Source: CAS Newsletter
This Spring, undergraduate students enrolled in Beginning French 2 (FRE 1131) Online at the University of Florida participated in an innovative virtual exchange project with students studying English in person at the Language Center of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce et d’Informatique de Gestion of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso. This innovative learning experience was developed and led by Nathalie Ciesco, Assistant Instructional Professor of French at UF, and her colleague Salifou Dabo, Senior Language Instructor and Head of ESCO-IGES Language Center of Ouagadougou. The main learning goals of this 13-week e-tandem virtual exchange titled “Getting to Know Each Other” were for students to develop linguistic accuracy and fluency in the target language as well as a better understanding of their peers’ culture and society; and for all participants to practice and develop intercultural communicative competence, international collaboration, and global connections. Furthermore, the overarching design goal of this virtual exchange was to offer students learning French in an asynchronous online course, an additional opportunity to practice their language skills with peers in Ouagadougou.
Prof. Ciesco attended the Virtual Exchange Training offered by the Office of Global Learning at UFIC and has recently completed the Global Learning Institute.