Every Course Can (and Should) Integrate an International Comparative Module or Assignment: New Developments in Virtual Global Learning

By: Dr. Solange Simões

One unanticipated and unintended effect of COVID was to make global learning more accessible to American students as well as to students around the world. The widespread adoption of technologies such as Zoom or Google Meet allow faculty to teach and students to learn from anywhere, with students attending class from dorm rooms, their homes, or practically anywhere in the world. Suddenly, access to technology – recently considered the major obstacle to the integration of modules in which students in distant global locations work together in international comparative assignments – no longer constrains global learning.

In 2009 we launched – in collaboration with the Faculty Development Center - the EMU Faculty Global Learning Seminar. We conceptualized that global learning a) should be understood as a pedagogical approach (rather than specific courses or topics within courses); and b) should be integrated across the curriculum. We envisioned global learning as an initiative that would include traditional approaches (such as Study Abroad, language courses, and courses on specific world civilizations or regions), but would move beyond them by a) integrating global learning in a wider range of courses and disciplines; and b) using new technologies to foster virtual collaboration among EMU students and students in universities around the globe.

In 2009, in collaboration with Margaret Crouch, Professor of Philosophy, and since 2017 with Shiri Vivek, Professor of Marketing, we have worked with faculty from all over EMU’s campus to integrate global learning into new or redesigned courses. As a result, EMU faculty have integrated global learning into a wide range of courses, including interdisciplinary teaching and new course offerings.

Nevertheless, our second objective - to make use of new technologies to foster virtual collaboration– was hindered by the low availability and high cost of the technological resources needed to bring students together. For example, in 2018 I collaborated with a Brazilian colleague to integrate a global learning assignment into a graduate WGST course. That year we had elections in both Brazil and the US. Our students chose to engage in a comparative analysis of the centrality given to gender in elections in such different political and social contexts. Back then, our students engaged in comparative analysis using Hangout, Skype, or WhatsApp, but the available classroom technology limited our ability to hold simultaneous classes at EMU and UFMG in Brazil. (We did try, although unsuccessfully).

In February 2020, Shiri Vivek and I attended COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) Virtual Exchange Leadership at Florida International University. Besides the opportunity for networking with faculty leading global learning initiatives, we learned – to our surprise and pride – that the EMU Faculty Global Learning Seminar was the longest-running global learning initiative among participating universities. We also learned that technology remains the main constraint for further development of virtual global learning.

So now we easily use Zoom and other technologies to virtually teach our students. In this context, a question arises: why not use these technologies to allow EMU students to virtually engage with students in academic institutions in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa? Traditional study abroad programs promote global learning outcomes but are costly and accessible to a very small percentage of students (only about 3% of American students). Moreover, students of color and students with disabilities have been much less likely to study abroad. In contrast, virtual teaching and learning have the potential to expand global learning outcomes significantly and inclusively, addressing global self-awareness, understanding global systems, applying knowledge to contemporary global contexts, and global engagement.

Besides technology, a second challenge to expanding global learning is that virtual global learning requires extensive networks of faculty and academic institutions willing to collaborate to create “global classrooms.” Nevertheless, and differently from the previous emphasis on institutional agreements for international collaboration, virtual global learning networks have focused on finding instructors searching for international partners to collaborate on specific courses. Moreover, virtual global learning has promoted learning exchanges that can be applied to specific modules, topics, or assignments rather than a full course. Typically, in virtual global learning classrooms, students have engaged in short-term international comparative assignments, which are more feasible for faculty to integrate into their courses and for students to participate in. Short-term student interactions have promoted meaningful learning through exposure to pressing global issues and collaboration across geographic and socio-economic borders, aiming to foster critical cross-cultural knowledge and understanding of interconnected world problems.

Academic institutions in the US and abroad have for decades included global learning in their mission statements, hoping to develop students’ awareness and engagement with global issues and promote global citizenship. Virtual global learning can now include all students and radically expand increasingly essential student learning outcomes.

Drawing on these new developments in virtual global learning – and with support from the Faculty Development Center - we invite EMU and international faculty to participate in an International Virtual Global Learning Workshop. International faculty will participate remotely, and EMU faculty will participate in-person in a hyflex format.

This international workshop will a) introduce new strategies and tools for virtual global learning, and b) give faculty access to networks of international faculty with whom to collaborate to integrate global exchanges and learning in their courses.

This workshop will be held on Friday, November 17 from 8:30 AM -3:30 PM Eastern time.

Participants completing the workshop will receive $100 for the development of a module and identification of a plan for implementation of the module.

Apply for the workshop here. Applications are due November 8 at 5:00 PM