Visit of grant holders from Burgas Free University (Burgas, Bulgaria) for the EU Erasmus + ACADEMICA project

On November 20, 2017, a meeting with the main coordinators (grant holders) of the project "Accessibility and Harmonization of Higher Education in Central Asia through Modernization and Curriculum Development (ASADEMICA)" Maria Monova-Zheleva and Yanislav Zhelev from Burgas Free University, Bulgaria was held at the KSU named after Sh. Ualikhanov.

Participants of the meeting were students, graduates and teachers of the university: the project team, teachers who carry out modernization of curricula, as well as trainees of these courses. The meeting started with an introduction to the ACADEMICA laboratory, which was inaugurated on 31 October 2017. At the Faculty of Engineering and Technology in building No. 2, the Rector of Kokshetau State University named after Sh. Ualikhanov, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor A.A. Abzhapparov held the opening ceremony of the laboratory of information and communication technologies "ACADEMICA".

The laboratory is equipped with modern monoblocks, server for e-learning platform, laser printer, multimedia projector for teaching students.

The aforementioned equipment was purchased with a grant from the project in the amount of about 20,000 euros. During the meeting they discussed the current state of activities and progress of the project, next steps and actions, and exchanged ideas on developing further joint projects. The purchase of equipment for Turkmen universities was also discussed.In their speeches, the project grant holders noted the quality of the training courses delivered by the authors and awarded certificates. The certificate holders were the developers of online courses Head of the Department of Social and Age Pedagogy, acting associate professor and academic coordinator of the project Shayakhmetova A.A. and senior lecturer of the department "Information Systems and Computer Engineering", lecturer of the project Muradilova G.S., as well as teachers of the department "Information Systems and Computer Engineering" Shornikova O.N, Khan S.I., Fomicheva T.A., Glok E.S., Kubigenova A.T., Muradilova G.S., Baklkhazova U.U. and teachers of the chair "Mining, construction and life safety" Baikenov N.A, In his speech, A.A. Kakabayev, Country Coordinator (Head of CIC&AM) expressed his gratitude to the funders, who support all project partners. In turn, Mariya Monova-Zheleva and Yanislav Zheleva, the main coordinators, thanked all participants and wished further success and prosperity.

It is worth to underline the active position of the students and teachers who stated that the upgraded courses are of professional interest, because the content is full of innovations and modern programmes in the field of information and communication technologies.

The final meeting of the EU Erasmus + ACADEMICA project is planned for September 2018.