Gute-Lehre-Vortrag: Virtual Exchange

 Im Sommersemester haben wir erstmals ein englischsprachiges Angebot im Programm und gehen mit den Potenzialen von Virtual Exchange für die Hochschullehre einem wichtigen Querschnittsthema von Internationalisierung und Digitalisierung nach:

Virtual exchange for education innovation and internationalisation at home

Talk 12:15 - 1:30 p.m., Zentrales Hörsaal- und Seminargebäude Z6, HS. 0.001

This talk will outline some recent developments in terms of policy experimentations regarding Virtual Exchange at the policy level in Europe, in particular the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange pilot project. Virtual Exchange (VE) is a pedagogic practice that consists of sustained, technology-enabled, educational programmes in which constructive communication and interaction takes place between students in classes that are geographically separated and/or from different cultural backgrounds, with the support of educators or facilitators. Virtual Exchange can combine the deep impact of intercultural dialogue and exchange with the broad reach of digital technology, and can equip students with some of the transversal skills that are needed to be able to function in our increasingly connected world. This talk will present some practical ways in which universities can include virtual exchange in their ‘internationalisation at home’ strategies.

The talk is offered free of charge and open for teachers, students & employees.

Please register here

The opportunities and challenges of virtual exchange: Developing institutional strategies

Workshop (14:00 - 18.00 Uhr): Bibliotheks- und Seminarzentrum, Raum 01.105:

Virtual Exchange (VE) can become an important part of universities’ internationalisation and education innovation portfolios, yet because it is a relatively new and still little known practice its implementation is still limited. A further compounding factor is that virtual exchange lies at the intersection between internationalisation, classroom teaching and digital learning - which are usually supported by different university centres or offices.

This interactive workshop aims to give participants a clearer understanding of the different models of virtual exchange presented in the lecture. Groups of participants will then work on identifying the opportunities and challenges that they see in supporting the implementation of these models in their specific contexts. Strategies for the inclusion of virtual exchange at participants’ institutions will be drafted collaboratively and presented in a closing plenary session.

The workshop is offered free of charge and intended for teachers and facilitators involced or interested in implementing virtual exchange.

Please register here

About Francesca Helm

Education

2013- 2017 PhD in Education at Departament de Didàctica de la Llengua i de la Literatura, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. Title: “I’m not disagreeing, I’m just curious”: Exploring identities through multimodal interaction in virtual exchange. Supervisor: Melinda Dooly.

1996-1998 MA in TESOL through CMC
Institute of Education, University of London, Bedford Way, London, UK.

1985-1989 BA in History of Art and Italian
University of Sussex, School of European Studies, UK.

Professional Experience

Since 2006 Assistant professor of English Language at the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies, University of Padova, Italy.

2014-2017 Online tutor and examiner for Southampton University MA in ELT and E-Learning.

2002-2005 Online Facilitator for Italian and European groups. Online Education and Training Course. Institute of Education, University of London, UK.

1992-2006 Language teacher (lettore), Department of Anglo-Germanic Languages, University of Padova, Italy.

Research Interests

Computer-mediated communication and online education; virtual exchange (telecollaboration, online intercultural exchange); intercultural dialogue and conflict transformation; internationalization and language policies, English-medium instruction and linguistic diversity; global studies.

More information about Francesca Helm’s research and current/recent projects

Innovative Lehre in Europa

Im Dialog zu innovativer und global ausgerichteter Hochschullehre ist die Coimbra Group ein wichtiges Forum. Das Netzwerk ist ein Zusammenschluss 39 renommierter  und traditionsreicher europäischer Volluniversitäten aus 22 Ländern. Zudem gehört die Coimbra Group zu den einflussreichsten Lobbyisten im Bereich der Bildungspolitik auf EU-Ebene. Weitere Informationen, Veröffentlichungen und Termine finden Sie auf der Website der Coimbra Group.

In insgesamt elf Arbeitsgruppen (Working Groups) aus den Bereichen „Research“, „Education“ und „Outreach“ tragen VertreterInnen der JMU zu Austausch und Vernetzung in allen Bereichen universitärer Praxis bei. Seit 2015 engagiert sich ProfiLehre in der Education Innovation Working Group, zu deren zentralen Anliegen die Nutzung neuer Technologien und Begleitforschung zur Gestaltung guter Lehre gehören. Auf den folgenden Seiten halten wir Sie über aktuelle Projekte und relevante Themen im europäischen hochschuldidaktischen Diskurs auf dem Laufenden und informieren Sie zu unseren Workshop- und Beratungsangeboten.