By Kelly DelGaizo, Ed.D., Professor, Communication Studies
March 3, 2025
During the Fall 2024 semester, I implemented my first iteration of the Global Online Learning Exchange (GOLE) program with Anna Yuen of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). The collaboration occurred within my asynchronous section of Intercultural Communication at St. John’s and Ms. Yuen’s section of Public Relations and Advertising at HKBU. While completing GOLE training in the Spring 2024, I worked with Ms. Yuen on a pilot exchange, which served as a test for the full iteration during the Fall 2024 semester.
While creating global citizens is at the core of the St. John’s mission, not all students are able to participate in traditional study abroad programs. However, adding an option for a virtual exchange allows for interactive and meaningful global connections by utilizing available technology and creative pedagogy. The collaboration described here is one example of how GOLE contributes to the mission of St. John’s.
Prior to the exchange, St. John’s students were asked to research and share information about Hong Kong’s demographics, holidays, culture, and history in our Canvas course. Then, to start the virtual exchange, St. John’s and HKBU students were given prompts to create “icebreaker” videos to introduce themselves to one another via Padlet. These initial videos served as a means for St. John’s and HKBU students to get to know one another and as a way for St. John’s students to apply what they were learning about Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory, such as individualism and collectivism. Later, both groups of students shared videos of advertisements from their own culture, explaining how their cultural values were shown in those ads.
The third part of the virtual exchange considered “environment” as part of nonverbal communication within intercultural communication. For this, St. John’s students created “a day in the life” videos to share glimpses of their lives and culture with HKBU students and open further discussion.
At the end of the semester, St. John’s students completed final projects reflecting through an intercultural communication lens on their experiences with the GOLE program. Overall, students voiced their appreciation for the opportunity for virtual exchange and many noted that this experience encouraged them to learn more about other cultures beyond the exchange.
One student commented, “It was fulfilling to realize the extent of knowledge we could exchange, even with the geographical and cultural gaps that separated us.”
Another noted that it was “intellectually stimulating and personally meaningful.” A third student expressed that the GOLE exchange gave “real-world experiences with the concepts learned in class.”
It was truly rewarding to watch the students grow through the course and the virtual exchange program, and I am hopeful to complete another GOLE iteration in the near future.