IIGE faculty Professor Keiko Ikeda, Associate Professor Don Bysouth, and Assistant Professor Elvita Wiasih participated in the International Virtual Exchage Conference (IVEC) held at the University of Washington Tacoma October 25-26th, co-presenting at several panels over the course of two days. 

 

"IVEC 2019 is the largest and most prominent event on virtual exchange, providing a forum for an audience of practitioners, professionals, and policy makers from institutions around the world interested in technology, international education, and new pedagogies." This year's conference, sponsored in part by IIGE, explored the theme of "Advancing the Field of Online International Learning", which aligns with IIGE's COIL inititive. 

 

Friday, October 25 (1:15 pm - 2:15 pm)
Trends and Lessons Learned from Virtual Exchange Networks from Around the Globe
Mohamed Abdel-Kader; Chris Plutte; Stephen Lu; Keiko Ikeda; Mirjam Hauck

 

As the field of virtual exchange has grown, there has been an emergence of several networks and geographic nodes of activity. This session will brought together leaders from different virtual exchange networks to discuss significant trends in virtual exchange globally, and any lessons learned in efforts to grow the field. Panelists discussed the role of government and philanthropic support, as well as the development of sustainable funding models. The discussion also touched on threats to the field's growth, opportunities, and the different ways faculty have used virtual exchange to adapt to students' ever-evolving needs. The discussion included the similarities and 7 differences between the various networks, outlined how they are configured, and shared opportunities for institutions to engage. Lastly, it considered ways to continue to align efforts to mainstream virtual exchange practice.

 

 

 

Saturday, October, 26 (9:00 am - 10:00 am)
Designing a COIL Course: An Attempt to Bridge the Digital Divide to Optimize Student Learning and Understanding
Elvita Wiasih; Keiko Ikeda; Don Bysouth; Michele Estes; Matthew Hightower

 

This action lab invited the audience to engage in a discussion addressing the existing issues prompt by the digital divide, especially issues related to imbalance access to technology and digital resources when connecting two classrooms virtually. The discussion was followed by a presentation on the attempt by Institute for Innovative Global Education (IIGE), Kansai University with Class2Class to develop an integrated web interface for COIL, called ImmerseU. ImmerseU is specifically designed to make planning, executing, and managing a COIL course as easy as possible.

 

To learn more about ImmerseU, visit http://www.kansai-u.ac.jp/Kokusai/IIGE/immerseU/

 

 

 

 

(10:15 am - 11:15 am)
BEVI COIL Research Project: Understanding Students' Transformational Learning through a Psychological Inventory Tool
Keiko Ikeda; Craig Shealy; Lee Sternberger; Hajime Nishitani; Don Bysouth

 

The panel aimed to (1) provide details of an inventory tool BEVI (Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory) and how to employ it in order to understand students’ transformation process when they participate in virtual exchange, and (2) share with the audience details of the newly launched COIL-BEVI research project which investigates the learning effects (such as intercultural competence) of this particular pedagogy as supported by the Japanese government funding (Inter-University Exchange Project, 2018-2022).

 

To learn more about the COIL-BEVI Project, visit http://www.kansai-u.ac.jp/Kokusai/IIGE/resources/BEVI-COIL.php