Faculty members from La Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USD) and Coastal Carolina University (CCU) partnered to offer a course on Global Environmental Politics and Political Ecology over a five-week period in the Spring of 2012.
In their implementation report, faculty noted that this has been a very worthwhile experience, which has been enriching at the personal and professional levels for students and course instructors. Faculty noted that they would hope to offer the course again as technology becomes available.
The course was taught in English and no language issues were reported since students at both institutions were fluent in English. Students gathered together as an entire group twice via video conference, and broke out into small groups of 3-5 students for interactive blogging assignments. The course employed three modes of communication: 1) video conference, 2) blogs, and 3) a visit by one partner faculty member from USD for an in-person lecture at CCU.
The course assessment involved interactive blogs, a joint research Wiki project, a project presentation, a mid-term assignment, a final exam, and a reflective essay about the GNLE experience. The full report published by COIL also includes common assessment rubrics that have been developed by course instructors. The students’ blogs and other assignments are available here.
Some technology issues were experienced due to Interconnect connection failures. As a result, faculty would recommend seeking a partner institution with strong Internet connections and easy access for future GNLE projects.
For further details about this case study – and to find many other practical examples – see the full report here: COIL Institute for Globally Networked Learning in the Humanities: Course Development and Implementation Case Study. Collaborative Online International Learning Institute.
The following is a list of the case studies that are included in the report:
- Australia – USA: Film & Screening
- Australia – USA: History & Anthropology
- Australia – USA: Theater & Voice
- Belize – USA: English Literature & Composition
- Canada – USA: Political Science & Youth Culture
- Croatia – USA: Rhetoric & Composition
- Ecuador – USA: Environmental Studies
- Germany – USA: World Science Fiction
- Ghana – USA: Film & Media Studies
- Ghana – USA: Introduction to Global Citizenship
- India – USA: Missed Connections: Anatomy of a Failed GLC
- Japan – USA: Global Studies and English as a Foreign Language
- Japan – USA: Japanese Language & Culture
- Japan – USA: Sociology-Global Youth Culture
- Lebanon – USA: Human Rights
- Mexico – USA: Women’s Studies & Political Science
- Netherlands – USA: Intercultural Studies
- Romania – UK – USA: Political Science & Public Administration
- Russia – USA: Women and Gender Studies & Linguistics
- Russia – USA: History
- Russia – USA: Intercultural Communications & Foreign Languages
- South Africa – Denmark – USA: Music
- South Korea – USA: Technical Writing & Communication
- Spain – USA: Spanish & English, Languages & Cultures
- Turkey – USA: Economics
