The first SIG-TNE meeting took place on 31 May 2017 during the TNC17 conference in Linz, Austria.
During this meeting the challenges, identified at the previous workshop were addressed. The aim of the meeting was also to identify more NRENs that would benefit from a collaborative approach and guidance from the wider NREN community.
TNE: Context and Session Objectives
Esther Wilkinson, Jisc
At the beginning of the session, Esther defined TNE, briefly introducing to what TNE is (the provision of education for students based in a country other than the one in which the awarding institution is located, e.g. students based in country X studying for a degree from a university in country Y) and what types of TNE activities there are (including 'branch campuses', overseas partnerships, distance/online learning).
It was noted that higher education is more advanced in its delivery of TNE, but the work in the area does not exclude other types of educational institutions.
Following number of sessions at various platforms, resulting in a better understanding of the importance of supporting transnational education and mobility with technology requiring global infrastructure and services, SIG-TNE was set up as a part of the GÉANT Community Programme with an international Steering Committee.
This meeting was a follow up after a preparatory meeting at the Internet2 Global Summit, during which the key challenges and opportunities for working together were identified. There are 4 key areas (The 'Big Issues') that the SIG-TNE will be focussing on (others were identified, but are 'parked' for the time being and might be revisited in the future):
- TNE data - regional, national and global
- Global TNE policies
- Technology barriers
- TNE service deployment; tools, toolkits and resources
One of the objectives of this meeting is to get endorsement for those four issues and scope the activities, divide tasks and contributions to the workstreams.
Following the introduction to the SIG and main working areas, the Steering Committee members that lead those areas gave brief overviews on what their issues are and what needs to be done to solve them.