On 3-14 May 2021, the European partner institutions organised online workshops under the ENTEP project.

Within 10 days, Technische Universität Dresden (Germany), Stiftung Universität Hildesheim (Germany), Liverpool John Moores University (the UK), Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Italy) and Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (Portugal) shared their practices of teaching, learning and capacity building.

Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) was the first to deliver training:
•    Better together… Tandem language learning in TE (Peggy Germer)
•    Visualize, present, moderate – virtual paths to moderate the learning and teaching process (Frank Braner)
•    Trends of online teaching, digitalization and digital tools for schools and universities (Dagmar Oertel)
•    Foreign language teaching in intercultural mixed classes (Holger Kusse)
•    E‐learning: Digital teaching and learning tools (Sylvia Frin)
•    Inclusion as an educational aim (Frank Beier, Tina Czaja)
•    Gaming and teaching in higher education (Melissa Otto)
•    Intercultural education for teacher students: designing a project for collaborative virtual exchange (Gesine Seymer, Maria Richter‐Babekoff)

Staff of Stiftung Universität Hildesheim (UH) presented the following reports:
•    Intercultural competences in a digital environment: Digital methods in intercultural trainings (Carmen Muntel)
•    Diversity in higher education: Culture-situation-person (Olga Mennecke, Kathrin Schweiger)
•    International study programs: Intercultural transition in higher education (Beatrix Kreß)
•    Digital teaching and learning – conditions and challenges: Introduction (Beatrix Kreß)
•    Study program development against the background of digitization (Beatrix Kreß)
•    Maintaining students’ motivation online (Olga Mennecke)
•    Academic assessment: Types, challenges and quality criteria (Olga Mennecke, Kathrin Schweiger, Beatrix Kreß)

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) made the following presentations:
•    Imagined futures and current realities in online education (Jim Turner)
•    Practice skills in online environments (Maureen Royce, Madeleine Petzer)
•    Changing perceptions when online (Peter Wolstencroft)
•    Using learning analytics to support student engagement and develop effective teaching and learning in HE (Phil Rothwell)
•    Running simulations and using debriefs to facilitate group and personal reflections (Natalie Marguet)
•    Delivering blended learning for research programmes (Matthew Tucker)
•    Virtual action learning (Hannah Wilson)
•    Curating a culture of student engagement online (Joshi Jariwala)
•    Collecting data using online chat functions in LinkedIn (Tim Whitehill)

The reports of Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (UNIBO) were devoted to:
•    Innovation in learning and teaching at the University of Bologna during the Covid-19 pandemic: a critical reflection (Aurora Ricci)
•    Quality assurance in higher education institutions. A focus on teaching quality assurance system at the University of Bologna (Elena De Sanctis)
•    Didactic strategies and digital tools to sustain the synchronous teacher-students interaction (Luca Ferrari)

Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (IPC) closed the series of workshops with the following topics:
•    Creative, strategic and complex teaching (Susana Gonçalves)
•    Quality assurance in higher education in Europe (Rui Costa)
•    How to define, prepare, monitor and overcome difficulties associated with a joint Master’s degree (Marina Perdigão)
•    Interdisciplinary projects, students’ motivation and higher education’s role in society (Anabela Gomes, Luis Roseiro)
•    Students role in study programs development: Unique contribution (Fernando Mendes)
•    Are students sleeping during classes? Strategies to engage students on distance learning (Cristiano Matos)
•    Student’s voices: A couple of testimonies (Ruben Nunes, Carolina Melo)

Each session started with the brief presentation of the European partner institution, interesting facts and figures. Following the reports, the workshops participants discussed the covered topics and exchange their thoughts.

These workshops brought together more than 100 representatives of the Chinese and Russian universities (IWC, IPPSP, USUE, PSU, SU, HLU, and JXNU). 38 teaching staff members and postgraduate students of Penza State University participated in the workshops, gave positive feedbacks on their quality and content. Following the workshops, they obtained the certificates of completion.