Check out how our Summer 2020 Explorers Workshops went! The post-workshop evaluation results from our attendees this summer were fabulous. Participants learned about Virtual Exchange and Gazelle International’s CLICK (Collaborative Learning for International Capabilities and Knowledge) projects in more detail. Here we share our results.
Despite a challenging summer, teachers and administrators remained committed to and passionate about implementing virtual exchange and internationalization strategies at their institutions. We had a great group exploring what a virtual exchange CLICK project would look like in their contexts. We look forward to building those connections and designing new CLICK teaching projects during our Fall Design Workshop series (at reduced fall rates!).
Post-Workshop Evaluation Results:
Our Explorers workshop is designed for everyone, no matter your familiarity with virtual exchange or CLICK. In June, 57.2% of participants were very familiar or “somewhat familiar” with those concepts, while the other 42.9% had little to no familiarity. In July, 75% of attendees were somewhat familiar with the virtual exchange process, and it was “totally new” to 25%!
--Responses from our June series
Paul Carringer, from Columbus State Community College, said that the workshop “seemed to have a nice mix of information for those who know and those who do not know VE.”
All were welcome to come and learn and share. Whatever their background and experience with virtual exchange, everyone said that the workshop was either “engaging” or “very engaging” and had positive reactions to both presenters, Nancy Ruther and Alexa Jeffress.
100% of participants in both June and July found the resources and materials used in the workshop “helpful” or “very helpful.” These resources included the handouts, readings, and PowerPoints. Attendees expressed that access to these resources and Gazelle Intl’s expertise would be important as they moved forward with their virtual exchange programs.
“Thank you very much for your generosity in sharing your invaluable intellectual property; it will go a long way toward shaping VE on our campus.” --Richard Johnson, Harper College
One major learning objective was clearly accomplished. 100% of June and July participants said “Yes” when asked if they had a better understanding of how virtual exchange can serve multiple goals for students, faculty, the institution, and their larger community.
--Responses from both our June and July series
Being able to articulate why virtual exchange makes a difference and how it can impact your students’ educational experience is fundamental! Happily, the Explorers workshop also succeeded at preparing teachers and administrators to share the importance of cross-cultural skills and online citizenship with their colleagues and institution.
--Responses from our July series
“This explorers workshop really helped our institution get moving and start to understand the basics of Virtual Exchange. We now have an excellent starting place to go from, as we attempt to ramp up our programming for Virtual Exchange.” --Jennifer Ritchey, Highline College
Perhaps our most pleasing result was the percentage of individuals that made meaningful connections with other participants. Gazelle Intl strives to foster these connections, match instructors, and maintain the CLICK network where we can share both professionally and socially.
57.1% of respondents from the June series claimed that they formed friendships and a professional network that they would like to tap into for their work in virtual exchange.
For other attendees, their favorite parts of the workshop were the following:
“Meeting and getting to know equally passionate international educators. I hope to follow up with a number of them to continue this conversation and share resources.” --Richard Johnson, Harper College
“The concrete illustrations of already existing CLICK projects.” --Anonymous
“I really loved posting and interacting on linkr to get to know one another in a fun way and in a way that mimics how we would want our students to interact.” --Anonymous
We are grateful for the success of our CLICK system and Workshop Series. We couldn’t do it without the passion and enthusiasm from our CLICK teachers and the support of our partners - Community Colleges for International Development, who generously sponsored these workshops and linkr Education, our collaborative learning platform host.
Interested? Register now!
Want to join our CLICK Network and create your own project? Take the first step: Join our three-session Explorers Workshop series to learn more about virtual exchange and our approach, CLICK. Our founder, Dr. Nancy Ruther will lead the workshop. Check here for the next set of dates, to find more information on cost, and to register! Encourage your colleagues to join us, too.
After the three-session Explorers Workshop, teachers should sign up for a CLICK Design Workshop series. After only four sessions, teachers will have a complete CLICK project design! The Design Workshop helps participants get to know the Gazelle Intl team and practice working with their faculty partner. See here for the Fall Design Workshop dates and registration.
September 22, 2020