Blogs by Jenneke Lokhoff
2012 - The year of the MOOCs?
As usual a lot can happen in a year, and for 2012 this was not different. One of the developments that was highlighted by the end of the year by an initiative in the UK is the emergence of top universities offering free online courses. Can 2012 be baptised – among others – the year of the MOOCs (massive open online courses)?
Erasmus on budget – will there be funding?
Early this fall it became clear that the Erasmus student mobility grant is underfunded. This is due to earlier shortages in the EU budget and a lower budget for 2012 than the European Commission asked for in the negotiations with the European Parliament and member states. Overall, the European Commission needs € 9 billion euros extra for their 2012 expenditures, of which € 90 million is needed to comply with the agreements made for the Erasmus programme.
Can benchmarks on education output advise on international cooperation strategies?
Many countries and institutions seek cooperation with growth markets, such as the BRICs. A look at ranks on education output shows that these countries do not always score high. In some circles, this has raised a question: shouldn’t we focus more on co-operation with countries that traditionally score high on benchmarks, such as Finland and South Korea?
The Learning Curve: On tertiary education and internationalisation
As part of a project to create a better understanding of what leads to successful educational outcomes, Pearsons in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) published a report last week that received global press coverage. The report 'The Learning Curve. Lessons in country performance in education' formulates lessons and insights for policymakers to achieve better results on national education outcomes.
JDAZ - A reference guide on joint degrees
Joint degrees are high on the internationalisation agenda in the European Higher Education Area. This month a new project started titled ‘Joint Degrees from A to Z’ (JDAZ) The project, which Nuffic coordinates, aims to provide clarity by developing a reference guide on joint degrees. But why develop a new guide if so much has already been published about joint degrees over the last years? And how to make sure that such a guide keeps providing state of the art information?
Four steps to creating sustainable academic partnerships
Are you considering collaborating with one or more higher education partners to add value to your institution? In our rapidly changing global society, HEIs need academic partners to exchange people, ideas and methods, and institutional partnerships have become big business. But how do you create partnerships which are truly sustainable? In this blog, Nico Evers and Jenneke Lokhoff provide you with some essential tips based on the recommendations of experts involved in European-Asian partnerships.
Recommendation EAR manual in Bucharest Communiqué major boost for fair recognition practices in the EHEA
On 26 and 27 April the ministers of education of 47 countries gathered in Bucharest, Romania to take stock of the Bologna Process and set out the key policy issues and goals for the next three years. The outcomes have been published in the Communiqué, one of the main political documents of the European Higher Education Area EHEA. One of its recommendations is the use of the European Area of Recognition manual.

