COIL and Virtual Exchange Initiatives

Participating countries:

Germany - Austria

Participating universities Hochschulen:

Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (Heilbronn) - Fachhochschule Wien (Vienna)

COIL project description:

In this collaborative online international learning course (COIL), Universities of Applied Sciences of Heilbronn and Vienna provided the opportunity for 70 masters students to collaborate in the courses International Destination Management and Sustainable Tourism Management.

The objective was to work in an international, intercultural environment to analyse and provide creative approaches to destination management, with a particular focus on enhancing students' knowledge on sustainability criteria for destination development and management.

Duration:

Summer term 2021 - March to July 2021

Participating countries:

Germany - USA

Participating universities:

Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (Heilbronn) - Drexel University (Philadelphia)

COIL project description:

As part of the Global Classroom, students from the American partner university work in small teams with Bachelor students from the Faculty of International Business in the Marketing Cases course on a business idea related to the field of social entrepreneurship.

Duration:

Participating countries:

Germany - Israel

Participating universities:

Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (Heilbronn) - ORT Braude College of Engineering (Karmiel)

Project description:

Students of English at the Sontheim campus in Heilbronn and in Künzelsau have been participating in a telecollaborative project in English with Braude College in Israel.

Nearly 70 students at HHN and Braude College work in pairs or threes in video conference meetings over a period of five weeks on different tasks that have been developed jointly by the teaching staff at HHN and Braude College.

In the process, communication skills are trained and the students' awareness of intercultural issues is raised. In the recorded final presentations, which the students prepare together, the aim is to critically question stereotypes and, if necessary, to refute them.

The feedback is positive. The students gain insights into a new culture and often consciously confront their own for the first time.

Duration:

since summer term 2021

Participating countries: 

Germany – Chile

Participating universities:

Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (Heilbronn) -

University of Chile (Santiago de Chile)

Project description:

Students of English at the Sontheim Campus in Heilbronn have been participating in a telecollaboration in English with the University of Chile since March 2021. The students in Chile are doctoral students taking an Academic Writing course.

Almost 30 students at the HHN and the Universidad in Chile work in pairs or threes in video conference meetings over a period of six weeks on different tasks that have been developed jointly by the teaching staff.

In the process, the students get to know other students from a culture that is largely unknown to them. They train their communication skills, their awareness of intercultural issues and improve their understanding of other cultures and their own culture. In the recorded final presentations, which the students prepare together, the aim is to work out commonalities and differences between the cultures.

Duration:

since summer term 2021

Participating countries: 

Germany – Colombia

Participating universities Hochschulen:

Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (Heilbronn) -

University del Norte (Barranquilla)

Project description:

HHN students from different English courses in Heilbronn and Künzelsau conduct a five-week collaboration project using video conferencing with students in Colombia, in which two international partners work on intercultural tasks in English. The final project is a joint video, for example about the introduction of a product in another country, taking cultural characteristics into account.

For details, read Examining EFL students’ pluricultural and plurilingual development during intercultural virtual exchanges between Colombia and Germany.

Duration:

since summer term 2021

Participating countries:

Event participants from up to 30 different countries

Participating universities:

Varies, but among them are, for example: Queen's University Belfast, Florida State University, University of Maiduguri, University College Dublin, University of Malta, National University of the Arts Buenos Aires, Goldsmiths, University of London, University of the Arts Belgrade, University of the Witswatersrand Cape Town, University of South Australia

Project description:

Co-learning labs are laboratories of around an hour hosted by one of our Brokering Intercultural Exchange (BIE) Network members. Hosts decide on a topic (current research/practical experience or project) and provide a ten-minutes input, which will be followed by an open, informal learning session.

These labs - which we started in March 2021 - and that take place on the last Thursday of every month allow for in-depth discussions and mutual learning on topics that BIE Networkers (mainly researchers and Ph.D. students but also practitioners and policy makers) in different parts of the world care about, but might otherwise not have a chance to discuss in more detail.

 More information about the co-learning labs and how to register can be found on www.managingculture.net

Duration:

Ongoing once a month

Participating countries:

Ireland, UK, Syria, Netherlands, Algeria, France, Palestine, Belgium, etc.

Participating universities:

For an extensive overview of partnerships please view this list

Project description:

In this 9-week flagship virtual exchange course, Heilbronn University is collaborating with Sharing Perspectives Foundation, a non-profit organization that has over the last three years engaged more than 10.000 young people in virtual exchange courses and worked with over 80 institutions worldwide.

The VE course "Climate Movements" will focus on one of humanity’s biggest questions: climate change. 7 participants from different faculties from Heilbronn University come together weekly with students from other countries and backgrounds to discuss the themes of the course under the guidance of experienced dialogue facilitators. They learn from expert academics and practitioners through an original audiovisual lecture series and engage in interactive assignments which bring their online experience to their offline realities.

The course is sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service with funds from of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and recognized within the Studium Generale at Heilbronn University for the area in "Ethics, Sustainability & Environment".

Duration:

Oct 11 - Dec 10 2021