Strengthening Academic Collaboration Through Virtual Exchange for Educators and Students
Innovative digital pedagogies can significantly enrich Virtual Exchange experiences. Approaches such as Digital Escape Rooms, virtual simulations, collaborative online projects, serious games, and immersive VR/AR learning environments foster active participation, creativity, and teamwork while reinforcing disciplinary content. In engineering education, for example, these methods create authentic problem-solving contexts where students must apply technical knowledge while engaging in intercultural and interdisciplinary collaboration.
This session will explore how Virtual Exchange, supported by innovative digital pedagogies, can strengthen academic collaboration and global learning in higher education. Specifically, it will:
- Present case studies of VE initiatives in engineering and other disciplines.
- Analyze how pedagogical innovations (e.g., escape rooms, simulations, and collaborative platforms) foster active learning, intercultural awareness, and teamwork.
- Examine frameworks for sustainably integrating VE and digital pedagogies into curricula.
- Highlight how VE bridges disciplinary expertise with transversal competencies essential for global employability.
- Facilitate dialogue among educators, researchers, and policymakers on future directions for international and digitally enhanced collaboration.
Session Organizer
Prof. Carla M.A. Pinto, Polytechnic of Porto
Higher education institutions face growing demands to prepare students for success in an interconnected and rapidly changing world. Beyond disciplinary knowledge, graduates require transversal competencies such as intercultural collaboration, problem-solving, critical thinking, and digital literacy. Virtual Exchange (VE) – structured, technology-enabled collaboration between students and educators across borders—offers an inclusive and scalable means of cultivating these essential skills while advancing the internationalization of curricula.
The session is intended for educators, curriculum designers, researchers in technology-enhanced learning, and higher education leaders. Participants will gain evidence-based insights, practical strategies for curricular integration, and opportunities to initiate joint projects. By combining Virtual Exchange with diverse digital pedagogies, this session demonstrates how higher education can prepare students and educators not only as disciplinary experts but also as globally competent collaborators.