From June 25-30, 2023, Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, became the centre for gathering leading experts and specialists in improving teaching skills within the UTTERLY project.
Professor Nataliia Vavdiiuk represented Lutsk National Technical University.
Rector of Vytautas Magnus University, Professor Juozas Augutis, welcomed the guests and shared the history and development of the university, noting that it is one of the most liberal universities in Lithuania.
During the week, conference participants learned about the structure and management of educational activities at Vytautas Magnus University (Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Dr Simona Pilkene), the continuous learning system (Head of the Training Department, Mykola Lukoshene, and Head of the Centre for Professional Competence Development, Dr Aiste Ragauskaite), professional development directions for teachers in the quality assurance system (Dr Izabele Savitskene), principles of personnel management policy and the importance of professional development for teachers (Head of the Human Resources Department, Maria Karosaite), and the directions for disseminating information on professional competence development within the academic and non-academic staff community (Gintare Visotskite).
Under the guidance of Raimonda Zinkevichene and Gabriela Viduolite from the Centre for Teaching and Professional Competence Development, project participants created challenge and opportunity maps for professional competence development. The Head of the Communication and Technology Transfer Centre, Edvinas Samis, presented prototypes developed by university researchers and organized a discussion on collaboration between science and business.
In turn, UTTERLY project participants presented their universities and the specifics of professional development for teachers. Meetings with the leadership of Vytautas Magnus University and Ukrainian partners discussed prospective international cooperation directions.
Additionally, the partner from the Centre for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at the University of Bayreuth (Germany), Nikolai Teufel, spoke about the continuous professional development system for teachers in higher education institutions in their country. His colleague, Nadine Yachmann, presented the XRCampus project and the possibilities of using augmented reality (XR) in education.
The participation of the UTTERLY project team in this event at Vytautas Magnus University was extremely valuable for exchanging knowledge and experience between universities. The event became a platform for exploring advanced teaching approaches, professional competence development, and supporting international cooperation during wartime.
UTTERLY Team
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