What Is a Virtual Exchange?

A virtual exchange (VE) class brings together students from two (or more) different universities using shared course outcomes, technology tools and pedagogy. The EVOLVE (Evidence-Validated Online Learning through Virtual Exchange) project has defined virtual exchange as “a practice, supported by research, that consists of sustained, technology-enabled, people-to-people education programs or activities in which constructive communication and interaction takes place between individuals or groups who are geographically separated and/or from different cultural backgrounds” (EVOLVE, 2023). 

A virtual exchange course can take many forms and can serve both graduate and undergraduate students. A course can feature a module or two devoted to a virtual exchange, or the entire course design can be devoted to virtual exchange. What is universal, however, is that virtual exchange courses require careful coordination between instructors to ensure a successful student experience. For example, if the virtual exchange happens between universities in different countries, then faculty will have to take into consideration cultural differences and how they affect communication.

At Brown, instructors have conducted a number of successful virtual exchange courses. Watson Professor Arvind Subramanian’s IAPA1404 (Economic Development of China and India) brought together students at Brown with students from Azim Premji University, which is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka, in India. Students were able to attend lectures given by faculty at both universities via Zoom, as well as work on projects together. The course granted valuable insight into the topic and fostered meaningful discussion that would not have been possible in a more traditional course.

The effort put into designing a virtual exchange course is amply rewarded. Virtual exchanges can help faculty discover networking and research opportunities; deploy skills that can aid professional development; enjoy increased research visibility; gain a new outlook on their subject matter; and engage in disciplinary, transdisciplinary, and interdisciplinary teaching (Mudiamu, 2022). In short, virtual exchanges enrich the intellectual lives and practices of both students and faculty.

Perhaps one of the most important outcomes of VE is that students who engage in virtual exchange are more likely to study abroad. Students who have taken a virtual exchange course are roughly twice as likely to study abroad as those who did not take such a course (Lee et al., 2022). This is because virtual exchange courses have the “potential to provide the scaffolding that many students may need to encourage them to study abroad or engage in other formative, immersive experiences” (Lee et al.).

How Students Benefit from Virtual Exchange

There are many benefits to be gained for students particularly from undertaking a virtual exchange course. Virtual exchange before studying abroad can “provide much needed language support, motivation to explore other cultures and share their own, and deliver the confidence to enable them to become more outgoing” (Ryan, 2020, 165).

Virtual exchanges also help students develop intercultural competence. “Virtual exchanges can create community and build a space to better understand other cultures so that one can respect and appreciate them fully,” humanities and social science professors Courtney Dorroll and Begona Caballero-Garcia (2020, p. 149) observe. And accounting professors Zheng, et al. (2022, pages 418 and 420) found “improvement in students’ global mindset” when they engaged in a virtual exchange, making it “an effective intervention to enhance student learning in study abroad courses.” 

Virtual Exchange Suggested Practices and Examples

Conducting a virtual exchange takes time and planning. Suggested practices include the following:

• Ensure that courses use a technology platform that both institutions can access without undue complications.
• See that the virtual exchange is the product of true collaboration. This means avoiding having one instructor determine all the assignments and technology tools used.
• Meet with learning designers and technologists early on in the project to ensure it is well-designed and accessible.
• Plan for fostering intercultural competency among students. This may mean facilitating cross-cultural communication, cooperation, and inclusion, as well as knowing how to navigate miscommunication and misunderstanding. For example, you could initiate a discussion on the use of metaphor in everyday speech, inviting students to share colorful examples from their culture. Such an activity demonstrates how, without context, certain everyday expressions that people take for granted can seem inscrutable to others, driving home the point that one must take extra care with language when communicating cross culturally. For other ideas on teaching intercultural engagement, see Berardo & Deardorff (2012), Chávez & Longerbeam (2016), and Kusano, Conger, & Wright, (2016).
• Make use of small group work, which can greatly enrich student learning, but keep in mind that students can have culturally-influenced perspectives on what participating in a group looks like.
• Instructors should also take into consideration the technology available to partner institutions. “While it is not inherently problematic to introduce participants to new technology platforms,” the 2022 Virtual Exchange Impact and Learning Report states, “using platforms that some participants are familiar with and others are not can create or accentuate power imbalances.” A successful virtual exchange depends on being mindful of avoiding such power imbalances.

Examples of successful virtual exchanges can be found in the academic literature. A recent study looked at the effectiveness of virtual exchange in a large introductory sociology course (Wright, et al., 2024). Students from Atlanta, Georgia and Hong Kong were brought together, having been informed during registration that the course would contain a virtual exchange component. This component consisted of four activities, including a meet-and-greet activity conducted over Telegram, an online communication platform. Each student uploaded an introductory video or photo. More complex assignments saw students assigned to work in groups made up of equal numbers of students in Atlanta and Hong Kong. A survey conducted after the class ended revealed that the students found the experience intellectually enriching, allowing them to better understand cultural relativism, as well as giving them social and networking opportunities that spanned the globe.

The Brown in Washington program is another example of the careful application of technology to foster discussion and ideation among students in different locales. In the past, students in this program have engaged in a course–IAPA1701N (Diplomacy, An Art That Isn’t Lost)–taught by Watson Professor Brian Atwood–that brings students in Washington, D.C. together virtually with students in Providence. (There were also students in the class participating from Berlin, Germany and Los Angeles, California.) They share ideas and engage in discussions with each other via Zoom. The experience of being in different locales allows students to engage in more spirited and informed discussion, as well as respond more effectively to the assignments.

Indeed, a well-executed virtual exchange course can be immensely rewarding for both faculty and students. Virtual exchange “is a powerful complement to student mobility because it engages populations previously excluded from study abroad [and] also because it is a transformative practice unto itself” (Rubin, 2022). This transformation comes, in part, from the opportunity to communicate with and gain insights from students and faculty partners at culturally-diverse institutions, an opportunity that can yield insights that could not otherwise have been obtained.

Tools to Aid Virtual Exchange

When designing a virtual course, choose one or two easily accessible tools to use with the partner university. Faculty have found the following tools helpful:

Google Documents

Google documents are great for so-called “silent discussions,” where students respond to a prompt in a Google document. Silent discussions can be deployed during class so remote students can contribute, or they can be initiated after class. Be aware, however, that Google products are not allowed in certain countries and that you should always have an accessible alternative as a backup. 

Ed Discussion

Ed Discussion allows students to ask and answer questions, as well as bring questions for faculty to answer in such a way that all students can access the answers. With Ed Discussion you can endorse correct student answers and post announcements. It is a nice option that falls between a more formal discussion tool, such as Canvas Discussions, and a real-time, informal discussion tool like Slack.

Slack, Google Chat, and Other Asynchronous Chat Tools

More immediate, real-time discussion tools can be used to help remote students to contribute to class discussions. You can deploy Slack or Google Chat during class, or encourage students to continue classroom discussions after class in the asynchronous discussion space.

Make Your Virtual Exchange Remote Accessible

To make your virtual exchange remote accessible (REM), use as many asynchronous activities and assessments as possible. This ensures that students who cannot attend a synchronous session still have a way to contribute to the class and demonstrate their knowledge. Giving students the opportunity to engage with your course remotely and asynchronously can have great benefits. It allows them to better control how they will engage with the course materials and activities, and thereby increases their sense of agency; offers more transparency as far as assignments and grades are concerned; and fosters critical thinking through thoughtful and carefully deployed asynchronous discussions (Fadde and Vu, 2014).

Designing a virtual exchange course can yield many benefits, only a few of which have been touched upon in this newsletter. Are you interested in exploring a Virtual Exchange course? Then consider the following next steps:

• Read through the Sheridan Center (DLD) guide on Remote Accessible Teaching: Recommended Practices and Strategies for technology considerations when teaching in this modality.
• Apply for a US-UK Fulbright Global Challenges Teaching Award, which provides professional training in virtual exchange practices, as well as a generous financial award. The deadline typically falls in the spring.

Please email sheridan_center@brown.edu with any questions.

References

Berardo, K., & Deardorff, D. K. (Eds.) (2012). Building cultural competence: Innovative activities and models. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Chávez, A. F. & Longerbeam, S. D. (2016). Teaching across cultural strengths: A guide to balancing integrated and individuated cultural frameworks in college teaching. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Dorroll, C., & Caballero-Garcia, B. (2020). Creating virtual exchanges: Promoting intercultural knowledge when study abroad is not possible. Transformations, 30(2), 148-162.

EVOLVE. (2023, November 10) Classes, Cultures? Connect! https://evolve-erasmus.eu/#:~:text=Virtual%20Exchange%20(VE)%20refers%20to,support%20of%20educators%20or%20facilitators 

Fadde, P. J., & Vu, P. (2014). Blended online learning: Benefits, challenges, and misconceptions. Online learning: Common misconceptions, benefits and challenges, 9(4), 33-48.

Kusano, S.M., Conger, A.J., & Wright, M.C. (2016). Development and assessment of intercultural engagement. CRLT Occasional Paper No. 32. Available: https://crlt.umich.edu/resources/publications

Lee, J., Leibowitz, J., & Rezek, J. (2022). The impact of international virtual exchange on participation in education abroad. Journal of Studies in International Education, 26(2), 202-221.

Mudiamu, S. (2022). Strategies for engaging faculty with COIL virtual exchange. In Rubin, J., & Guth, S. (Eds.), The guide to COIL virtual exchange: Implementing, growing, and sustaining collaborative online international learning (pp. 200-215). Stylus Publishing.

Rubin, J. (2022). Conclusion. In Rubin, J., & Guth, S. (Eds.), The guide to COIL virtual exchange: Implementing, growing, and sustaining collaborative online international learning (pp. 453-461). Stylus Publishing.

Ryan, A. (2020). The role virtual exchange could play in helping prepare students for real-life study abroad. http://research-publishing.net.

Wright, E. R., Wong, D., Ahmad, W., & Mallick, R. J. (2024). Doing sociology across borders: Student experiences and learning with virtual exchange in large introductory sociology classes. Teaching Sociology, 0092055X241230549.

Zheng, L., Westerhaus-Renfrow, C., Lin, S. Z., & Yang, Y. (2022). Assessing intercultural competence in the digital world: Evidence from virtual exchange experience in a study abroad program. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 34(4), 418-441.