EN Virtual exchange: aan de slag

Virtual Exchange: Getting started

Implementation

Orientation

SET-UP

Introduction

Internationalisation Opportunities in the Study Programme

Involvement

Contents

Partners

Teamwork

For Whom?

Funding

Conclusion

Learning Outcomes

Course Sheet

Teaching Methods and Assignments

Support and Monitoring

looking back

Digital Learning Environment & Tools s

Tijdsschema

Time Schedule

share your experiences

Feedback and Assessment

3. Teamwork

In this phase, the teams work independently, applying themselves fully to the main activity of the Virtual Exchange. The students need each other and work together to brainstorm, apply their knowledge to problem situations, create or investigate something together or discuss the topic in-depth. This type of project-based assignment offers the students a chance to experience the practical application of their discipline.

Digital Learning Environment & Tools

Together with the partner(s), settle on a suitable online platform or digital tool for communication and collaboration. We advise using free, open-source tools instead of one of the partners’ Learning Management Systems (LMS) because of possible accessibility issues. Commonly used tools for video conferencing are MS Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet. You can use Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox to share files. Various digital tools support interaction, including polls, quizzes, word clouds, whiteboards, and notice boards. See , for instance. Other options are Mentimeter, Padlet, Miro, and Microsoft Whiteboard. Irrespective of the choice of tool, the most important thing is that both lecturers are familiar enough with the technology to use it comfortably and that their institution supports its use (cf. data security). For certain asynchronous aspects of the Virtual Exchange, the choice of tool could be left up to the students. Make sure that all digital tools and sources are accessible to each student. Consider powerful internet connections, video subtitles, images with text descriptions, and good colour contrast.

Wooclap

Support and Monitoring

Determine who will support and monitor the students, their learning process, when, and how. Plan with the partner(s) how to create a safe and active learning environment for all students: how to deal with dysfunctional groups, inappropriate reactions (e.g., hurtful or stereotypical remarks) during discussions, or how to activate students when participation is low. After all, this is a shared responsibility. For more information, consult our Education Tip,

How to Deal with Heterogeneous Student Groups'.

Internationaliseringsmogelijkheden in de opleiding

Consider the following guiding questions when determining topics and competencies that might benefit from online international collaboration. They will help you decide how Virtual Exchange can improve the content of your course unit and augment the student’s learning experience:

• What elements in your course unit would improve by adding an international context, e.g. letting students discuss particular content with international peers at another geographical location?
• What elements could be emphasised less or more to make room for a comprehensive discussion and collaboration?
• How would multiple cultural perspectives enrich your student’s understanding of the course content and make your classes more dynamic?
• Are there projects for different student cohorts to work on together, or are there photos, videos, and other study materials students can exchange and discuss in an intercultural context?

For Whom?

Identify the student groups at both institutions that will be participating. Students may come from diverse backgrounds and possess varying prior knowledge, language proficiency, and digital skills, which may affect the success of the Virtual Exchange.Identify starting competencies and discuss the students’ profiles with the partner(s). Plan how to address potential gaps in knowledge, language proficiency, and digital skills and set up support initiatives for more vulnerable students. Also, identify the strengths of the student groups at each partner institution: what are they good at, what knowledge, which perspectives and skills do they possess? The more heterogeneous the group, the higher the added value of the Virtual Exchange. So, carefully think about the constellation and the .

size of the groups

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES

Once the project is finished, you can share your experiences with colleagues and your network of institutional partners to promote good practices for internationalisation in the curriculum. Consider whether you would like to record some student testimonials before concluding the project. Have the students produced results you can share with others? How can you share your experiences with the university management and colleagues? Finally, you could consider a publication with your partner(s).

2. Involvement

In this phase, you prepare your students for collaboration on a project in an intercultural team. Organise introductory comparative discussions or exercises (e.g., comparing cultural and contextual differences, methodologies, paradigms, and frames of reference) in pairs or small groups. Assign the teams. Discuss the project-based assignment the students will work on as a team. Give clear instructions and explicit expectations.

Teaching Methods and Assignments

Agree on the teaching methods in advance. As a first step, a traditional lecture can impart the necessary knowledge or activate prior knowledge. Think of comparative and collaborative assignments that are meaningful and relevant for both student groups. Go beyond the traditional ‘describe and compare’—ensure the students need each other to complete the assignment. Ask students to work on an end product together, for which they need each other’s complementary prior knowledge. Give students a choice of synchronous and asynchronous collaboration opportunities. For more information, consult our Education Tip, .

'The Basics of Designing a Course Unit'

Learning Outcomes

Establish what students should know and be able to do by the end of the Virtual Exchange experience with the partner lecturer. In addition to the usual discipline-specific competencies, do not forget to consider . Ensure that the Virtual Exchange’s intended knowledge, skills and attitudes align with the learning outcomes of the course unit. Consider how you will assess the learning outcomes and also how you will practice them with the students. For more information, consult our Education Tip, Formuleer samen met de lesgever van de partnerinstelling welke eindcompetenties de studenten moeten bereikt hebben op het einde van de Virtual Exchange. Besteed niet alleen aandacht aan disciplinespecifieke competenties, maar ook aan . Zorg dat de beoogde kennis, vaardigheden en attitudes van de Virtual Exchange aansluiten op de eindcompetenties van het vak waarin het kadert. Het is belangrijk om na te denken over hoe je de eindcompetenties zal beoordelen, maar ook over hoe je oefenkansen zal aanbieden voor elke eindcompetentie. Lees meer via .

generic competencies

'The Basics of Designing a Course Unit'.

Contents

International collaboration (with one or more partners) implies adapting your course content. Define the specific topic(s) with the partner(s) and make sure these are relevant for both student groups. Virtual Exchange allows for a complementary approach: students can benefit from additional or new learning content based on the expertise of each partner. But it is not a requirement. Virtual Exchange can also offer new perspectives on existing learning content. It is an excellent opportunity to put multiperspectivism into practice, for instance, by examining a problem statement from different cultural and national perspectives or giving the students comparative exercises and assignments. It allows students to reflect on dominant (Western) paradigms and mainstream concepts, theories and knowledge systems.Interdisciplinary partnerships encourage students to apply their knowledge to new disciplines, promote creative thinking, and result in innovative solutions. Students will also be challenged to explain specialist jargon to non-peers.

ORIËNTATIE

Plan your virtual exchange well ahead of time. If this is your first virtual exchange, we advise that you take a term to go through the orientation phase and make some essential considerations.

Funding

Funding can help set up, implement, and maintain Virtual Exchange initiatives, such as funding a physical site visit. Every faculty has a (limited) budget to fund Internationalisation@Home activities. For more information, contact your faculty’s Faculties may have other funding options (e.g., education innovation projects). Please use the if you want to collaborate with ENLIGHT partners. European funding options, especially the Erasmus+ programme, are also worth considering. However, conditions may apply. Contact for more information and support.

Committee for Internationalisation (FCI).

ENLIGHT calls

eu-educationprojects@ugent.be

4. Conclusion

Finally, the teams will present or share the results of their teamwork (in a format agreed upon by the lecturers). Ensure that students reflect critically on the results and the intercultural aspects of the teamwork. After the formal assessment, organise a proper conclusion for the Virtual Exchange.

1. Introduction

As they say, a good beginning is half the battle won. Make time for an introduction round and trial run. Do not set the students to work just yet, but give them time to get to know each other. Probe the group’s expectations and make time for so students can familiarise themselves with each other’s backgrounds. This is indispensable since students come from very different (education) backgrounds. Trust building is crucial! Use this introduction round for experimentation. Let the students try out the digital tools and learning environment, e.g., through a minor assignment, exercise or discussion. If you find that some students are struggling with the tools or do not have access, you still have time to adjust the technical aspects or offer explanations before they start their work. Finally, use this session to agree with the students on a weekly schedule, assessment, approach, and language use. Explain the added value of Virtual Exchange and link this to the learning outcomes of your course unit.

icebreakers

Feedback and Assessment

Discuss the possibilities for formative and summative assessments with your partner lecturers. Formative assessment is valuable in Virtual Exchange because it allows you to detect knowledge gaps in heterogeneous groups (if any). Digital tools, e.g., online tests, can be helpful in this case. And since the course unit covers skills that are a less prominent part of the regular curriculum, e.g., collaboration in an international context, it is essential to give the students ample opportunity for practice without giving them a mark. For example, give them specific instructions on how many times they should meet, how they should write the report, how to assign roles, etc. Delivering targeted feedback, including , is essential throughout this process. In the case of summative assessment, it is essential to lay down clear instructions with your partner lecturer. Go over the assessment criteria and rubrics (if applicable) together. If these elements are clear, awarding marks together is unnecessary. Ideally, though, the Virtual Exchange is assessed similarly and awarded the same number of credits across all partner universities. This makes for equal efforts and expectations in the student group. Collaboration skills can be assessed summatively, e.g., in a portfolio, video report or peer assessment. Students will learn that collaboration is a crucial part of the Virtual Exchange.

peer feedback

Looking Back

Evaluating the project afterwards is essential to improving similar projects in the future and sharing your experiences. Are there specific take-home messages? How did the collaboration with the partner go? Ask students for feedback and discuss the strengths and weaknesses that have been identified. Use these insights to improve future editions of the project. What was the quality level of the project? How did the students experience it?

Time Schedule

Time is essential in international collaborations: the academic calendars may not coincide, and countries may be in different time zones. First, settle on the total length of the Virtual Exchange (ranging from a couple of weeks to an entire term). We advise a minimum of 4-6 weeks because it takes a whole term before students gain each other’s trust. Next, look for a suitable time window to schedule synchronous online classes with both student groups (if possible). Make a weekly schedule for the students, detailing how and when you want them to work together, which assignments require a synchronous group moment and which assignments can be done asynchronously.

onderwijstaal

Course Sheet

Adapting an existing course unit to meet Virtual Exchange requirements also entails reconsidering the learning outcomes, teaching/assessment methods, etc. If so, you must update the course sheet in Oasis (deadline = 1 June AY-1; some faculties also have internal deadlines). You will have to go through an If there is a change in the language of instruction, follow the (deadline = 1 January AY-1). Introducing a new course unit requires a It is essential to discuss this with the Programme Committee first. Once that is done, you (as the lecturer-in-charge) must request that the quality assurance staff create a new course code and course sheet. (deadline = 1 January AY-1). Please ensure that this is completed by the deadline of 1 January of the academic year prior (AY-1). Please consider the rules regarding the language of instruction of course units (more information in the You will have to go through a more extensive authorisation procedure. Language of instruction: a Dutch-language course unit can comprise a series of English-taught classes and English-language study materials, albeit only to a limited extent. As long as most of the classes are Dutch-taught, there is no need to change the language of instruction through a formal procedure. The condition is that the language switch remains reasonable. If the language of instruction changes, apply (deadline =1 January of the academic year prior - AY-1). Please note that when you assign your course unit to a particular term (in Dutch: “aanbodsessie”), you can indicate that classes, end-of-term assessments and continuous assessments will be conducted online.

f authorisation procedure at the faculty.

required steps

curricular revision.

study programme guidelines (in Dutch: vademecum).

specific procedures

SET-UP

A successful Virtual Exchange benefits students, lecturers, and institutions. The key to that success lies in careful planning and a well-considered module set-up. Discuss and set up the following elements in close consultation with the partner lecturer(s). Come to a shared responsibility and equal investment during the development stage. Be flexible and understand (for example) institutional differences and hierarchies. Having a physical meeting with the partner lecturer can be productive at the planning stage.

IMPLEMENTATION

The planning phase is now over. Most Virtual Exchange initiatives run a similar course in four phases: introduction, engagement, teamwork, and conclusion. If the purpose is to activate students and foster collaboration, the Virtual Exchange supervisors lead by example: consulting with their international partner(s ) is essential!

Partners

There are several options to find a suitable match for Virtual Exchange. To get the most out of it, you should ensure that the student group has a (sufficiently) wide range of different cultural backgrounds. In addition, you should monitor the complementarity of your course unit and its learning outcomes. Are you looking for a specific geographical perspective? Be sure to consider interdisciplinary work, too! Existing partnerships: consult your network or that of Ghent University colleagues to find the right Virtual Exchange partner. It helps to count on historical partnerships (individual or faculty contacts), e.g. a visiting professor or student mobility. These prior contacts are ideal icebreakers and a way to ensure quality. FCI/International Mobility Team: you can contact your faculty’s FCI staff to connect with colleagues at partner institutions. The International Mobility Team can also assist you in finding partner institutions that are strategically important to our university. ENLIGHT: would you like to collaborate with an ENLIGHT on Virtual Exchange? Browse the or place an ad on the tool. The ENLIGHT team ( ) can bring you into contact with lecturers at the University of the Basque Country (ES), the University of Bern (CH), the University of Bordeaux (FR), Comenius University Bratislava (SK), the University of Galway (IE), the University of Göttingen (DE), the University of Groningen (NL), the University of Tartu (EE) and the University of Uppsala (SE). Matchmaking platforms: there are various platforms on which lecturers can place ads to find the most suitable colleagues at other institutions: (free), (payable) or (payable). Social media can also be an option.

ENLIGHT Course Catalogue

Partner Search

enlight@ugent.be

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