In this presentation and conference proceedings paper, we discuss a pilot program for international education and examine the development and preliminary assessment of an international education hub between Texas State University (TXST), USA and the Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD), Italy. Launched in 2024, the TXST-UNIPD hub (henceforth…

This essay explores the potential of short international study trips and virtual exchanges to foster EdD learner engagement with new ideas, practices, and peoples in other parts of the world. To frame the discussion, I consider alignment of frequently articulated goals for international learning with CPED (2022) Guiding Principles for Program…

Purpose: This study aims to examine how participation in international exchange programs influences both the teaching practices and intercultural competence of student teachers. Focusing on the experiences of Vietnamese participants in Thailand, the study explores how these educators adapted their teaching methods in response to cross-cultural…

A study abroad program offers numerous benefits and holds significant importance in a student's educational and personal development. It offers a transformative and enriching experience that can positively impact a student's personal, academic, and professional life. We propose a short-term study abroad and cultural exchange program where one of…

Given that meaningful interaction is, in many respects, the backbone of L2 acquisition, language programs have often promoted language exchanges, which connect L2 learners outside the classroom. The present paper discusses two such programs, the "Sprachmentoren" Program (SMP) and "Tandemprojekt" (TP), which were introduced to…

The development of new media technology facilitates interaction between people of different cultures. However, people from different cultures show different cross-cultural communication behaviors that may influence their communication efficiency, perceived communication experiences, and perceived social presence. This study aimed to explore…

This descriptive pilot study investigates and evaluates nursing students' perceptions of their learning gains and the factors contributing to academic integration within a one-week Intensive Programme (IP) course, part of the Nordplus Programme. Nordplus encourages mobility and curriculum development across Nordic and Baltic higher education. The…

Intercultural competence (IC) is essential for fostering meaningful interactions and understanding in diverse environments, particularly in today's pluralistic societies. The impacts of both intercultural competence and incompetence are profound, shaping relationships and outcomes in various ways. Many definitions of IC emphasize being 'effective'…

The student exchange programs are venues for learning opportunities by offering multicultural contexts. This study reports on the experiences of ten prospective English language teachers in a virtual student exchange program to investigate likely skill development in a multicultural and open and distance learning setting. This descriptive study…

With increasing global interconnectivity, effective cross-cultural interaction has become crucial for global citizens. However, learners in non-English speaking countries often lack practical English communicative skills and opportunities for authentic language practice. This study explores the effectiveness of a virtual exchange programme in…

Affordance refers to the opportunity available to a learning activity. Taking affordance as a theoretical and analytical construct, this exploratory study investigates learners' attitudes and the opportunities WeChat may provide for Chinese cultural knowledge (CCK) learning. The aim is to find out the potential new affordances and compare learners…

Virtual mobility experiences provide a valuable option to enrich student learning and development from home. However, there is a lack of evidence of how these online experiences are leveraged in STEM and their potential positive effect on students' critical thinking capabilities. This study explores and details the design of a short-term virtual…

This study explores multilingual international students' narratives of mobility and socialisation through online discursive spaces of interview conversations. Drawing upon an ecological approach to transnational narratives, the researcher analyzed international students' multiscalar interactions and transformations in sociospatial practices. The…

In this qualitative study, we analyzed the processes of a collaborative online international learning (COIL) collaboration between two higher education institutions in Japan and the United States from the perspective of the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework. The research question this study aimed to address was:…

Online program design is important for cross-cultural learning and cultural awareness and responsiveness. Because of the importance of these areas in journalism and similar fields, this research studies an intercultural "bridge" project with journalism and media-related students at a southwest U.S. university and four universities in…