The main project goal is to develop an international distributed network of cooperation where teachers are configured as nodes that make inter- and intra-university connections possible and the dissemination of good, digital and innovative teaching practices.

The project path began in June 2020. It started to take shape from the approval of the UNED internally tendered “International Cooperation Network for Knowledge Transfer and Learning Facing postCOVID Crisis” (InCoNeT-DiL) project, with the idea of leveraging it to apply for a project in the Erasmus+ Action K2 call. The InCoNeT-DiL (ReCoIn-TaD Spanish name) network and conference (22 and 23 March 2021, https://bit.ly/3f97FJ1) were implemented with the support of this project, as was the design and delivery of the “Teaching Training in Uncertain Times” MOOC (https://bit.ly/3a9Q0z3). The network was finally launched in October 2020 (https://bit.ly/3wRMrr5), configured as an international space of confluence. Savoir*Devenir (SD), University of Catania (UNICT), Universidade Aberta de Portugal (UAb), and UNED and President of ECO Digital Learning (ECO), signed up to the ReCoIn-TaD network and participated in the conference to learn the other institutions’ educational needs and experiences during the pandemic.

Also, this project aims to scale up an international distributed cooperation network where professors are posited as anchors for inter- and intra-university connections and the outreach of good teaching, digital and innovative practices. We have started work on the network (InCoNeT-DiL) and consortium members have already signed up to it. University faculty will receive comprehensive training in flexible digital teaching methodologies (connected and critical thinking, collaborative learning and research, active and gamified learning, invested learning), content creation and digital programme design that leverage these methodologies.

The best way to outreach knowledge around effective teaching methods is by dedicated and distributed networks of teachers who share the same interests. These inter-university networks are highly cohesive under normal circumstances but fell apart with the Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdown.

Therfore, the aim of this project is to restore the university’s connective tissues, enabling the shoring up of bonds among European universities. The project focuses on university faculty networks and seeks to strengthen them. It involves teachers acting as intra- and inter-university anchors to facilitate the formation of a knowledge transfer network. In distributed networks with no specific centre, knowledge is distributed and shared, comes not from a single source, is built with interaction and flexibility, breaks with the established order, operates across different scenarios and entails more autonomy and critical thinking.
In addition, at the European university level, the formation of a cohesive transfer network in flexible digital practices broadens the potential to develop a quality university-education model that can deliver effective responses to the uncertainty and future challenges of today’s society.

A transnational network across local and national borders will greatly enrich our training process as education professionals. The configuration of an international distributed network with university lecturers committed to the outreach of experiences and practices based on innovative online teaching practices.

This result is coordinated by Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) (Spain)

Needs
The aim is to cement a model of European inter-university cooperation by creating a cohesive and distributed university network where teachers are posited as intermediary connection nodes (anchors) within and between universities for the exchange of practices in flexible digital teaching methods.

Output Description
A university-based distributed international network will be developed with associated teaching staff participating in the training programme and committed to sharing experiences in flexible digital teaching practices. It will be the continuation of the ReCoIn-TaD network and will be established on the EPALE platform.

Impact and Transferability Potential
It will be known how strongly the network is expanding by observing the contributions to the EPALE community, social network analyses and ReCoIn-TaD network (R4) registrations.

• More than 100 teachers from different countries will join the EPALE platform (blogs, forums and collaborative spaces: practice community and collaborative space).
• A minimum of 80% of the teachers participating in the training program join the ReCoIn-TaD network (R4). Minimum of 50 per partner country.

The network will seek its stability through the development of agreements and / or activities with the members of the network once the project is completed.

WORK PLAN: March 2022 to July 2025 – Ongoing process throughout the project lifespan and which will continue beyond it:

1. The partners not registered in EPALE will do the project early.
2. UNED is the ideal partner to lead this part of the project, since it started the ReCoIn-TaD network one year before starting the project and this network will constitute the basis for the development of the international distributed network.
3. Each partner will contribute and collaborate in carrying out the following actions:
   1. Presence and participation over EPALE, with continuous updates and progressively sharing the results obtained. This will involve the following actions:
      
      1. Requesting and creating a private collaborative space for teamwork with partners and/or join private online groups working on specific topics.
      2. Requesting a practice community or engage in already created ones with ties to our flexible digital teaching practice goals.
      3. Discussing, sharing and inviting faculty to be part of the project and network.
      4. Searching for and select participating teachers.
   2. Contacting university lecturers and propose they join the European distributed network of teachers committed to developing good practices and digital skills.
   3. Establishing contact and interaction via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
   4. Signing teachers with shared interests in online skills training up to the ReCoIn-TaD network.

Participants & Members
Networking and contacts will be established and made available to the project partners: Direct contact with teachers and networks throughout the project and more intensively before the courses start.

Main Interaction Working
A collaborative space will be tapped on the EPALE platform, configured as a communication and collaborative working space with project partners. In addition, if deemed necessary, a digital community will be set up at UNED to enable document and communication exchange.

Communication with the associate professors participating in the courses will be carried out via mailing lists, social networks (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) and, above all, over EPALE, as a space to contact professors and exchange experiences. EPALE will be tapped for two functions:

• Working with project partners, contacting participating teachers.
• Expanding the international network in the construction of new quality teaching practices. It will perform the following specific functions

Conclusion
The project will provide a database of teachers with common interests (training in digital pedagogies) to the EPALE platform which will be a community of practice and collaborative space and will be configured as a communication tool and collaborative workspace in the construction of new quality pedagogical practices. This process will be complemented by digital networking and the expansion of the already existing ReCoIn-TaD network.