Glossary

An application programming interface (API) is a computing interface to a software component or a system that defines how other components or systems can use it. It defines the kinds of calls or requests that can be made, how to make them, the data formats that should be used, the conventions to follow, etc.

The Erasmus+ App is the gateway for students to interact with the Erasmus Programme. More information on the Erasmus+ App can be found at a separate section about the App.

The Erasmus Dashboard or EWP dashboard is a free web-based solution designed to support HEIs with the administration of mobility. The Erasmus Dashboard can be used by universities that have no tool to manage their Erasmus mobilities. There is a separate section in the Competence Center about the Erasmus Dashboard.

The European Student Card is a project about the recognition of student status and identity.

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This Initiative from the European Commission aims to enable every student to easily and safely identify and register themselves electronically at higher education institutions within Europe when moving abroad for studies, eliminating the need to complete onsite registration procedures and paper work. Erasmus Without Paper is one of the initiatives under the ESCI.

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Unique European Student eID valid across borders and services. The European Student Identifier enables different systems to consistently recognise a given student as the same student.

The ESI is

• Globally unique
• Persistent
• Non-targeted
• Protocol neutral
• Data transport neutral

More info.

Erasmus Without Paper (EWP) initiative aim to pave the way for Erasmus coordinators to manage mobilities more efficiently by replacing paper exchanges by data exchanges between IT-systems. Erasmus Without Paper has two components, a network and the Erasmus Dashboard.

The EWP registry can be compared with a phone book for IT-systems (servers). The IT-system from one university consults the phone book (network) to find out which processes (APIs) are supported by which system. An overview of the processes covered by institutions can be found here.

MyAcademicID aims at developing a European Student eID scheme for Higher Education. This will allow students to easily identify and authenticate to access electronic student services through a single sign-on. This eID scheme will be the result of the integration of eIDAS, eduGAIN and the European Student Identifier.

In networking a node is either a connection point, a redistribution point, or a communication endpoint. In general, a node has a programmed or engineered capability that enables it to recognise, process, or forward transmissions to other nodes.

OLA is a standalone web based tool that can be used by Erasmus-students for creating their learning agreement online. IROs can manage those learning agreements via the EWP dashboard. Efforts are on its way to connect OLA to EWP in order to exchange learning agreements with other IT solutions supporting learning agreement functionality.

The Open Source University Alliance is open repository of source code and software for tools used by the Higher Education Community.

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A student Information System is an IT system for the management of all student-related information. The functionality and processes depend from university to university but it typically includes information on student data, course/programme registrations, grading, transcripts, diploma’s and other student-related information. Some institutions have a module for managing student mobility as well.