About TOTEMM
Our aim
The aim of the TOTEMM project is to promote equity, social inclusion and participation of non-mobile midwifery students studying in England, Italy, Estonia and the Netherlands.
This will be achieved through the creation and implementation of a new inclusive mobility model, which combines virtual and physical activities to provide a more accessible experience.
A secondary aim is to investigate if these activities can develop intercultural sensitivity.
Our approach
We will develop one introductory e-learning package on EU maternity care and four virtual e-learning packages focusing on public health topics.
These packages will be developed by:
- midwifery educators from four partner institutions across Europe
- midwifery students
- learning technologists from the Health and e-Learning Media (HELM) team, University of Nottingham
Two intensive training programmes will be held with midwifery students and academics to prepare them to deliver the virtual and physical activities.
20 midwifery students from each of the four countries will access these packages and participate in this virtual exchange experience.
A small number of students will be offered the opportunity of a five-day study tour in one of the four European countries involved, where they will be able to meet with their peers from the online packages. One midwifery educator will host the students travelling to each partner institute.
Throughout the project, there will be consultations with an advisory group. 160 participants will be invited to two conference events to share updates and news from the project.
Expected impact and long-term benefits
We hope that midwifery students involved in the development, review and testing of the e-learning packages will benefit from:
- creative stimulation
- improved team working and collaboration skills
- increased knowledge of inter-cultural midwifery-related topics
- experience supporting the development of digital learning resources
The transnational collaborative context of the project will also provide midwifery academics involved in the project with new perspectives on:
- ways of working with European colleagues
- achieving shared goals and delivering outputs as part of a large scale project
- developing innovative thinking and creativity
This study has potential to establish a long-term collaboration between partner institutions from different European regions.
It will also provide a new model for midwifery student mobility and reusable open access e-learning resources - available to use by other higher education institutions, educators and students.
Pictures from the TOTEMM project