Work in Progress: Towards an enhanced digitization of course catalogues: the DACEM project

This is a work-in-progress paper about the DACEM project, whose goal is to improve course catalogues in Erasmus+ higher education institutions. The Erasmus programme was launched 36 years ago to promote the mobility of students among European institutions. To fuel the programme, in 2014 Course catalogues were conceived as a key tool to enable prospective students searching for the academic opportunities most suitable to their needs, and for institutions to agree on bilateral agreements according to the Erasmus regulations. Nevertheless, despite more than 10 years of experience and several initiatives, the provision of appropriate course catalogues is still an important challenge for higher education institutions. This paper introduces the requirements and data elements that need to be included in course catalogues and the main problems and issues currently experienced by institutions and students. The paper also introduces the DACEM project to solve the current issues.