Have you wondered how you can get your students ready to thrive at work and in their society as adults in an interconnected world?🌏
In an increasingly interconnected and multicultural world, connecting students to the world as part of a globally connected approach (Ito et al., 2013) for learning has become indispensable. This approach connects students to the realities of the workplace and the world in general, builds bridges of communication, and creates new opportunities for collaboration. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) or Virtual exchanges (VE's), which is a technologically-enabled format for engaging students in cross-cultural learning, can facilitate this. Classes from different contexts or geographical locations interact and collaborate online as part of syllabus and under the guidance of educators. The skills, values and behaviors that are fostered through such learning experiences can develop global competence among students to eventually thrive in an interconnected and multicultural world. Regardless of the level, age or discipline, students get an opportunity to learn in a relevant, often authentic, and meaningful way.
Do you want to engage your students in a virtual exchange? See the image below for my list of ten tips to get you started and help ensure sustainability.
See the explanation below for more details on the recommendations to keep in mind when embarking on international collaborations in Higher Education.
A “start small” approach. Engaging in a collaboration on a small scale, preferably with one ongoing collaborative task the first time, for the gradual building of the partnership through regular fine-tuning of the design, the lecturers’ increasing familiarity with the tools and each other, and a rise in the level of comfort with using English
Inspiration and connectedness. Educators seen as design partners of a vision for global learning, sharing through professional learning networks and online or local opportunities
Awareness of linguistic issues. Language assistance provided to students who are not in the English program as part of a support system in place
Consideration given to granting special credit to students as part of the assessment. Recognition of participating in international courses or for additional effort as an incentive in view of the increased challenges some students may face in these courses.
Coordination among all concerned. Virtual exchanges being the result of joint coordinated efforts (by lecturers, technical support facilitators, techno pedagogy consultants, rooms administrator and language experts)
Focus on community-building and team formation in initial stages. A careful design of the course with the inclusion of adequately planned Getting-to-Know-You activities (to build trust while focusing on the development of intercultural skills) and team formation ones (to diffuse negative emotions or stress, and guarantee a successful collaboration)
Pursuit of opportunities to increase social presence. Virtual synchronous meetings, video-based asynchronous tasks and hand-crafted cards to help students be perceived as “real people”; and face-to-face encounters of delegations visiting partnering institutions to help build stronger ties
Continuous contact among partnering lecturers. A regular analysis that allows for the necessary improvements to be made in time and that involves understanding what each group can benefit from, what can bind both together, what works and what does not
Global issues viewed as an integral part of the course syllabus. Discussions within a glocal and multidisciplinary approach that reflects the complexities of life in the 21st century to give a richer dimension to courses in any subject area
Acceptance of the possibility of initial failure as an inherent part of the design process. Understanding the nature of meaningful custom-made collaborations, which involve refining and iterations, and tangible results being noticed only after some time
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