Virtual Exchange as a tool for Online International Learning Presentation for TUNING Academy

1. Virtual Exchange as a tool for Online International Learning Presentation for TUNING Academy Sake Jager, University of Groningen

2. About me • Head of ICT and Education (eLearning, teacher training, support, consultancy faculty board, management and staff) • Project manager Virtual Exchange and other technology-enhanced learning projects • Assistant professor Applied Linguistics, specialising in computer-assisted language learning • www.rug.nl/staff/s.jager

3. Contents of the presentation • What is Virtual Exchange? • Why VE? • Projects supporting VE • Task examples, design, reference frameworks • Options for VE in Japan

4. What is Virtual Exchange? • VE is a form of computer-mediated learning whereby students from geographically remote classes work together online (in pairs or small groups) on learning tasks developed by teachers or educational facilitators. (for a full description, see What is Virtual Exchange) The definition of VE EVOLVE Project 2018

5. VE/OIE (online intercultural exchange) Class-to-class format: Students: • Work in the context of their own courses • Do tasks online with partners in other institutions • Reflect and report back in context of courses • Proceed from information exchange through comparison and analysis to collaborative products • Complete tasks as part of assessed work

6. Sample scenario (EVALUATE - Teacher Training) Link: https://www.powtoon.com/c/bMMKwMIWEfS/2/m

7. Premise 1: Interdependent world • The world is increasingly interdependent and there is an urgent need to develop a deeper understanding of this interdependency and to address major global challenges through multilateral and intercultural collaboration This slide from "ENVOIE Workshop on OIE: University of Groningen, 1st Feb 2018" by Sarah Guth is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

8. Premise 2: Global ‘knowledge society’ • Intercultural, international and global competencies are required for employability in the global ‘knowledge society’. There is also a need for greater attention to notions such as critical global citizenship and civic engagement. “The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas.” Washington Post, 2017 This slide from "ENVOIE Workshop on OIE: University of Groningen, 1st Feb 2018" by Sarah Guth is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

9. Premise 3: What about the 95% - or even the 80%?The limits of student mobility • Only about 4.5% of the total student population in the European Higher Education Area experience a period of study abroad at some time during their studies. • Even if the European objective of 20% by the year 2020 is achieved, this will still leave 80% of students without an international, intercultural experience as part of their university studies. • http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-647_en.htm This slide from "ENVOIE Workshop on OIE: University of Groningen, 1st Feb 2018" by Sarah Guth is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

10. Benefits for students • Experiential & collaborative student learning • Enhance learning by having students engage and learn course content through their own and the other’s unique cultural lenses • Develop transversal skills such as: • language competence • intercultural communicative competence • digital literacies • working effectively in virtual teams • Offer opportunities to build diverse personal relationships • Better prepare them for work and civil engagement in a global context • Encourage students who never thought of taking advantage study abroad to do so This slide from "ENVOIE Workshop on OIE: University of Groningen, 1st Feb 2018" by Sarah Guth is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

11. What did you learn through Virtual Exchange? From Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange; link: https://youtu.be/ukKXruXq7js

12. Benefits for teachers? • Professional development opportunities • Improve online teaching skills • Develop co-teaching skills • Develop new teaching methods • Learn new methods and approaches from partner teachers • I gained new perspectives from my international partner from the outset, as well as confidence in my own approach toward my students at our institution. • Offer students opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have • Particularly for students with limited opportunities to travel abroad, the opportunity to share an educational experience with students from other cultures and countries is very important. • New research opportunities! This slide from "ENVOIE Workshop on OIE: University of Groningen, 1st Feb 2018" by Sarah Guth is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

13. Projects promoting VE

14. ENVOIE • ENVOIE (UG eLearning) • Assistanceand advice on setting up new exchanges • Funding soughtwith UG for continuing project • Web: www.rug.nl/envoie • Contact: ictol@rug.nl

15. EVOLVE • Erasmus+ KA3project • Online trainingand coachingin setting up VEof teachers and their foreign partners • For Coimbra (UG) and Sgroup partners • Training 6 week, starting October 2018 • Web: www.evolve-erasmus.eu • Contact: evolve@rug.nl

16. Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange • EVE: Erasmus+ complement to physical exchanges • Participation in 4 types of VE activities for learners and educators • Facilitated dialogue • Interactive MOOC • Advocacy training • Training to set up VE • Formal and non-formal learning • Focus on Southern Mediterranean countries • Web: https://europa.eu/youth/erasmusvirtual_en

17. Examples, design and reference frameworks

18. Examples of tasks (ENVOIE Project) • Compare ecological footprints in US and NL • Act as business consultants in Indonesia • Analyse child welfare in different countries • Design a research proposal for field work together with “peer consultants” in Chicago • Design virtual collections of museum artefacts with students from Uppsala and Durham • Develop, implement, evaluate a research project together with students from Krakow and Bilbao • Etc.

19. Example: Child Abuse and Neglect ENVOIE project, Mónica Lopez Lopez UNAM (MX) • Study programme: School Psychology (master) • Department: División de Estudios de Investigación y Posgrado • Faculty: Faculty of Psychology • Course name: Developing spaces to promote child welfare University of Groningen (NL) • Study programme: Youth Society and Policy (master) • Faculty: Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences • Course name: Child Abuse and Neglect: Using Research to Improve Policy and Practice

20. Design features for success • Sequencing: Information exchange -> Comparison and Analysis -> Collaboration (O’Dowd & Ware 2009) • Must be part of assessed work • Must be collaborative / reciprocal tasks: cannot be completed without collaborator • Reflection on learning and link to classroom learning essential (learner diary, portfolio) • Sustained interaction is necessary; 6 to 8 weeks minimum duration • Combination of synchronous and asynchronous work, different modalities of communication (video, writing, etc) • Integration of intercultural learning should be at programme level (learning line, across different modules at different levels)

21. Reference frameworks for intercultural competence • Cultura Project (language and culture): word associations, sentence completions, reactions to situations; discussions in class based on questionnaires, etc. • Michael Byram (ICC and language learning): 1997 ICC model - attitudes, skills, knowledge; many references • Darla Deardorff (ICC and internationalisation), also Hans de Wit, many references • Janet Bennett and colleagues (Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity): key framework in UG • Cosmopolitan learning (more ideological framework): excellent critical introduction: Sarah Richardson (2016). Cosmopolitan learning for a global era: Higher education in an interconnected world. Full chapter on online learning and cosmopolitanism. • Council of Europe: Competences for Democratic Culture • OECD:Teaching for Global Competence in a rapidly changing world • UNESCO: Global citizenship education • Main challenge: Integrating these at discipline level, sustaining them across the curriculum

22. Options for VE in Japan

23. Asia-Pacific Virtual Exchange Association: https://apvea.org/ • Common topic at Computer-Assisted Language Learning Conferences: • JALTCALL: https://jaltcall.org/ • EUROCALL: http://eurocall-languages.org • CALICO: https://calico.org/ • Eric Hagley: Muroran Institute of Technology, Hokkaido

24. Connect with us:www.evolve-erasmus.eu/ EVOLVE partnership composed of: Coimbra Group, SGroup, Jan Dlugosz University, University of Leon, University of Groningen, Sharing Perspectives Foundation, The Open University, Université Grenoble Alpes, University of Padua, University of Warwick, Malmö University, Search for Common Ground: Email: evolve@rug.nl Twitter @evolve_erasmus With the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union

25. Thank you! Contact: s.jager@rug.nl https://www.rug.nl/staff/s.jager