Abstract:

The key objective of the European Up to University (Up2U) project is to bridge the gap between secondary schools and higher education & research by better integrating formal and informal learning scenarios and adapting both the technology and the methodology that students will most likely be facing in universities.

Up2U researchers are focusing on the context of secondary schools, often referred to as high schools, which provide secondary education between the ages of 11 and 19 depending on the country, after primary school and before higher education.

This initiative aims to respond to the requirements of a clear mandate from the European Commission allied with the provision of new cloud-based tools and services to enhance primary and secondary education in Europe. Up2U is a 36-month collaborative project and its now almost on the middle of it duration.

During this time all the 18 partners from 12 countries across Europe including NRENs, traditional and open universities, infrastructure providers and commercial partners have been involved in the production of a technological ecosystem that is currently in a testing phase and has already started the first initiatives in Italy and Greece (some of the pilot countries where the Up2U Ecosystem will be implemented, tested and evaluated).

The present article aims to describe the current state of the ecosystem, the tools implemented and the first experiences with high school teachers.

The goal is to reflect on the current state of the solution and realize what still needs to be done to improve and adapt the final solution to the project purpose.

Keywords:

Up2U, Technology, Up 2Universe, Up2U Ecosystem, Education, Formal, Informal, Learning.