Online Intercultural Exchange (OIE):

Capacity building for a flexible, effective workforce.

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#Clavier project:

● large scale virtual exchange Warwick/Clermont Ferrand, France

● formal and informal learning, shared space on EWC

● professional development for staff

● connected educators extending to Poland, Sweden, Japan, US, Finland...#clavedu G+ community

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Context:

• Virtual Exchange (OIE) development within Languages@Warwick

• #clavier project case study published in INTENT report and tasks uploaded to uni-collaboration database.

• Growing interest in telecollaboration and online intercultural exchange to support skills for “global graduates”

• British Council Going Mobile report states virtual mobility provides:

“a rich seam of opportunities for interaction across borders”.

• Higher Education Academy Internationalising Higher Education Framework.

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“...the future belongs to those who learn to work together with other groups without regard to location, heritage, and national and cultural difference” (Grandin & Hedderich, 2009)

Key competencies in 3 broad categoriesFrom DeSeCo project, OECD.

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Implementing open badges in EWC

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Opportunities to seize:

• Voice (VoiceThread) and video creation (Kaltura) provide good ways to increase interaction and engagement.

• Open Badges contribute to student’s professional online identity creation.

• Use of tools such as Glossary can provide “self-build” shared dictionary

• Connections outlive the course because of the networks created within students’ own personal spaces.

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Challenges to address

• Messaging – students find Moodle’s filtered system confusing

• Walls need holes! Communication takes place in many different spaces, aggregation using hashtags facilitates a view of this.

• Greater awareness of open badges for employability/skills recognition needed.

• Institutional policies and regulations can impede intra-institutional collaboration