E-Service-Learning for Rural and Remote Communities

Abstract Book of the  9th International Conference on Future of Teaching and Education and Humanities

Year: 2025

DOI:

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E-Service-Learning for Rural and Remote Communities

Prof. Dr. Nives Mikelic Preradovic

ABSTRACT:

The aim of this paper is to present the first result of the Erasmus+ CIVENHANCE (E-Service Learning for Boosting Academic Civic Engagement in Rural Areas) project. We collected and analyzed 19 use cases of rural and remote service-learning (SL) as well as e-service-learning in urban or rural areas in Europe that address the needs of people with fewer opportunities (due to geographical, economic, educational, cultural or migrant background obstacles). This paper brings lessons learned from these use cases considering their instructional design, general community needs addressed, service and learning outcomes as well as their linkage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Instructional design demonstrated direct service which involved students in the field-based activities with interaction with beneficiaries, indirect service without a direct relationship with the beneficiaries, advocacy to promote action and increase awareness about issues of public interest and research-based SL where research activities were based on community needs. General community needs were documented to evaluate whether SL activities addressed real community challenges and if they were meaningful and relevant to community partners, civic, cultural, economic, and political society. Service & Learning outcomes were collected to understand how community needs were addressed and how the SL activity was linked to the contents of academic subjects. Linkage with SDGs analyzed the evidence of the contribution to sustainable development. The final aim of the CIVENHANCE project is to discover ways to leverage e-service-learning to overcome obstacles in rural SL initiatives and unlock SL’s potential in geographically disadvantaged communities.

keywords: CIVENHANCE, community engagement, digital solutions, rural service-learning, Sustainable Development Goals