The EVOLVE Project has delivered high-quality training materials which are free for anyone to use and adapt! Our project partners are ready to help you or your institution to get started with Virtual Exchange!
Co-Laboratory training available as OER
One of the prominent outcomes of the project has been the development of an interactive learning-by-doing modular training package (Co-Laboratory) which we have successfully used with two groups of educators interested in implementing Virtual Exchange in their academic courses.The two training iterations engaged 41 participants from 31 HEIs, most of whom also participated in individual mentoring sessions assisting them in the preparation of their own exchanges.
The Co-Laboratory teaching resources used in EVOLVE training courses are now available under a CC-BY-NC-SA licence in the Training Resources area of the EVOLVE website. They address the following areas of VE implementation:
- Pedagogy of Virtual Exchange
- Task design and technology
- Managing challenge
- Critical digital literacy
- Intercultural Communicative Competence in VE
- Facilitated Dialogue
A full copy of the training content is available from our website. The materials are accompanied by a guidebook for future course instructors in which we provide practical tips for making the most of the Co-Laboratory training.
We are sharing these interactive course materials so that institutions can import them as IMS Common Cartridge into their own learning environments. This will allow education providers to translate the training modules and/or adapt them to their local needs. We offer instructions for installing the course and we expect that HE institutions will be interested in running their own VE training, for which these materials provide a good basis.
The following EVOLVE members have contributed to the course (in alphabetical order):
Juan Albà Duran, Mirjam Hauck, Casper van der Heijden, Sake Jager, Teresa MacKinnon, Malgorzata (Gosia) Kurek, Robert O’Dowd, Gerdientje Oggel, Shannon Sauro, Rafael Tyszblatt.
We hope you find our resources useful in your academic practice!
Opportunities for further VE Training
In case your institution is not ready yet to repurpose the EVOLVE Training resources and train faculty in developing their own exchanges, the EVOLVE Training Team highly recommends the following training opportunities by partners who have contributed to the EVOLVE training.
Class-to-class exchanges (co-designed exchanges) |
| UNICollaboration
For receiving training in class-to-class exchanges, you can contact UNICollaboration, the professional organisation in Virtual Exchange and Telecollaboration with whom we have worked closely together in designing the training. They can provide advice, train-the-trainer courses or deliver training customised to your faculty. Please get in touch with UNICollaboration Training Team at training@unicollaboration.org to learn more about currently available options. Apart from customised training for HE institutions, UNICollaborations offers open-for-all editions. The next training starts is scheduled for 1 February next. |
Facilitated exchanges (ready-made exchanges) |
| Alternatively, if you are interested in ready-made exchanges, where students participate in discussions on cross-cultural topics and societal issues, you may contact our partners Sharing Perspectives Foundation and Soliya for their current courses and training opportunities. |
Sharing Perspectives Foundation The Sharing Perspectives Foundation has developed a dedicated training course ‘Going Virtual’ aimed at transforming how you teach online. Educators will experience an interactive, hands-on training, during which we will provide step-by-step techniques, practical tips and unique exercises modelling online interactivity and student engagement. This training is offered to individuals between 9-24 February 2021. This training can also be tailored to the needs of multiple educators at one institution. If you are interested in discussing the opportunities, please contact partner@sharingperspectivesfoundation.com. |
| Soliya
Recognizing the key role that effective facilitation plays in enabling constructive learning spaces, since 2004 Soliya has designed and offered training that teach dialogue facilitation, conflict resolution skills and generally how to promote constructive online learning spaces, that are applicable to a variety of work settings. Through the Online Facilitation Training working professionals will engage in an interactive online learning process with an international group to hone 21st century skills, such as leadership, critical thinking and cross-cultural communication, and amass hands-on facilitation tools. In 2020, Soliya trained over 1,500 facilitators globally of which 99% rated their experience with the training as high or very high. “Soliya provided the best training for online education I have ever got. 1,000 years of other training could never get me to where I have gotten doing facilitation with Soliya.” – Robb Conrad Lauzon – Assistant Professor of Communication, County College of Morris, USA. Soliya’s Advanced Training Certificates are endorsed by the UN. Click here to learn more about Soliya’s training. |
We wish you all the best in your VE training adventures!
