MIXING MODERN TEACHING METHODS WITH ONLINE MARKETING TOOLS FOR ROMANIAN STUDENTS

The main focus of higher education nowadays is no longer the educator or the educatee, but the educational unit which is usually made up of trainers, trainees, methods, context(s). All these elements contribute to the actual level of competence that defines and describes today’s and tomorrow’s professionals. The strong link between providers of education and educatees lies within the methods used in courses, but also in the educational context, which relies upon the current social and cultural reality. This is where efficient marketing tools intervene and may even change the course of action. Marketing tools can even be found prior to the course design, as research surveys can highlight and even assign various stages or items which must be included or left out of the content. They can also serve as a means of assessment of the course and/or trainees. This way, online mobile learning, gamification, social media, augmented reality become the partners of all participants in the educational process. We consider this a win-win situation for the actors who are involved in the program (providers, direct beneficiaries, indirect beneficiaries). Teachers can observe the reactions and other forms of feedback sooner than ever before, and students can acquire and practice new competences in an interactive way. The focus in our current initiative is the development and further use of modern educational strategies and methods in Romania while using modern tools to gain the interest and awareness of educators and (potential) students in a variety of fields or even highly specialized subfields.