Virtual Exchange

Virtual Exchange

Virtual exchange connects young people from around the world for learning and collaboration, immersing them in digital spaces to gain practical skills and build friendships along the way.

Why Virtual Exchange

Global experiences should be accessible to anyone.

Too often, the opportunity to connect with peers in other countries is limited to those with the time and means to travel abroad. Currently, only about 10% of college students, and even fewer younger students, study abroad. Virtual exchange makes it possible for anyone, including young people in low income communities, in rural areas, and students with unique challenges, to have meaningful international exchange experiences at low or no cost to them. This has the potential to dramatically level the playing field when it comes to gaining global perspectives and connections.

Worldviews can be expanded from home.

Young people need the ability to work with anyone, anywhere.

New learning opportunities don’t have to be burdensome for educators to adopt.

Everyone should feel empowered to make a difference.

Global experiences should be accessible to anyone.

Worldviews can be expanded from home.

Too many people believe that being able to take on global perspectives and understand different views is only possible through in-person experiences. Through virtual exchange, participants engage in a more neutral third space to learn about other countries, cultures, languages, and traditions and to build connections across continents, religions, and points of view. They work together in spaces mediated through technology where both sides of the exchange “travel” from their homes to learn about each other equally, which doesn’t always happen when just one participant is traveling to another community or campus. These types of opportunities help youth understand different cultures, which results in a more profound understanding of how people from diverse backgrounds work and live.

Young people need the ability to work with anyone, anywhere.

New learning opportunities don’t have to be burdensome for educators to adopt.

Everyone should feel empowered to make a difference.

Global experiences should be accessible to anyone.

Worldviews can be expanded from home.

Young people need the ability to work with anyone, anywhere.

Employers are seeking individuals who not only bring the hard skills required of the job, but other critical skills, including collaboration, communication, digital literacy, foreign language proficiency, awareness of diverse perspectives, and civic and global engagement. Virtual exchange gives young people the ability to connect and collaborate across difference, which is best learned through exposure to other working styles, worldviews, cultures, and values. Virtual exchange provides real-world experience collaborating on projects that relate to young people’s career interests while modeling the cross-cultural settings they’ll encounter in the workforce.

New learning opportunities don’t have to be burdensome for educators to adopt.

Everyone should feel empowered to make a difference.

Global experiences should be accessible to anyone.

Worldviews can be expanded from home.

Young people need the ability to work with anyone, anywhere.

New learning opportunities don’t have to be burdensome for educators to adopt.

Class time is limited, and educators are already stretched to meet course requirements. Virtual exchange gives educators a fun and innovative way to teach their students any academic subject while also fostering critical thinking, resilience, empathy, curiosity, and an appreciation of diversity. Virtual exchange curriculum is designed to fit into existing lesson plans, maximizing time, benefit, and engagement.

Everyone should feel empowered to make a difference.

Global experiences should be accessible to anyone.

Worldviews can be expanded from home.

Young people need the ability to work with anyone, anywhere.

New learning opportunities don’t have to be burdensome for educators to adopt.

Everyone should feel empowered to make a difference.

Many young people don’t have the ability to travel far from their home communities, where the issues and realities of other places are just distant stories heard in passing. But in a highly interconnected world, challenges, from the environment to technological innovation, have better outcomes when international collaboration is part of the process. Understanding the interdependence of our problems and successes is critical to fostering a generation that shares a comprehensive understanding of the world we all inhabit, a deep awareness of our shared humanity, and a belief in our ability to make a difference in our local and global communities.

The Impact of Virtual Exchange

From expanded interests and goals to new worldviews shaped by making global friends, young people experience a range of benefits from virtual exchange. Explore the below links to learn more about the impact of virtual exchange.