Abstract:

Due to the Corona pandemic, international mobility came to an almost complete stop in the beginning of 2020. As a result of the Codiv-19 outbreak, both, university education and intercultural academic exchange had to be approached from a new and challenging perspective. Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) addressed these changing requirements during the summer of 2020 by developing the so-called Virtual International Programme (VIP) as a collaborative network of competences in e-learning and co-teaching with several partner universities. In winter tem 2020/2021 470 students from more than 200 partner universities were enabled to virtually participate in 50 of JLU’s curricular and fully digital courses, while enjoying the benefits of being a JLU student and earning ECTS-credits. The innovative virtual mobility program offers several complementary measures, such as counselling, e-mentoring, and German classes. Moreover, students are welcome to participate in cultural and social events.

The experience report briefly introduces the VIP concept and the accompanying supporting structures, before presenting the results of the student evaluation of the program. In addition, lecturers evaluated the VIP from their perspective by means of a survey. The implications from teachers’ and learners’ perspectives are extremely valuable, as they complement and validate the gathered data and implications for further actions. The findings reveal that the VIP is an extremely valuable experience for international students with great potential for the future. Students appreciated the opportunities for a low-threshold international exchange along with the intercultural academic experience, but without the organizational effort and cost of mobility. At the same time, the evaluation results indicate the demand of further support for students with regard to the organization and communication prior to the program.

The findings of the study will be used as a basis to optimize the virtual exchange in the future, as JLU intends to continue the VIP beyond the progress or end of the pandemic. In summer term 2021, the program is expanding already, as more than 80 courses will be available to approximately 560 students. Moreover, the gained insights from the VIP will help shape and enhance the newly designed Master of Science "Sustainable Transition", which will be the JLU’s first fully online English-language study program starting in winter term 2021/22.

Keywords:

Intercultural collaboration, internationalization, virtual mobility, academic exchange, cooperative teaching, instructional design.