Campuses of the past decade, looking not only at currently operational Virtual Campuses, but also at the legacy and impact of those initiatives that have closed down or become dormant.

Re.ViCa will make a review of Virtual Campuses all over Europe and disseminate its results in Europe. By promoting the best cases of Virtual Campus and by comparing European and Non- European initiatives, guidelines and critical success factors are created that enable European virtual Campuses or institutions interested to setting up a Virtual Campus to maximise their performance.

Re.ViCa will conduct its research on Virtual Campuses along a broad range of parameters that will be defined and investigated at the on-set. During this desktop research phase, attention will be paid to former initiatives which can be useful for Re.ViCa’s study. This desktop research will be validated by the numerous discussion sessions that Re.ViCa will organise with different stakeholder groups throughout the project. To ensure the success of the in-depth case studies, special care has been taken in the selection of the partnership with respect to Virtual Campus management experience and a vast range of useful contacts with international experts.