2022-12-01 –, Stage 2, Einstein-Saal, BBAW
VE is not inherently equitable and inclusive. I will introduce a framework for Critical Virtual Exchange (CVE) (Hauck, 2020; Klimanova & Hellmich, 2021) and present and discuss examples from global exchange initiatives to illustrate the approach and its potential impact and socio-political relevance.
Virtual exchange (VE) is a strong catalyst in advancing the internationalisation of HE curricula, known as Internationalisation at Home (IaH) (Beelen and Jones, 2015; O’Dowd & Beelen, 2021). VE can prepare for, deepen, or extend physical exchanges or, as shown by COVID-19, it can also emulate them. VEs are known to prepare students for the globalised digital workplace as they focus on transversal skills development (Crawford, 2021). However, VE and VE-based IaH are not inherently equitable and inclusive. Like other forms of online or blended education, they are prone to Western hegemonies and influenced by inequalities in access to and experience with technology, institutional constraints (e.g., lack of support and incentives for educators), gender, race, age, English language dominance, and socio-political and geopolitical challenges (Helm, 2020). Critical VE (CVE) (Hauck, 2020; Klimanova & Hellmich, 2021) aims to ensure more equitable, inclusive, and purposeful student exchange experiences. These are characterised by the following elements:
a) The use of low-bandwidth technologies
b) A focus on students underrepresented in IaH, e.g., from low socio-economic backgrounds (SoB)
c) Student exchange project topics informed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a distinct way of addressing the SDGs through the student exchanges
d) Wherever possible, integrating local student outreach work with businesses, NGOs, and charities.
Moreover, CVE is informed by critical digital literacy (CDL) that leverages digital technologies for social justice-oriented action and change, e.g., by reaching out to a wider, more diverse range of students in collaborative online learning projects (Darvin, 2020; Nicolaou, 2021). CDL is also about finding out how power operates in digital contexts; how it shapes knowledge, identities, and social relationships in ways that privilege some and marginalise others (Darvin, 2017).
In this contribution I will introduce a framework for CVE and present and discuss current examples.
Dr. Mirjam Hauck is Associate Head for Internationalisation, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University/UK and a Senior Fellow of the UK’s HEA. She has written numerous articles and book chapters on the use of technologies for the learning and teaching of languages and cultures, in virtual exchange contexts in particular. Her work covers aspects such as learner and teacher autonomy, intercultural communicative competence, and critical digital literacy. She presents regularly at conferences, seminars, and workshops worldwide.
She is the President of the European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL), serves as Associate Editor of the CALL Journal and is a member of the editorial board of ReCALL and LLT. She is a founder member of UNICollaboration.org and was a co-investigator in the EU-funded EVOLVE and ERASMUS PLUS Virtual Exchange projects. She is currently a Co-Investigator in the Marginalization and Underrepresentation in VE: causes and remedies project funded by the Stevens Initiative.