Intercâmbio virtual em instituições de ensino superior: avaliação do modelo de aprendizagem internacional colaborativa on-line entre IPB e UTFPR

Abstract

The internationalization of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is driven by constant changes in the world, however such changes impact every structure, areas and every complexity that involves the academic scenario. Commitment to the international training of future professionals and the search for alternatives for the development of Global Competence of students become essential and priorities in HEIs. Internationalization at Home (IaH) and Virtual Exchange aim to improve and contribute to the learning and development process of the professionals of the future. The objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the Collaborative On-line International Learning – COIL, as a proposal for virtual exchange that enables Internationalization at Home, providing the development of global competence to the students of HEIs. The methodological support procedures had two main strands: literature review and practical case study of the cooperation project between the Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UTFPR) and the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB). It was identified that HEIs play a fundamental role in promoting local and global development and need to be aligned with the needs and new characteristics driven by new technologies, actions and internationalization strategies. This dissertation presents the concepts, definitions of internationalization of HEIs and results of the practical case study of COIL. It was found that the COIL model encourages the implementation of comprehensive and international curricula in HEIs and promotes actions of Internationalization at Home effectively for the academic training of professionals. One of the main results of the research defines COIL as a model of internationalization integrated into the higher education process, which includes collaborative practices using Information and communication technologies (ICTs) to virtually connect students, teachers and HEIs from different countries in collaborative projects, aiming at solving mutual problems through active learning. As a product of the research, a reference structure for the implementation of the COIL model in HEIs was drafted.