Colibri target some of the most important needs and challenges faced in higher education in general, and within the ICT domain in particular, which can be seen as elaborations of the objectives listed above.

1. Meeting the demands of ICT education

The increasing demand for highly qualified labour in the ICT domain, combined with a decreasing number of students interested in especially the classical more technical areas has lead to a situation where we need to contain a wider group of students with different goals and learning styles. This call for new teaching methods, which are more personalised, and actively involve the students in the learning process.

2. Supporting student mobility in education

We are experiencing an increasing mobility for students, also supported by European and National policies. Students tend to choose and mix among a larger variety of Bachelor and Master programmes - either at the same institutions as they studied previously, or in other institutions possibly in other European countries. Also, many students choose to take one or two semesters abroad. This leads to another challenge - that students following the same courses come with increasingly diverse backgrounds. This needs to be addressed through more personalised approaches to learning, which also facilitates the transition of learners through different levels.

3. Increase efficient use of ICT for education

The use of ICT in education is creating new possibilities for providing better teaching, and for doing so more efficiently. We believe this is an important step towards offering more personalized learning, and accommodating the different motivations and learning styles the students have. Also, it allows for the teachers to get faster responses to the learning rate of students, allowing him/her to adjust the teaching to the student needs. We also believe that universities can work together on providing high quality teaching material, preferably available as Open Educational Resources.

4. Increase European competitiveness through improved education

In order for Europe to remain competitive, it is crucial that the investments in education benefits society and individuals as much as possible, and that the educated candidates are ready to meet the demands of employers when they finish their educations. This implies that the candidates must be able to collaborate within private and public organisations, and to understand the context of technologies including business and market aspects. The candidates need to be entrepreneurial and innovative, and to be able work in an international environment.

5.Improve interdisciplinary skills and training

The partners have had different experiences with cross-disciplinary work, both within and across institutions. These are generally positively received by the students, who find it interesting to apply their knowledge in the context of real-world problem. However, it is important to be able to integrate “expertise” learning with the cross-disciplinary aspects, without losing technical depth.

The outcomes of Colibri will contribute to the modernisation of European Higher Education, among the participating organisations as well as to a wider audience. By strengthening the educations at different European universities, momentum can after Colibri has ended, create the foundation for a strong and efficient educational system across Europe and hereby contribute to the European 2020 strategy and beyond.