SYSTEMIC INNOVATION IN EDUCATION: THE CASE OF VIRTUAL INTERNSHIPS IN UNIVERSITY-BUSINESS ARRANGEMENTS

Systemic innovation can be regarded a dynamic system-wide change, adding value to education processes and outcomes. Systemic innovation aims to change for the better, the way in which education works, and herewith to make a structural and standing impact. This paper describes the potential of virtual internship arrangements for systemic impact. It reports on the merits of a European Good-Practice project about virtual internship arrangements, executed within the Leonard da Vinci strand of the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme. The aforementioned project experimented with technology-enabled access to work, in order to flexibly support the development of professional skills and competences. The project resulted in multimodal internship arrangements, which increased the types of (work-based) learning opportunities. The overall objective was to sensitise mainstream higher education to the adoption of virtual internships, to promote the flexible development of skills and competences in students, and to contribute to the Copenhagen declaration relating to the modernisation of the European education and training system.