In recent decades, the convergence of technical and professional communication (TPC) with translation studies (TS) has underscored the necessity for collaboration across disciplinary borders. However, challenges remain, particularly in translating specialized texts deeply connected to local cultures. This paper investigates a virtual exchange (VE) project focused on translating multilingual menus, which pose unique challenges due to their embeddedness in local cultures. The study explores translators' strategies in dealing with culture-specific items (CSIs) and their collaboration with TPC writers representing the target audience. The methodology section outlines the case study's participants and dataset, while the results shed light on effective strategies and collaborative approaches in translating menus within a VE context. A key takeaway is that technical translation requires not only a deep understanding of the terminology and concepts of a specific field, but also a commitment to working with TPC writers and target audiences to transform source texts into usable and persuasive target texts – an approach that VE environments can uniquely support through authentic, cross-cultural collaboration.

Virtual exchange (VE) provides students with a significant opportunity to communicate and collaborate with peers from around the world without the necessity of travel. VE has increasingly gained traction since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, we commenced offering VE experiences centered on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a public research university in the United States, and we have successfully conducted this course three times in collaboration with universities in Rwanda, Eswatini, and India. Utilizing a social learning platform known as CourseNetworking (CN), we facilitated asynchronous discussions and prompted small-group interaction and projects. Despite facing various challenges, each iteration of the class yielded positive outcomes. This paper outlines best practices for course design and delivery.

This manuscript explores a 7-week, asynchronous, virtual exchange between American and Ukrainian education graduate students (n=58; 12 American Literacy PhD and Master’s students, 15 American TESOL Master's students, and 31 TEFL Master’s Ukrainian students). The critical digital literacies study aimed to understand how students could engage multimodal texts to interrogate cultural and political underpinnings of modes and media across five online modules. Working and communicating globally in heterogeneous groups in Google Classroom and/or WhatsApp, students documented their group interactions, which they submitted weekly. The exchange culminated in individual reinventions of multimodal texts, which is an essential tenet of criticality. Students’ reflective surveys and interviews suggest that critical media literacy projects may offer unique affordances in promoting global awareness and challenge established biases.

Advances in educational technology, including videoconferencing, have resulted in a rise in virtual exchange (VE). Researchers have touted the benefits of conducting VEs including developing learners’ intercultural awareness, intercultural competence, and digital skills (O’Dowd, 2018). Few studies have been conducted in secondary and primary school settings, however. To fill this gap, an online questionnaire was administered, and subsequent focus group interviews were conducted with primary and secondary teachers to understand their needs and the challenges which impact their ability to conduct VE projects. The findings of our needs analysis show that the majority of primary teachers reported a lack of technological training, including which tools and/or applications best support VEs, while secondary teachers reported lacking both technological and pedagogical training for VEs, such as how to integrate VE tasks into their curricula. To accommodate these needs and challenges, we advocate for a training space which provides experienced and novice teachers the opportunity to discuss VE in their teaching contexts and training materials to assist in designing, implementing, or adapting VE tasks.

Virtual exchanges (VEs) promoting engagement among students in different countries and advancing intercultural understanding have become widespread. However, challenges such as class scheduling and time-zone differences, course and institutional requirements, mean it is not always possible to conduct exchanges over extended periods. We describe a short-term synchronous VE undertaken over two two-hour sessions on consecutive afternoons between college students in Japan and Taiwan. The primary objectives of this VE were to provide students with opportunities to practice English in an international context, gain intercultural understanding, and evaluate the feasibility of future short-term exchanges. With a focus on our assessments and reflections as the instructors who planned and implemented the exchange, we conclude by presenting a general outline for other educators and students with limited timeframes wishing to offer meaningful experiences through international intercultural VEs.

This paper describes the virtual exchange (VE) between universities in the U.S. and in the West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt). The VE aimed at developing students’ interpersonal and patient health care practitioner communication skills through an intercultural dialogue framework. With this objective in mind, the program was designed to employ elements of both intercultural dialogue and team-based approaches to VE. Over the course of four weeks, students and facilitators met weekly via Zoom. During these live sessions, 26 students within their teams were engaged in a number of activities to share and learn about each other’s identities and cultural perceptions of mental health and practiced intercultural dialogue communication skills. Students also had to work collaboratively to explore different mental health case studies and how they are perceived within their communities through local interviews. The VE took into consideration the sociopolitical context of the students living under occupation, creating space for the participants to learn about one another’s daily lived reality including engaging in ad hoc dialogues on unexpected events happening in one of the countries. Data was collected through students’ reflections. Thematic analysis of the reflections revealed that the students reported interpersonal skills development and a culturally enriching experience for both the U.S. and West Bank, oPt students. Based on the findings a number of practical implications were drawn, including having a flexible program plan, facilitators meeting on a regular basis during the implementation phase and collecting students’ feedback throughout the program.

Welcome to this special issue of the Journal of Virtual Exchange, featuring eight engaging contributions that highlight the transformative potential of virtual exchange (VE) for education. Arising from works presented at the International Virtual Exchange Conference in 2023, hosted by the Brazilian Association for International Education (FAUBAI) and São Paulo State University (UNESP) in São Paulo, Brazil, this collection consists of seven practice reports and one research article, offering valuable insights into innovative pedagogies, intercultural collaboration, and professional development. We are gratified and delighted to present these works that reflect the increasing diversity and depth of VE practices worldwide.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require intercultural collaboration to ensure that the progress made so far becomes permanent and continues to progress towards inclusion and a just approach for all people. This means our learners need intercultural skills and competencies for interacting globally. This research examines how the use of role-playing games in virtual exchange projects can provide global learning experiences on controversial environmental sustainability projects. These games simulate the complexity of multi-stakeholder decisions that are frequently problematic for implementing environmental sustainability projects. From fall 2020 to spring 2022, 267 college students from three continents (North and South America, and Europe) comprising 27 global virtual teams played game simulations as a virtual exchange activity. Results showed that students can engage effectively to reach an agreement as role-playing stakeholders for these conflictual projects (Adj R2 = .498, Chi Square = 4.683, sig. = .003). In addition, meetings among the students held a couple weeks before the game were important in preparing them for the role-playing simulation. Language and cultural barriers proved no impediment for students communicating in a non-native language. Well-timed “nudging” and scaffolding support as well as early intercultural competence self-awareness training by the instructors underpinned these positive learning experiences and outcomes in the games.

This paper shares a virtual exchange (VE) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project between second language acquisition (SLA) teacher education courses at a university in the U.S. and in Brazil, developed with different groups of learners in 2022 and 2023. The main aims were to support and investigate preservice teachers’ (PSTs): 1) intercultural communicative competence (ICC), 2) language practices, 3) local and global perspectives, and 4) collaboration through information and communication technologies (ICT). This paper examines how professors balanced guidance and autonomy for PSTs as teams (each team with PSTs from Brazil and U.S.) asynchronously and synchronously engaged in informal communication and projects to study international and regional cultural norms for SLA. Qualitative analyses of surveys, interactions, and projects informed patterns of PST autonomy and situations that required more professor support and guidance. Most PSTs engaged consistently, thoroughly, and needed almost no support with tasks, such as their introductions and responses to questions about readings. Some PSTs needed more guidance from professors, such as one-one scaffolding (in-person or Zoom) or text message reminders, than others for arranging open-ended tasks among teams of PSTs and setting up relevant ICT, such as WhatsApp groups to facilitate desired communications. Results were utilized to determine modifications for future VE.

The promotion of social justice pedagogy in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) courses and virtual exchange (VE) programs has gained traction in the last decade, as opportunities for faculty and students to participate as equal partners in the internationalization of the curriculum have grown. This practice report highlights the processes and outcomes of critical engagement through an interactive World Café workshop at the 2023 IVEC conference in São Paulo, Brazil. The participants were a group of 45 international faculty and COIL coordinators from various higher education institutions. Nancy Fraser’s (2008; 2009) normative framework related to social justice was used to facilitate a critical discussion related to the economic, cultural, and political dimensions of their COIL courses in supporting participatory parity. Key trends, questions, and recommendations for enhancing social justice pedagogy were identified. These findings may provide a springboard to engage colleagues in further dialogue that could promote awareness around social justice pedagogy and participatory parity through COIL.