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Harper College
International Education

Virtual Exchange

Welcome to the Virtual Exchange program webpage at Harper College, where the possibilities of global education and the digital age converge. Embark on a transformative journey as we introduce you to our innovative approach to international learning. Whether you're a Harper College student seeking new horizons or an international student craving a dynamic educational experience, our virtual exchange program offers a gateway to boundless opportunities. 

This program brings together groups of students from the US, Jordan and Iraq through a five-week experience consisting of five binational calls. During the calls, students will practice cross cultural communication and learn about each other's culture as they engage in a series of conversations to practice the process of design thinking in order to discuss global issues in their community.

If you are looking for a light touch, low effort cross cultural virtual exchange experience for your students, this program is for you! The Conversations experience will be weekly during the month of March 2021 and consists of:

      • Five Zoom Calls. There are only five binational calls, with minimal work required outside of the calls.
      • Binational Groups. Instead of a binational team, students connect in groups from the US, Iraq and Jordan.
      • Only Zoom. Zoom is the only platform needed to facilitate this experience.

Click here for more information

Click here for student information on the current IREX program.

The objective of the program is to contribute to the internationalization of the curricula of higher education institutions by applying SUNY’s Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) methodology to strengthen the academic programs in Mexican and American universities. It was designed to provide teachers from higher education institutions in Mexico and the United States with the necessary tools and knowledge to offer courses that include a COIL component.

The program includes:

  • Training workshop on the fundamentals of the COIL methodology, as well as training and advice for the design of the COIL component.
  • Coaching during the implementation of the COIL component, by leading mentors who are experts in COIL.

List of Mexican professors searching partners for teaching COIL courses in 2022

Soliya is a non-profit company that helps to facilitate dialogue between students from different areas of the globe. Their Connect program brings together colleges students from the US, Europe, and the Middle East and from various disciplines to explore relationships between the West and Muslim majority countries. Students are placed into small groups of 8-10 and guided through either an 8-week, 5-week, or 4-week program by trained facilitators. For more information about these programs, click here.

Gazelle International's CLICK System is a series of professional development workshops (Explore--Connect--Design) that aim to train faculty in establishing virtual exchange programs in their courses. The Explore workshops are aimed towards faculty who want to explore virtual exchange options, and helps to provide more information about what virtual exchange is and how to engage in cross-cultural dialogue. The Connect workshops are designed for faculty who are ready to be matched with partner faculty abroad and gives an opportunity to meet an interact with these counterparts. The Design workshops occur after partners have been matched and partnering faculty use backwards design to develop their learning plans and rubrics. For more information about these programs, click here

Our esteemed colleague, Kathleen Reynolds, Associate Professor of ESL and Linguistics published an OER guide for faculty who are interested in developing a virtual exchange program in their courses. This guide provides an overview of virtual exchange, program options, VE activities, and considerations when designing your own virtual exchange program. You can access the guide here.

For program information, registration information, or if interested in another virtual exchange opportunity contact internationaled@harpercollege.edu

Last Updated: 4/8/24