Panel highlights international connection through virtual programming
(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — NOVEMBER 20, 2024) Empire State University provides a unique opportunity for students to work across borders through virtual exchanges. These programs are organized with partner universities across the globe and bring together a cohort of students to focus on singular issues through specific courses and collaborate, providing a one-of-a-kind study-abroad experience. The benefit of these virtual exchanges was highlighted during a panel for International Education Week.
The event was co-hosted by North-West University in South Africa. The panel featured a welcome from Empire State University President Lisa Vollendorf and Dorothy Laubscher — UNESCO chair on multimodal learning and OER and associate professor at North-West University — and educators from Empire State University, University of Pretoria, State University of New York at Buffalo, SUNY Brockport, North-West University, and Rhodes University.
“At an online university like SUNY Empire, we understand and deeply respect the importance of connecting with diverse voices around the world and meeting students all over the world where they are,” President Lisa Vollendorf said. “Education is the bridge that connects us all to each other through the exchange of knowledge and diverse perspectives, and collaborative research universities like ours and all those represented here today foster understanding and cooperation among students, faculty, staff, and humans from different backgrounds.”
Empire State University’s international education program has 450 students representing 37 countries with partnership programs in Turkey, the Czech Republic, Greece, and Lebanon.
The panel highlighted the benefits of digital storytelling through a book co-authored by Empire State University Professor Tom Mackey and Former Director of European Academic Programs Sheila Aird: “Teaching Digital Storytelling: Inspiring Voices Through Online Narratives.”
The book connects digital storytelling and metaliteracy to the virtual exchange taught by Mackey, connecting students at SUNY Empire to students in Prague for a collaborative project. Mackey said promoting international education allows people to gain valuable perspectives in a global society and, as an online university, Empire State University has a unique opportunity to provide international online learning experiences that unite U.S. and international students.
“Advancing metaliteracy and critical thinking across the globe is crucial to student success because it supports them in developing the abilities to be both reflective and collaborative,” Mackey said. “This is so important as students learn to critically analyze information in all forms, from text to digital media, and envision themselves as active producers of digital content. In my work at SUNY Empire, I’ve been developing and revising courses for our digital media arts program that prepare learners as individual and collaborative producers of new knowledge. In two of my courses, digital storytelling and ethics of digital art and design, I’ve designed collaborative learning activities with international faculty and students. In both courses, metaliteracy was key to this process and resulted in engaging and productive learning experiences.”
Aird said their approach to digital storytelling is crucial to empowering learners and creating a successful collaborative environment.
“It’s extremely key because, in our environment — whether virtual or otherwise — students work independently,” Aird said. “Bringing them into that space from the beginning allows them to connect, reach each other, and respond to each other. It brings a certain amount of autonomy to students, allowing them to be creative, and makes them work on a project together — from beginning to end — bringing in all the components.”
Several other educators and contributors to the book from partner institutions provided insight into their chapters and the impact of digital storytelling on global connection.