South-East European Research Centre (SEERC)

The European agenda 2020 recognises the need for digital literacy skills. However, despite the multitude of digital training companies none are able to provide truly pan-European training experience and knowledge, an essential combination to grow European trade. To address this gap, the aim of the project is to implement a European focused community for the sustainable delivery of a Joint European Masters programme in Search and Social Media Marketing (JEMSS).

Objectives:

1 Identify SME needs and preferences to be addressed by JEMSS learning materials

2 Identify Student needs and preferences of education by JEMSS delivery methods

3 Produce JEMSS core text book to widely disseminate project findings and materials

4 Evaluate JEMSS learning material within a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC)

5 Operationalize institutional collaboration framework for joint masters accreditation amongst educational institutions

6 Implement JEMSS sustainable business plan based Partnership Exploitation Agreement which satisfies businesses, academics and learners’ needs

7 Disseminate project results to key stakeholders

By collaborating with academia, industry and students these seven objectives will address four key challenges (i) the lack of Search and Social Media Marketing and digitally skilled employees, (ii) the low employability opportunities for graduates, Search and Social Media Marketing as catalysts to help grow the European economy and (vi) problems with traditional university apprenticeship models.

JEMSS will draw together organisations, universities and students through a new apprenticeship model, with benefit for all parties. We recognise the need to bring commercial benefit for the businesses and therefore, in light of this, we will work on developing a sustainable business model for the delivery of Search and Social Media Marketing training. This model will be adapted for each partner country in recognising the different funding regimes and varying attitudes that students have to professional work placements whilst they study.

a) European SSMM community: Establish a self-sustaining European network for sharing innovations and developing common research, teaching and learning community for SSMM beyond the funding period of this programme. This is the essential core of the project, as it facilitates a mechanism to maintain the freshness and relevance within this constantly changing subject area.

b) Academic backbone for commercially focused education: Expand the knowledge in European Search and Social Media Marketing by collating and producing the first core text book which will be used by consortium partners and other academics and professionals who want to learn what the how and the why of Search and Social Media Marketing in Europe.

b) Creative Commons digital resources: Sharing of resources online via the increasingly popular online courses platforms such as www.coursera.org, testing this through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and offering the training through Creative Commons licenses will enable this project to make a major impact in raising the awareness of Search and Social Media Marketing in Europe as well as advancing innovations in training.

e) European work based learning: Working closely with digital recruitment agencies and digital marketing companies, this programme will offer work experience and placements that enables students entry into real businesses to actively study and learn.

f) European Joint masters qualifications framework: By developing a common delivery and content framework amongst the academic partners we are able to offer an unparalleled certification process for students and companies wishing to develop their staff by offering multiply accredited joint programmes of study.