International Experiences Continue during Pandemic with Globally Networked Learning

Some faculty members refused to give up on providing their students with a global learning experience during the pandemic, so they partnered with the Office of International Programs to pilot a new initiative called Globally Networked Learning (GNL).

GNL is a collaborative approach that enables students, instructors and researchers from locations around the world to participate together in learning and knowledge creation. It provides students with access to virtual, international experiences via activities such as cross-cultural discussion through a collaborative task, a research project or a student conference or other activities. Types of GNL include class-to-class exchanges, virtual study abroad and internships, virtual research or other virtual engagement activities.

UNC Charlotte enjoys the benefits of an extensive network of partner universities, which can ease the path to identifying and working with a faculty member at a university outside of the U.S. The Office of International Programs offers resources and support for faculty members interested in these types of projects.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic suspended travel opportunities last spring, our office sent a call to faculty to consider becoming a GNL partner in order to continue to provide students with global exchange opportunities,” said Joël Gallegos, Assistant Provost for International Programs. “Several faculty members stepped up to the challenge and have incorporated GNL in different ways. We are excited to see the high impact of these low-cost international experiences.”

When Victor Chen, associate professor in Belk College of Business, learned about the call to become a GNL partner, he was ready to get started. He already had partners at other global universities, so he had a head start on creating a collaborative exchange. In fact, Chen’s first GNL partner was Wuhan University in China. During the pandemic, students of Chen’s International Business Management class engaged in weekly global team projects with students in both China and Turkey.

“My students had positive feedback about the experience, and it helped them understand another culture in a deeper way,” Chen said. “An important part of the project is to find a common interest. Students were engaging with each other virtually in their dorm rooms and bedrooms, so the experience was more personal. They learned a lot about cultural differences and similarities, and they also learned the importance of talking slowly and avoiding jargon to improve understanding.”

Chen says teaching cultural intelligence is as important as developing business skills. While in-person global experiences remain vital, Chen says that GNL creates a pathway of engagement and can prepare students in advance of study abroad and then provide a way to continue the interaction afterwards.

Adriana Medina, associate professor in the Cato College of Education, used GNL to co-teach a graduate-level class with partner school Pädagogischen Hochschule in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Medina agrees that GNL creates a deeper interpersonal connection among students and opens opportunities for continual exchange.

“There was an organic exchange during the course of this class that could not have been orchestrated otherwise. GNL broadens students’ world view and expands the walls of both classrooms, making them more permeable,” Medina said.

Medina worked with her German counterpart to create a COIL project, the practice of Collaborative Online International Learning and Virtual Exchange that was created at the State University of New York. A COIL project has specific requirements that necessitates a time investment with the other professor to ensure value for both universities. Medina has a long-standing relationship with this university, which eased some of the processes during the six-month planning effort.

Medina’s graduate students are practicing teachers in K-12 schools, so participating in a GNL project is more accessible to them than study abroad. Students in the global literature class collaborated for seven weeks to research a global problem, its potential solutions and how to address this issue with related curriculum in a K-12 classroom. The culminating project was a virtual mini conference presentation.

While the COIL project was labor intensive, Medina says that she would do it again because she sees the value. Although she suggests it is ideal to have a group of faculty members involved for more centralization and structure, especially since faculty schedules change frequently.

“COVID has taught us that we are all in this together,” Medina said. “GNL projects show us all how interconnected we are.”

Other GNL examples at UNC Charlotte include a collaborative online architectural studio with students in the College of Arts & Architecture and the Department of Architecture & Technology at the University of the Bahamas; a collaboration between faculty from UNC Charlotte’s Department of Languages and Culture Studies and the University of Cantabria, Spain where students are matched for language exchange; and dual-cohort graduate courses in the Department of Chemistry and the PhD in Nanoscale Science program which connects students in the U.S. to students in the Russian Federation.

“There are different tiers available in GNL which makes it accessible to more faculty. This model will become more common over time, as we seek to help students develop competencies to participate in virtual groups to be successful in the workforce,” said Joe Hoff, director of the Global Education and Engagement Office. Hoff included GNL components in his Freshman Seminar class.

While faculty members have provided international engagement for students in the past, global platforms like Zoom now make collaboration much easier.

“We are delighted with the initial success of our GNL initiative and we are confident that this will be an ongoing offering in the Office of International Programs’ portfolio as it provides our students with accessible international experiences whether they travel abroad or not,” said Gallegos. “As such, we have built an infrastructure to support and assist faculty members in developing these experiences into their coursework. Most importantly, GNL provides our students with opportunities to engage and collaborate with students in a very diverse setting which provides them with invaluable experiences as they prepare for a career in a multicultural workforce, whether here locally or abroad.