Written by: Stephanie Fountain and Stephanie Schnicker
Published by: AACSB Insights
MBA News Digest Comment: None.
Extracted Content: Virtual global experiences are a pandemic innovation that should—and will—remain in higher education.
With campuses closing and travel restrictions soaring in February 2020, countless University of Iowa students were forced to prematurely return home from studying abroad. With travel at a standstill, entire cohorts of students were at risk of losing the opportunity to study abroad. It was our responsibility to keep their learning on track by quickly rethinking our format for international education.
In doing so, we first had to accept today’s reality: Virtual global experiences are not study abroad programs. We did not pretend that we could replicate a study abroad program from our students’ homes. Instead, we knew that the Tippie College of Business could create an experience that would pique students’ curiosity, deepen their global business understanding, and introduce a framework for cultural learning.