The leaders and teams presented the Acceleration Plan for Educational Innovation with ICT at the SURF education days.

In this four-year programme by the Netherlands Association of Universities, the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences and SURF, 40 research universities and universities of applied sciences join forces to make optimal use of the opportunities that digitalisation offers higher education in the Netherlands.

Getting started with promising educational themes
The Acceleration Plan for Educational Innovation with ICT is focused on gathering initiatives, knowledge and experience together and getting to work quickly and practically on promising themes for higher education in the Netherlands. A "scrum" approach will be adopted: we know the direction we want to travel in, and we have defined a number of principal targets, but the path towards them is not pre-determined. The programme offers a platform for sharing initiatives and driving them forward.

8 acceleration zones
The Acceleration Plan is divided into 8 acceleration zones in which 40 research universities and universities of applied sciences have joined forces. A leader from one of the institutions directs an acceleration team with representatives from the participating institutions. To see the composition of the acceleration teams go to surf.nl/en/accelerationplan.

Get to know the leaders with this video (in Dutch).

The leaders in the 8 zones are:
1. Facilitating professional development for lecturers - Kim Schildkamp (University of Twente)
2. Better connection to the job market - Ellen van den Berg (Saxion University of Applied Sciences)
3. Making education more flexible - Paul den Hertog (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) & Ulrike Wild (Wageningen University & Research)
4. A transition to digital (open) teaching aids and materials - Robert Schuwer (Fontys University Of Applied Sciences)
5. Secure and reliable use of learning data - Theo Bakker (VU Amsterdam)
6. Evidence-based educational innovation with ICT - Fleur Prinsen (Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences)
7. Collaboration with EdTech - Timo Kos (TU Delft)
8. Heading towards acceleration together - this zone launches in 2019