What does virtual exchange look like?
Virtual exchange doesn’t have to be time-consuming! Here are some examples of virtual exchange programs, listed from greater to less time commitment.
GREATER TIME COMMITMENT
- Welding students from the US (Kirkwood College), Brazil and Canada complete similar projects (welds) and perform testing on the effectiveness of different methods. Students meet with all the classes (about 6 students per country and one instructor) three times to discuss their results and conduct hours of work outside of class.
- Costa Rican students learning English are paired with English 101 students at Harper. Students have two independent conversations outside of class time, then meet together with both classes (about 25 students in each group) for presentations about the topic of international food culture.
- Students in a Mexican university work with Harper ESL students on a 6-week project to annotate readings, learn new reading strategies, and develop a guide for future students on improving their reading. The groups (about 15 students in each) meet three times and conduct several hours of work outside of class.
MODERATE TIME COMMITMENT
- A student at Northern Michigan College completes a virtual internship with a nonprofit organization in India and writes up her results for an independent study in sociology.
- Supply chain management students in the US (Highline College) and Vietnam participate in online conferences once per semester on topics of interest to both groups, such as sustainability in supply chain management. Students with exemplary work from each country are invited to present to their peers.
LESS TIME COMMITMENT
- A Harper biology professor visits a tourism class in Colombia for a two-hour class period to ask and answer questions about local flora and fauna.
- Students learning German, Spanish, and English at Harper meet with students learning English in Costa Rica for a one-hour session on language learning strategies. Students work in small groups to talk about their challenges and successes in learning a language.