The second stage of the project titled ‘Collaboration between the Higher Education Systems of Estonia and Georgia and Exchange of Experience in the Field of Innovation and E-learning’ was launched on November 29, as part of the East East: Partnership Beyond Borders program.
During the first stage of the project, specialists from 4 universities of Georgia (Tbilisi, Batumi, Gori and Telavi) visited Estonia (Tallinn University, Tartu University and Haapsalu College), where they were introduced to the e-learning system in higher education institutions of Estonia.
As part of the second stage of the project, Estonian lecturers and e-learning specialists from Tallinn University and the Estonian Information Technology Foundation have arrived in Georgia to conduct training courses.
On November 30, Open Society Georgia Foundation hosted a meeting of Estonian specialists with the OSGF management, staff members and subsidiaries of the organization as well as with representatives of various higher education institutions, experts of the field and students. Mr. Mart Laanpere, head of the Center for Educational Technology in the Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University, and Ms. Ene Koitla, head of the Estonian e-Learning Development Centre, the Estonian e-Learning Foundation, made brief presentations on the e-learning system and education quality in Estonia. The Estonian specialists introduced a special webpage for e-learning – www.e-ope.ee – to Georgian specialists. Moving to e-learning is not a mandatory requirement in Estonia, but it is gradually developed through the introduction of new methods into higher and vocational education. Estonia has the national e-University, a consortium of 7 universities. The consortium helps universities purchase various academic programs. Moreover, it provides the means for centralized development and assurance of the quality of e-learning implementation throughout higher and vocational education. The universities of the consortium help each other with the development and introduction of new joint academic e-learning programs.
On December 1, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University will host training courses for professors, lecturers and students of higher education institutions. The training courses will be also attended by quality assurance and IT specialists.
As part of their visit to Georgia, the guests will hold meetings at the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the National Center for Education Quality Assurance, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Gori and Telavi Universities.