Introduction
Preparing undergraduate students as global citizens means addressing inequities, challenging ignorance, and providing opportunities for the development of global competencies through international experiences like study abroad. Study abroad has benefits including developing empathy, expanding intercultural awareness, and providing for immersive world language experiences (Byker & Mejia, 2022; Pilonieta et al., 2017). Not all undergraduate students, though, can afford to go on study abroad programs. While many undergraduate students—like teacher candidates—would like to study abroad, the associated costs are significant barriers (Byker & Putman, 2019). For example, Green and her colleagues (2015) explained how the high costs associated with study abroad limit the number of undergraduate students who participate, making study abroad usually exclusive to the already financially privileged. The Institute of International Education (IIE) publishes an annual report called Open Doors and found the average cost of a semester-long study abroad program to be around $18,000 (IIE, 2022). Such a hefty price tag makes study abroad almost impossible for many undergraduate students including first-generation university students who may not even consider studying abroad because of cost. We have found international virtual exchange—like Globally Networked Learning (GNL)—to be an affordable and equitable entry point for access to international experiences for undergraduate students.
Globally Networked Learning (GNL)
GNL is a collaborative approach to international virtual exchange that enables students and instructors from different locations around the world to participate in learning and the creation of knowledge. Equity is a goal of GNL. Equity addresses the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources through targeted practices and policies (Byker et al., 2021). Equity also connects with educational opportunities. Educational equity is the access to opportunities for all learners to develop academically and advance their well-being through education (Hancock, Allen, & Lewis, 2015). Because GNL projects are inclusive of all learners in a classroom setting, there is much greater access to the opportunities for international virtual exchange as well as access to the career benefits that come with such experiences. GNL often happens as a course-based curriculum that can go from 6 to 8 weeks in length. The curriculum usually includes an ice-breaker type of experience, a few synchronous webinar meetings (if the time zone differences permit), opportunities for students to further communicate via technologies like WhatsApp, and a project-based learning type of activity the students work on together. GNL allows students in the course access to international experiences, regardless of their background and previous international experiences. GNL is also affordable as it is usually integrated into an existing course and curricula. It provides students, including those unable to study abroad, an opportunity to engage with others from abroad in a virtual setting (Commander et al., 2022). Students are able to gain a deeper understanding and respect for new countries and cultures while developing global and international competency skills. GNL is a low-cost virtual exchange program, which means that students can gain a global perspective, interact with their international peers and faculty, and experience similar benefits to studying abroad without traveling to another location.
GNL Impact
We implemented a GNL project with 26 undergraduate students at Magnolia University (a pseudonym) in the United States in collaboration with 28 undergraduate students from Edelweiss University (a pseudonym) in Germany. Among the students at Magnolia University, about 35% of them identified as first-generation university students. In the pre-survey only four Magnolia University students (15%) had traveled outside of the United States and six students (23%) spoke a language other than English. Thus, one of the goals of our GNL project was to provide the students with the opportunity for extended intercultural communication through a collaborative, project-based learning assignment called the Global Competencies Virtual Odyssey (GVCO). The GCVO is a multimedia tool that learners created about a region of the world using shareable technology like Prezi or Google Slides.
The students worked together to create and present their GCVOs about regions in Germany and the United States. The large majority of students from both universities (87%) agreed or strongly agreed that GNL provided a unique international opportunity that would be a benefit to their future career. Here is what one of the students wrote about the GNL experience: “I appreciated this GNL opportunity. The whole GNL project provided the chance to make new friends and participate in an experience that I will apply to my future as a teacher to teach about global citizenship.” Overall, GNL not only enabled students to collaborate with international students, but GNL also equipped students with opportunities and skills for their future careers. GNL fosters equitable participation and engagement in international experiences regardless of geographic location, socio-economic background, or the educational levels of parents. By providing affordable access to international opportunities for undergraduate students to collaboratively participate in, GNL promotes equity in education.
References:
Byker, E. J., & Putman, S. M. (2019). Catalyzing cultural and global competencies: Engaging preservice teachers in study abroad to expand the agency of citizenship. Journal of Studies in International Education, 23(1), 84–105.
Byker, E. J., Crawford, E., & Lee, H. D. (2021). Giving equity a voice: Supporting school administrators with global equitable practices. In R. Shankar-Brown (Ed.), Bending the Arc towards justice: Equity-focused practices for educational leaders. Information Age Press.
Byker, E. J. & Mejia, N. (2022). Language for the heart: Investigating the linguistic responsiveness of study abroad. In G. Barkhuizen (Ed.), Language teachers studying abroad: Identities, emotions and disruptions. Multilingual Matters Publications.
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Commander, N. E., Schloer, W. F., & Cushing, S. T. (2022). Virtual exchange: A promising high-impact practice for developing intercultural effectiveness across disciplines. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.21827/jve.5.37329
Hancock, S., Allen, A., & Lewis, C. W. (Eds.). (2015). Autoethnography as a lighthouse: Illuminating race, research, and the politics of schooling. Information Age Publishing.
Institute of International Education (IIE). (2022). Open Doors report on international educational exchange. http://www.iie.org/opendoors
Pilonieta, P., Medina, A. L., & Hathaway, J. I. (2017). The impact of a study abroad experience on preservice teachers' dispositions and plans for teaching English Language Learners. The Teacher Educator, 52(1), 22–38.