The third international meeting of the European Union Erasmus+ project DITECH (Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning in Georgian Universities) was held from April 19-21, 2023 in Cork, Ireland. The meeting was organized and hosted by Cork University College and was attended by universities from Georgia and various European countries. The participating universities included Tallinn University, the project coordinator; Kaunas University of Technology; Cork University College; Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, the national coordinator in Georgia; Ilia State University; Samtskhe-Javakheti State University; Sukhumi State University; Jacob Gogebashvili Telavi State University; Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University; Akaki Tsereteli State University; and the National Center for Professional Development of Teachers.
The meeting was conducted in a hybrid mode, whereby remote participation was enabled through the Zoom platform. Notably, the project coordinator, Sirie Virkus, from Tallinn University, Professor Daina Gudoniene of the Kaunas University of Technology, and Barbara Rosenstein, the external evaluation expert of the project, were able to join the meeting through this online medium.
The meeting was opened by Professor Paul McSween, the vice-chancellor of the University of Cork, and the guests were welcomed by Dr. Laura Lee and Dr. Sara Thelen, the representatives of the host university and project participants. The national coordinator of the project, TSU Professor Izabela Patriashvili, led the meeting of the consortium on all three days.
During the meeting, the institutional coordinators of DITECH provided detailed information on several topics. These included:The current situation and implemented measures in the direction of quality management within the project; As well as detailed information about the courses created and conducted within the project; Each Georgian higher education institution also submitted a detailed analysis of the pilot courses they conducted and a complete list of dissemination activities. The financial manager and coordinators of the project reviewed the issues related to project management and set future plans. The dissemination group presented the measures taken in this direction and also presented the second information brochure (newsletter) of the project.
The meeting also planned a national meeting of the project consortium in Kutaisi and Batumi, and the coordinators of the higher education institutions discussed the final meeting of the consortium within the framework of the project at Tallinn University. At the end of the meeting, the participants discussed the activities to be implemented in the last part of the project and highlighted the achievements that were made during the course of the project. The third meeting of the consortium was summarized by the project coordinator, Sirie Virkus.
