Exploring Virtual Learning for Global Collaborations: A Seminar-Workshop by SAFINET & UniPID

In May 2024, SAFINET and UniPID gathered to discuss virtual learning to strengthen global academic collaborations. The event featured a keynote on collaborative online international learning (COIL) and discussions on the potential and challenges of virtual education for fostering international engagement and inclusion.

The Southern African and Finnish Higher Education Institutions' Network for Health and Well-Being, SAFINET, together with the Finnish University Partnership for International Development, UniPID, organised an event for interested participants to discuss how to implement virtual learning as part of global academic collaborations. The event was held on Monday, the 20th of May, at the Scandic City in Tampere. The event focused on how building knowledge through social interactions in virtual learning can be useful for strengthening global academic collaborations. The event was composed of a seminar and a workshop. The seminar was held on hybrid more, and the recording can be found on UniPID’s YouTube channel.

The seminar was comprised of three presentations, the first being a keynote on the concept of collaborative online international learning, COIL. Dr. Lavern Samuels gave an excellent keynote, addressing the conceptual background to COIL and International Virtual Engagement (IVE), and COIL as pedagogy. He also gave an overview of the internationalization strategy at the Durban University of Technology, the university he is affiliated with. Dr. Samuels’ talk clarified the principles of the design of a COIL project, and how COIL can be used as a tool to develop international academic linkages, collaborative projects, and partnerships. In his keynote, Dr Samuels discussed how internationalisation should be a transformative process, which leads to a broader change in society. Internationalisation can colour the lives of people, inspire and unshackle the mind. In his talk, he highlighted how universities should be the bridges in society, and COIL can be used as a pathway to inclusion. The keynote sparked a lively discussion and a lot of interest in COIL.

A very small minority of students in low-income countries can participate in international education if it is organized traditionally face-to-face. A high quality virtual collaboration means a way to democratize possibilities to experience international engagement within one’s learning portfolio.

The keynote was followed by an insightful commentary by Prof. Phakama Ntshongwana, who discussed the perspectives of diversity, equity, and inclusion in virtual education. Prof. Ntshongwana agreed that virtual education is an opportunity for social inclusion, where social constraints can be broken. She noted that with more virtual engagement there can be more transparency and more engagement from different areas of life. This allows us to get better at understanding and respecting each other. There is a saying: the more deeply one shares their truth, the more universal it becomes - the broader interaction could lead to remarkable results. Prof. Ntshongwana also discussed the challenges in inequality in learning in South Africa, how we must continue to challenge the prejudices related to gender and race, and how international cooperation is integral here: the structural violence in schools, universities, and workplaces can be challenged and informed with virtual engagement and by research partnerships.

Finally, UniPID shared its experiences as a provider and platform of virtual education and recent undertakings in developing virtual education practices. They provided an overview of recent developments, new initiatives, and talked about their EduCASE-project “A Global Learning Space”.

The seminar was followed by a workshop aimed at reflecting on what teachers need to implement virtual studies in the frame of global collaborations, and what are the current challenges in virtual education when organised in collaboration with global partners. The groups concluded that teachers need a variety of skills and sufficient resources for successful virtual education and that there are multiple challenges both from student and teacher’s perspectives. The participants also discussed the incentives for participating in global virtual education, and while there are many for students, the incentives for teachers seem to be much fewer. All in all, global virtual education holds immense potential, and with the right resources, tools, skills, and partners could be an experience that changes career path or even a world view among ones involved.

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This piece was written by Johanna Pajula and Mikko Perkiö, originally published in the SAFINET Bulletin June 2024.

Photo credits: Giulia May, 2020 on UnSplash. The event pictures were taken and shared by Johanna Pajula.