Campus America teaches internationalization from the classroom to foster intercultural skills

One of the seminars at Campus América, the international event organized by the University of La Laguna, is currently teaching how to achieve an international education from home—that is, how to have a global curriculum without constantly traveling to multiple countries, but rather from the university campus itself. The recipe is clear and simple: democratize the use of technology and become part of global networks.

Ricardo Valera, a professor at the Polytechnic University of Monterrey, and Sara González, from the University of La Laguna, offered some examples related to flexible schedules, the desire to connect with people from other parts of the world, and the eagerness to learn in an increasingly connected world.

The method used is COIL, collaborative international online learning, which provides international knowledge exchange, with learning based on real examples, offering a dynamic change of roles and the development of scientific, intercultural and communication skills, through so-called mirror classes.

The COIL project, explained Ricardo Valera, demonstrates that there are no academic barriers between areas of knowledge, fosters international collaboration, and encourages more intensive student learning in transversal skills. It also facilitates understanding how a local initiative can affect a larger system, in addition to a stronger command of asynchronous work on shared platforms.

But, all things considered, this form of learning with a mirror class on the other side of the Atlantic, for example, offers great intercultural competence, because it provides the ability to exercise empathetic and affective negotiation with someone who thinks and works differently from us. 

How students experience it

Students experience a significant emotional journey during these learning processes, from jet lag and the excitement of connecting with students from different continents to form working groups on the same subject, to the anxiety of receiving feedback from instructors. It is therefore crucial to negotiate agreements regarding the connection platform and time zones to avoid creating unease. Technological barriers also arise, given that we are talking about students from very different sociocultural backgrounds and disparate institutional ecosystems.

However, Valera emphasized that the core issue lies in the human factor, given the vastly different cultural differences, which ultimately leads to a very satisfactory intercultural understanding. Evaluation and the role of teachers also come into play, and institutional support is crucial for all of this, so that these initiatives are not isolated activities within organizations, but rather integrated into their curricula.

The students experience it as a very exciting adventure, negotiating with students from other countries and forming lifelong friendships. “COIL aims to reduce global inequalities, regardless of the students' socioeconomic background,” the speaker stated, revealing that students who work together on a project like this then maintain their relationships in private chat groups, extending the connection far beyond the classroom.

Ricardo Lyle, also from the same Mexican institution and who participated online, collaborates with Valera on the development and implementation of COILs at his university in Monterrey. “It goes beyond connecting classrooms, because we seek real collaboration between students from both locations, in addition to the necessary interdisciplinarity of the subjects.”.

Both teachers see this experience as a form of international collaborative learning, where students from different cultural backgrounds work on shared activities with defined academic objectives. “For this, it’s not enough to use a digital platform, have a foreign partner, and connect two classrooms, because the most important thing lies in the intercultural interaction that is built among the students,” Lyle stated.

To launch a project of this kind, it's essential to find compatible international partners and, first and foremost, align objectives, activities, and methodology with them. It's also important to support the teachers involved in the program and define the necessary digital tools, as well as address challenges and monitor progress. Making participation visible is crucial, and finally, future collaborations must be evaluated and adjusted accordingly.