<< Background >>Developments of technology, including high-speed Internet connections, the low cost of portable devices, as well as the global proliferation of Covid-19 have made the virtual workplace a reality. Last year's research (Kniffin, Narayanan, Anseel, Antonakis, Ashford, Bakker, Bamberger, Bapuji, Bhave, Choi, Creary, Demerouti, Flynn, Gelfand, Greer, Johns, Kesebir, Klein, Lee, Ozcelik, Petriglieri, Rothbard, Rudolph, Shaw, Sirola, Wanberg, Whillans, Wilmot, Van Vugt, 2020; Jeske, 2019) show that remote work has several advantages and its volume tends to increase in the future.These changes in the labor market call for a reorientation of higher profession education, which would not only prepare young professionals for future virtual jobs, but also make higher education more accessible to different social groups, despite financial, geographical and time constraints, and help to overcome Covid-19 consequences.Research (Ruggiero & Boehmat, 2016) notes the importance of virtual internships in 1) preparing young professionals for future jobs not only in the local but also in the global labor market, 2) ensuring access to education, and 3) improving the quality of professional education. Although there are attempts to develop different models of virtual internships, it can be concluded that the design of such best practices - a model that is easy to replicate, applicable to studies in different fields and involves all stakeholders in a single meaningful and easily replicable digital journey with a common goal and provide interactive, regular and constructive feedback, while providing high added value to the quality of higher education, for professional organizations - has not yet been established.For many students, on-site internships were disrupted this year due to the Covid-19 outbreak. A College Reaction/Axios survey conducted in April 2020 found that 73% of the 822 students surveyed who had an internship it was cancelled, organized remotely or delayed. Adapting to the situation, educational institutions are in a hurry to look for alternative solutions. Students are encouraged to look for virtual internships or even short-term micro-internships. However, not all companies are ready to offer internships in a remote format. Or, if offered, it does not provide clear cooperation of mentors, teachers, students. In this way, Covid-19, which has created challenges for educational institutions, at the same time opens up opportunities to apply the advantages of information technology development more quickly and to think about the modernization of the educational process. Studies (e.g. Jaske, 2019) confirm that the positive aspects of virtual programs are clearly visible: they facilitate access to education, reduce barriers (financial / time / geographical) common for physical mobility and are more inclusive. In addition, as the authors point out, they are creating a generation of graduates with digital thinking, ready for the digital workplace of the future.Analysing the situation, the authors of the project conclude that there is currently a lack of information on how to implement student internships remotely in order to create added value for all involved and serve as a safe way to develop students' professional skills and competences in accordance with the planned learning outcomes.<< Objectives >>The main idea of the project is to improve the organisation of virtual internships in professional higher education programs in Europe. The objectives of the project are the following:1. To improve the implementation of virtual internships by creating Digital Internship Model - digital tool and materials that would help students, employers and higher education institutions in the EU to organise virtual internships more effectively and to achieve the highest possible learning outcomes of remote internships.2. To improve the user experience of the Digital Internship Model by developing support materials for teachers, company managers, mentors for remote work with trainees and mutual cooperation for regular assessment and correction of student performance, at the same time allowing to develop digital competences of teachers and mentors.3. To validate the Digital Internship Model in higher education institutions in four countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Portugal).4. To make the Digital Internship Model available in all the EU countries with the help of dissemination activities.<< Implementation >>Several successive activities will be implemented during the project:1. In order to develop the most suitable model of virtual internships to meet the needs of the parties involved, a survey of employers, teachers of higher education institutions and students about learning difficulties, impact on educational programs and employers' requirements will be conducted.2. Based on the research results, design for Digital Internship Model will be created.3. In order to ensure successful implementation of the Digital Internship Model and reduce potential obstacles, its content will be developed and the technological solution will be selected/adapted;5. In order to facilitate the implementation of the developed Digital Internship Model, structured guidelines - the support system - will be developed for implementers of virtual internships (internship managers, mentors and students).6. Validation of the Digital Internship Model and its support system will be implemented in order to diagnose and prevent potential risks in a timely manner.7. Dissemination activities will be carried out in order to introduce the Digital Internship Model to the stakeholders.<< Results >>The direct results of the project will be the following1. Digital Internship Model (design and content) has been developed, identifying the main steps and showing effective interaction of the involved parties (teacher, mentor, student) to achieve and evaluate the set learning outcomes.2. Digital support materials have been developed for teachers, company managers, mentors for remote work with trainees and mutual cooperation for regular assessment and correction of student performance, at the same time allowing to develop digital competences of teachers and mentors.3. Informative digital material has been developed for students for successful implementation of virtual internship and evaluation of achieved results, ensuring professional growth and competitiveness.4. Training for persons involved in the approbation and validation of the Digital Internship Model implemented, specific training program how to work with the new model developed.5. Dissemination of the results of the project at the national and international level - higher education institutions in all EU countries aware of the new model.In addition, the project consortium expects the following impact:1. Improvement of cooperation between the academic and professional environment by providing clear indications on the cooperation mechanisms for the dynamic and purposeful development of students' professional skills.2. Increase in quality of higher professional education, bringing it as close as possible to the real and current situation in the labour market and offering students the opportunity to gain international work experience in the digital environment, regardless of various restrictions.3. For higher education institutions: implementing virtual internships will help to achieve the study results defined in the study program. 4. For academic staff: the developed model and its support system will provide a support mechanism for the academic staff involved in the implementation of student internships on the part of the higher education institution who are responsible for the course of the internship. Within the framework of the project, it is planned to include in the virtual internship model the methodology of virtual internship evaluation. The model will also include a road map for the implementation of the internship, as well as guidelines for cooperation with the company's internship managers. Due to the technological support, the virtual internship process will be traceable and transparent. 5. For business leaders: thanks to virtual internships, in the long run there is an opportunity to reduce the costs of training interns in the company, improve opportunities for cooperation with universities, to attract and select new talents in order to improve the development of innovations and increase global competitiveness of the company in future.6. For mentors- a very important component of this model is the development of guidelines for the management of virtual internships in the company. The model also provides for the training of mentors, so that they are able to provide full internship opportunities for students using digital solutions. The guidelines developed in the model will be a support mechanism for the implementation of the internship.7. Students - thanks to the Digital Internship Model and its support system, students will have the opportunity to undergo virtual internship regardless of various restrictions. The student will develop the necessary skills and competencies, including interdisciplinary skills, using technological tools and in interaction with the internship supervisors from both the university and the company. Opportunities for internships will be expanded not only in the students' home country, but also in the project partner organizations, later also in other organizations that will apply the respective model.8. For researchers - knowledge of the opportunities and benefits provided by e-learning will be supplemented.

This action supports physical and blended mobility of higher education students and staff from EU Member States and third countries associated to Erasmus+ to any country in the world. Students in all study fields and cycles can take part in a study period or traineeship abroad. Higher education teaching and administrative staff can take part in professional development activities abroad, as well as staff from the field of work in order to teach and train students or staff at higher education institutions.

This action supports physical and blended mobility of higher education students and staff from EU Member States and third countries associated to Erasmus+ to any country in the world. Students in all study fields and cycles can take part in a study period or traineeship abroad. Higher education teaching and administrative staff can take part in professional development activities abroad, as well as staff from the field of work in order to teach and train students or staff at higher education institutions.