| Problem | Each participating institution influences the VCL project by bringing own expectations as well as teaching and administrative rules. The choice of partners needs to be deliberate or it can cause serious organisational problems within the project. |
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| Framework | inclusion of partners from other institutions; inclusion of partners from international institutions; lack of existing experience in collaboration with the partners in learning projects |
| Solution | Each partner institution brings its own background, expectations, and needs into a VCL project. Some of these can be taken into account while still planning the VCL project, but greater differences can cause serious disruptions. Following points should be taken into account when choosing a partner institution: -Compatibility of learning background: Although differences in learning background can be taken into account and balanced for example through the task or the role concept, there should still be a basic compatibility between the existing learning experiences of the participants. A topic must exist that can be shared among the participants and that will be interesting for all of them. Furthermore, all participants must be capable of making a valuable contribution to common work. -Technical infrastructure: The nature of the VCL project makes it necessary for participants to be able to access a given technical infrastructure. Regular and (mostly) unimpeded Internet access is important. Participants may also need to access given tools and platforms. It has to be ensured, that all participants will be able to access the selected information and communication technologies without hindrance. -Oganisational issues: Each academic institution has its own administrative procedures and schedules and these need to be compatible. The partner institutions have to ensure that their internal administrative system allows the participation in a VCL project and does not have a negative impact on the motivation of the participants (e.g., the timing of the project agrees with the local academic year, participants feel adequately rewarded with credit points, participants can use the grades within their system). -Resource sharing: The division of responsibilities with regard to the technical infrastructure and organisation must not have a negative impact on the partners’ motivation to participate (e.g. the course must not cause a undue strain to the staff, the participating instructors should see clear benefits in participating). The role and responsibility of each partner must be known in advance and the partners must be able to rely on each other engagement. The number of participating students from each institution should be taken into account when deciding on partners’ responsibilities. |
| References | Selection of Roles Topic of the case study |