More effective collaboration in education
Npuls is a nationwide partnership between vocational education (mbo), universities of applied sciences (hbo), research universities (wo), and the IT cooperative SURF. The programme focuses on three major themes: digitalisation, flexibilisation, and lifelong learning. By working smarter and sharing knowledge, the aim is to build an educational approach that better meets the real needs of students and educators.
A wide range of projects is already underway, including:
- Fixing the fragmented educational landscape: smarter administrative links between institutions
In the future, students from mbo, hbo and wo can register through one central system and, for example, also choose courses at other institutions. - Simplified access to learning environments
These links also make it easier for students and staff to access digital learning environments for postgraduate education or across institutions like UTwente, the UvA or Aurora partners. - Digital certificates
Courses and modules will be digitally recorded and automatically recognised – even internationally. This makes it much easier to continue studying or change directions. - No more locked-up learning materials
More open educational resources and accessible digital platforms reduce dependency on commercial publishers. - Navigating AI
With AI platforms and tools that help students and teachers to use AI in a safe, fair and smart way. - From VR to digital assessment
Exploring new technologies such as virtual reality, digital skills development and innovative forms of assessment.
In short: smarter collaboration in education – across institutions, sectors and borders.
What does this mean for VU?
The VU Centre for Teaching & Learning (VU CTL) received 500,000 euros through the Npuls CTL grant to invest in educational innovation. Together with programmes and faculties, they are working on six key themes that align with Npuls’ national objectives:
- Future-proof teaching: improving the continuous development path for teachers by creating a vision of future-proof teaching and implementing it in the development path.
- Inclusive blended education: strengthening and shaping it, by developing new professionalization offerings for VU Amsterdam and other educational institutions.
- Domain-specific Education Labs: improving on-demand support, by setting up domain-specific Education Labs close to the faculties.
- Co-education – learning in the workplace: improve the quality of learning and innovation in the workplace, by applying the systematics of ‘co-education’ as known from po, vo, mbo in the wo.
- ImaginEd – Where Learning Meets Imagination: stimulate far-reaching curriculum innovation, by stimulating new questions through a (physical) space where imagination is stimulated, instead of only working in a demand-driven way.
- New partnerships: expand collaboration with other educational institutions, by stimulating an Amsterdam network in the field of educational innovation and collaborating more in the form of co-teaching or co-creation.
VU Amsterdam has also formed its own Npuls core team to translate the national goals into practical solutions tailored to our university’s needs.
