Introduction

“If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s we rob them of tomorrow. “

John Dewey

Mind the gap-bridge the gap!

Up2U project aims to define what kind of barriers prevent freshman university students in succeeding in higher education.To prepare students for university we must start in secondary schools. We believe that in order to thrive early on the academic year students must have advanced digital skills. Do they have all the latest tech gadgets? Sure! Do they know how to use it properly? Probably. Are they aware how to make benefit from these devices? Well, we have to see about that.

We support incorporating team work, project work and critical thinking in a blended classroom where besides the regular classroom, students can learn in a virtual environment. You can guess which one they are more familiar with. Our concept is simple: why fight innovations and technology? Why not implement them in the classroom?

We invite you to join us on our journey where we explore and integrate tools and services (aka the Up2Universe) that can support teachers and students in the digital advancement.

Up2U is a 36 month long project with 5M € funding that kicked off in January 2017. The project is coordinated by GÉANT and gathers 18 partners from 12 countries across Europe including NRENs, traditional and open universities, infrastructure providers and commercial partners (Find out more).

Goals

Up2U focuses on K12 education, moreover the last years of secondary school. We hope that with the creation of Up2Universe, an innovative digital ecosystem will facilitate a more effective usage of digital content in the classrooms and beyond. Hybrid learning scenarios will help students advance their skills and also enjoy learning. We plan to address project based and peer-to-peer learning scenarios and support collaborative and personalised studying.

Our main goal is to develop a toolkit that will be sustainable and teachers and students can make good use of it in the long run. We will work on developing an applicable business plan that allows new members to join the Up2Universe easily and thus form a federated market-place for the learning community.