Virtual International Collaboration awarded

We are very pleased to announce that three University of Groningen proposals for setting up Virtual International Collaboration projects were awarded by the Dutch Ministry of Education. The project proposals were prepared by the applicants, with assistance from ENVOIE, Teaching Academy Groningen and the Legal Department of the University. Congratulations to all the winners!

Especially congratulations to the researchers from University College Groningen for receiving this award. The awardees will receive 15,000 Euros for developing each project.

The project proposal was developed by Dr. Ferdinand Lewis and Dr. Adriana Mattos Pinto in collaboration with University of Florida and Botucatu Medical School (São Paulo Brazil). The proposal came about as a project for UCG students on arts and healthcare, within which students and the supervisors explored the different ways arts can improve someone’s overall quality of life.

Also involved in the project from other universities are:

• Jeffrey Pufahl, MFA, Center for Arts in Medicine, UF College of the Arts
• Denise de C M Zornoff, MD, Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista UNESP (Brazil)
• Karina Chamma, Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista UNESP (Brazil)

Read the abstract of the project that has been received the Virtual International Collaboration Award:

Borders, Belonging, and Health: A Virtual Global Investigation

In this virtual exchange course, students at University of Florida, the University of Groningen/UCG (Netherlands), and Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) will collectively investigate connections between notions of borders, discrimination, belonging, and health. Through ethnographic and participatory action research methods, students will conduct interviews with community members in three countries and collectively compile global health data, media, and personal reflection and discussion. Through a collaborative play-building process guided by the course instructors, students will organize and transform their research into an ethnographic documentary play. This play will function as a vehicle for research dissemination and will be shared globally through a live-streamed reading. Students interested in health, public health, health disparities, global identities, cultural exchange, and applied (arts-based) research methods are encouraged to participate in this unique and novel opportunity.

Good luck on this new project to all the people involved!

What is ENVOIE?

ENVOIE (Enabling Virtual Online International Exchange) is a teaching and learning innovation programme at the University of Groningen. ENVOIE (pronounced /ˈenvɔɪ/, as in English 'envoy') aims to promote Online International Exchangee (OIE) as university-wide practice. OIE is also known elsewhere as Virtual Exchange.

Online International Exchange (OIE) is the term used by the University of Groningen to describe a form of computer-mediated learning in which students from geographically remote classes work together online (in pairs or small groups) on learning tasks developed by teachers and educational supporters from the participating institutions.

The interest of educational institutions worldwide in OIE is growing fast because of its potential for enhancing intercultural communicative competence, language proficiency, digital literacy, and discipline-specific or transversal collaboration skills (21st century skills).

OIE is also known more generally as 'Virtual Exchange' (VE). Here is a short video which explains how VE works and how it may be used to enhance contemporary learning attributes in a university setting: