UP2U, THE EUROPEAN PROJECT TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION

The main objective of the Up2U project is to close a gap between secondary and higher education. We intent to innovate and explore solutions to integrate formal and informal learning scenarios and adapt the emerging technologies with teaching and learning methodologies that secondary students will face with once they enter universities. We are focusing on the context of secondary education and the schools that support it, often defined as "secondary schools", which involves students between the ages of 11 and 19, depending on the country, after primary education and before higher education. The learning context from the students' perspective is an intersection of formal and informal spaces with a dynamic hybrid learning environment where activities are synchronized between virtua We propose to develop an innovative the ecosystem called "Up to University" (Up2U) - based on proven technology-based experiences from higher education and grounded in large research - to facilitate co-design, co-creation and reuse of digital educational content, technological tools and services. We are adapting tools to the context of secondary schools in the pilot countries anticipating what student will find at universities in order to better prepare them to that level of education. We will address project-based learning and end-to-end learning scenarios. We firmly believe that all the tools and services that Up2U will use and/or make available (i.e., incorporate, design, develop, and test) are sustainable after a project lifetime. Therefore, the project will include business plans and investigate appropriate models using the experience of small and medium business partners and the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) and their contacts with third-party actors. Our plan is to make possible that secondary schools join the Up2U consortium infrastructure and use this federated ecosystem for that learning community with the least disruption.