Abstract:

Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) are designed to promote international collaboration, intercultural learning, and sustained social engagement among students and lecturers. In practice, however, these goals are often undermined by fragmented digital infrastructures: information and communication are distributed across emails, learning management systems, and ad-hoc collaboration tools, resulting in limited continuity of learning and reduced opportunities for interaction before and after the physical mobility phase. This fragmentation represents a pedagogical and organizational challenge for international teaching formats.

This paper presents an exploratory design and evaluation study that investigates which functional features and technical capabilities are required for a digital community platform to effectively support learning, communication, and engagement in BIPs. As a concrete case, we describe the design and development of a mobile-first platform piloted within the BIP “Comparing Social Work II” (scheduled for 2026). The platform concept combines elements of a conference application with community-oriented social features, including centralized access to academic and organizational information, campus and city navigation, structured and informal communication channels, and tools for sharing and reflecting on field-trip experiences through media and geolocated content.

The research follows a design-based research approach, iteratively aligning pedagogical requirements with technical implementation. Data collection will include requirements workshops with lecturers, surveys and usage analytics from students, and qualitative feedback gathered through interviews and focus groups. These data will be used to evaluate usability, perceived pedagogical value, and the suitability of specific features for supporting preparation, on-site collaboration, and post-programme reflection. In parallel, the study examines technical possibilities and constraints related to scalability, mobile usability, data protection, and integration with existing institutional systems.

Expected outcomes of the paper are a structured set of pedagogical and functional requirements for digital platforms supporting BIPs, insights into feasible technical solutions and limitations in a higher-education context, and design implications for future international and interdisciplinary learning environments. By focusing on feature effectiveness rather than a single implementation, the paper aims to contribute transferable knowledge for the development of sustainable digital infrastructures for international teaching and learning.

Keywords:

Technology, exchange, International, Social Work, education, Blended Intensive Program, Computer Science and Social Work collaboration.