BUILDING VIRTUAL INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS IN HIGHER EDUCATION “So many haven’t traveled out of state, so working with Kazakh students through EDGE offered a mind-expanding experience they won’t forget.” -Alan Peslak, professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State Scranton Since 2019, a top-ranked higher education institution semester-long projects. As a result of the initial campus in Kazakhstan, S. Seifullin Agro Technical University visits, faculty designed two separate three-week modules (KazATU), has connected its students and faculty with where US and Kazakh students worked together in their counterparts at Pennsylvania State University. Both classrooms over video in real time. institutions prioritize the role of a global perspective in higher education. As studying or researching abroad is In fall 2019, thirty-three KazATU ecology students and not always a possibility for students and faculty, these eight Penn State Scranton IT majors took part in co- institutions have gone beyond borders digitally. designed and multi-disciplinary EDGE classes. KazATU students collected data on plant distribution in northern To support global experience for all its students and Kazakhstan and provided it to their student peers at Penn faculty, the Penn State Beaver campus developed State Scranton, who created Eco Life, an Android app that the Experiential Digital Global Engagement or EDGE brings soil data to life through data visualization, maps, program. EDGE enables Penn State faculty to co-create and a glossary. curriculum with their peers in other countries, leveraging accessible technology platforms like Zoom to enhance “Students develop their critical thinking skills by finding student interaction. solutions to the issues they face in developing the app, so they are now thinking more innovatively,” said Alina “Our students are less likely to study abroad than at Zhaglovskaya, the professor who co-led the course. other institutions,” said Chancellor Jenifer Cushman, who launched EDGE at Penn State Beaver in 2016. In an English for Academic Purposes course, KazATU’s “Interacting with students in the virtual classroom really agronomy students collaborated with Penn State connects the international realm and links to future study Beaver’s business writing students on two projects that abroad potential.” contrasted food choices in the US and Kazakhstan, and a class presentation and discussion of English slang With a grant awarded through the Central Asia University expressions. This interdisciplinary format prepared Partnerships Program (UniCEN), administered by business writing students to communicate effectively American Councils and funded by the US Department of with an international audience, interact with different State through the US Embassy in Kazakhstan, KazATU cultures, and develop digital skills. and Penn State have broadened their international activity using EDGE. VIRTUAL INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE IS TRANSFORMATIVE HIGH-IMPACT LEARNING ACROSS 10 TIME ZONES Such high-impact practices help cultivate diverse Through UniCEN, American Councils has cultivated a and inclusive experiences for students to prepare network of dozens of higher educational institutions them for the 21st century workforce, explained Tiffany across Central Asia, and provided coaching and training MacQuarrie, an assistant teaching professor of English to realize partnerships with US institutions. In 2018, who co-led the project. Penn State Beaver invited two faculty members from the KazATU to its campus in Monaca, Pennsylvania for “The benefit of EDGE is that students can work together a workshop on how to launch EDGE, and see it working in a short time, interactions where students learn in real time. A reciprocal visit of Penn State faculty to about culture and their schools and backgrounds,” she Kazakhstan further established the parameters of the said. “In order for our students to be competitive, we project, preliminary design, and possibilities for future recognize the value of connecting with other countries, recognizing that we are global citizens. There is The project, supported by UniCEN, helped both Penn State importance in communicating and learning about and KazATU better understand international collaborations our place in the world and in the world around us.” and uncover further opportunities in Central Asia. Despite an 11-hour time difference, faculty in Pennsylvania and Another key benefit of virtual exchange is accessibility. Nur-Sultan broke down the barriers for global learning. By avoiding the costs associated with international travel, US and Kazakh students took part in transformative ABOUT UNICEN academic experiences and completed assignments with Funded by the US Department of State through its missions real-world application. Giving IT students the opportunity in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, UniCEN is a platform to for an international project was too good to pass up, increase sustainable collaborations between US and shared Alan Peslak, professor of information sciences and Central Asian higher education institutions. UniCEN builds technology at Penn State Scranton. expertise in the areas of strategic planning, administration, “So many haven’t traveled out of state, so working faculty policies and practices, student mobility, curriculum with Kazakh students through EDGE offered a mind- development, and alumni relations to advance the expanding experience they won’t forget,” he said. development of mutually beneficial partnerships. “If there is a defined objective used outside of the classroom, students work harder for an external client.” In Kazakhstan, word of the program model’s ABOUT OUR PARTNERS effectiveness spread quickly. In January 2020, the Penn State Beaver and Penn State Scranton Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Penn State is a public research university with 24 Kazakhstan contacted KazATU and Penn State with a campuses across Pennsylvania, offering bachelor request to build a custom app, which led to the launch and graduate programs with a global perspective. of another class with 10 students involved. This project Penn State Beaver is a commonwealth campus of is now student-run with faculty members serving as Pennsylvania State University located in Center advisors. The department of agriculture and plant Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Penn production at KazATU now uses EDGE to teach English State Scranton is also a commonwealth campus for academic purposes in a first-year master’s course of the Pennsylvania State University located in that launched in 2020. Dunmore, Pennsylvania. VIRTUAL EXCHANGE IS A MODEL FOR A NEW S. Seifullin Agro Technical University ERA OF INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION (KazATU) EDGE serves as a sustainable model for international One of the top-ranked higher education partnerships between US and Central Asian universities. institutions in Kazakhstan, S. Seifullin Agro At present, KazATU is creating a guidebook for Kazakh Technical University (KazATU) has rapidly colleagues to help replicate online learning platforms expanded its international collaborations like EDGE. According to Saltanat Meiramova, Director with the United States. of International Cooperation at KazATU, the virtual exchange model offers partners an inexpensive tool that is easy to replicate. “It builds a long-term collaboration with our American partner and results in a syllabus designed for the course,” she said. “The app can be taught and used for future cohorts.” FOR MORE INFORMATION: Adrian Erlinger | [email protected].