Abstract
On its website, APVEA reminds us that “virtual exchanges are technology-enabled, sustained, people-to-people education programs”. This chapter addresses the question of what we exchange when we engage in virtual exchange by exploring the meaning and value of virtual exchange as intercultural dialogue, and by considering the impact of the technological medium on the process. A small group of expert practitioners (N=6) were consulted for their views on virtual exchange. Their responses sketch a picture in which virtual exchange stretches beyond transaction into interaction among and transformation of the participants. The expert practitioners value virtual exchange for enhancing employability and foremost for its dialogic qualities. Next, the chapter explores the meaning of dialogue more deeply from a Bohmian perspective and considers applications in organizational development (Isaacs, 1999), restorative justice (Pranis, 2005), and intercultural competence development (Deardorff, 2020). When the intercultural dimension is made salient, this creates additional chances for realizing the dialogue principles of participation, coherence, awareness, and unfolding. The chapter then illustrates how intercultural dialogue is reshaped in a virtual environment as it is mediated by the technological context in which it is conducted. Specific attention is paid to the circle, the talking piece, and the facilitator. The chapter concludes by stating that, although intercultural dialogue will always be mediated by technology in virtual exchange settings, it makes good sense to speak of ‘virtual dialogue’ in situations that take the core principles, practices, and structural components of dialogue as outlined in this chapter as a starting point for designing online intercultural dialogue activities.
Highlights
When one takes the beginner’s course on the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange platform2, one learns that “[v]irtual exchange combines the deep impact of intercultural dialogue and exchange with the broad reach of digital technology” (Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, 2019, n.p.)
From an institutional point of view, virtual exchange can be mobilized as a means to implement ‘internationalization at home’ policies4. It can be welcomed as an antidote to the rather grim conclusion that “the age of instant communication is an age of instant miscommunication and instant conflict or even worse” (Jia, 2019, p.7). Starting from these observations, the present chapter addresses the question of what we exchange when we engage in virtual exchange by exploring successively the key components of the earlier cited definition on the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange platform: the notion of virtual exchange, the notion of intercultural dialogue, and the impact of digital technology on intercultural dialogue
If one enrolls for the introductory course to dialogue facilitation on Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, one learns that virtual exchange has another aim besides enabling people to have a meaningful intercultural experience
Summary
What is the role of educators in a world that is characterized by increasing diversity, even super-diversity (Vertovec, 2017), while discourses of polarization and acts of discrimination remain widely spread? The nearly ubiquitous availability of the internet provides a powerful platform for fostering knowledge, understanding, and friendships across borders yet it has shown another face as a terrifying tool for invading privacy, spreading fake news, and fueling hatred. Aside from the organizational and technological challenges, McLuhan’s (1964) old dictum – ‘the medium is the message’ – is as relevant as ever when it comes to the impact of the characteristics of digital media on the nature and the meaning of communication in virtual exchange It seems that the learning processes and outcomes that educators are seeking are affected by the digital context in which they are realized in ways that have not sufficiently been recognized. It can be welcomed as an antidote to the rather grim conclusion that “the age of instant communication is an age of instant miscommunication and instant conflict or even worse” (Jia, 2019, p.7) Starting from these observations, the present chapter addresses the question of what we exchange when we engage in virtual exchange by exploring successively the key components of the earlier cited definition on the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange platform: the notion of virtual exchange, the notion of intercultural dialogue, and the impact of digital technology on intercultural dialogue
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