About Us

How this Consortium began

The Consortium of Virtual Exchange was set up at a joint meeting of the Country Coordinators of the ProGlobe and the Building Bridges Across Continents (BBAC) projects held on the 8 May 2020. This meeting was preceded by earlier meetings in Sankt Augustin, Germany on 20 February 2020. During these meetings, members discussed the possibility of setting up a Virtual Exchange Consortium with Coordinators from Canada, Ghana, Germany, Portugal, Kenya and the USA as founding members. They unanimously agreed to start the Consortium.

Objectives of the Consortium

The objectives of the Consortium:

  • To encourage the use of virtual exchanges in learning;
  • To provide an opportunity to exchange ideas;
  • Sharing best practices and research outcomes; and
  • To build a community of virtual exchange practitioners comes.

Vision and Mission

Get to know more about the Consortium’s Vision and Mission

Vision statement

Building a community of Virtual Exchange

Mission Statement

We offer opportunities to work virtually on joint projects around the world to share ideas and create knowledge to foster global diversity.

CoVE Definition of Virtual Exchange

Virtual Exchange is a meaningful high-quality educational experience that allows students to interchange ideas, to reflect on the diversity of different cultures and create collaborative content with others around the globe using digital communication skills.  Digital tools  can intensify and at the same time complement an active and meaningful discourse on global issues worldwide, encompassing opportunities to work interdisciplinary, while enhancing multiple and multimodal literacies.

Purpose of the Consortium

To build a community of virtual exchange enthusiasts, educators, and administrators. We offer a platform for learning and collaborating with different students and faculty around the world to develop 21st century skills, multicultural respect and offer an opportunity to share ideas while promoting cultural diversity and mutual understanding. We offer opportunities to work virtually on joint projects around the world to share ideas and create knowledge to foster global diversity.

We also have been promoting that students and faculty from diverse backgrounds, including from developing nations in Africa have a chance to benefit from activities that foster  internationalization@home.

Paula Fonseca

MEMBER

Paula Fonseca

Paula Fonseca is an assistant professor at the Management Department of the Polytechnic
Institute of Viseu (Portugal). She holds a PhD degree in Advanced English Studies from the
University of Salamanca (Spain), a Master’s Degree in Teaching Languages from the University of
Aveiro (Portugal) and a Master’s Degree in Education, Teaching English as a Second Language
from Rhode Island College (USA). She has been teaching English and Spanish as a foreign
language in higher education for over 25 years. She has collaborated in a number of
international projects and has also participated in international conferences. She is an integrated
member of the Centre for Studies in Education and Innovation from the Polytechnic Institute of
Viseu. Her research interests include: virtual exchange, technology in foreign language
teaching/learning, cognitive linguistics, multimodality, political humor, academic English and
religious tourism.
 
Regina Brautlacht

DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Regina Brautlacht

Senior Lecturer in English and Business Communication and Presidential Commissioner (H-BRS) Language Centre and Office of the President; Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Sankt Augustin, Germany since 2009; Full-time teaching position in a public university (tenured appointment); Advising and initiating global learning initiatives; English Language Coordinator for the Department of Management Sciences. The hiring of casual staff for English language courses; Curriculum development for blended learning courses in English from A2-C1 level; Lecture at the bachelor’s level: Business English: A Simulation Course in Entrepreneurship, Virtual Student Exchange BBAC & ProGlobe, Presentation and Rhetorical Skills, Academic Writing and Master’s level: Communication Skills (Managerial Accounting) and Business Communication (Marketing).

 

University Appointments & Affiliations: Appointed Presidential Commissioner |Advisor for Global Digital Learning since 2018 for the President’s Office, Appointed Member of the Commission for International Affairs since 2018, Appointed Presidential Member of the Quality Improvement Commission since 2018, Appointed Presidential Member of the Commission for Teaching and Learning since 2013; Member of Peer Coaching Team since 2016; Founding Member of the Core Team Digital Teaching since 2017; Associated Member of the Centre of Entrepreneurship and SMEs (CENTIM) since 2017.

Research Faculty: BET –  Building Expertise and Training for Growth in the Consumer Goods and Food Processing in Ghana (DAAD/BMZ); Partnership for Applied Sciences – PASS (DAAD) from 2017-2018; GAUP –  German-African Entrepreneurship Project (DAAD) 2015-2018; Work&Study an e-learning grant (Federal Government BMBF €4.7 m) 2016 –2019.

International Activities in Higher Education: Initiated & coordinate several virtual exchange projects, such as Building Bridges Across Continents (BBAC), European Dialogue Project (EDP) and German-American Project (GASP) and conduct on a regular basis Capacity Building Workshops for Faculty in Ghana and Kenya for Practice-Oriented Teaching and E-learning Methodology since 2014.

DAAD & EU Expert – Global Digital Learning and Pedagogy; Review EU grant applications (Erasmus+) and IMKD,  IVAC  and other DAAD grants for virtual exchange and mobility since 2018

Consortium of Virtual Exchange (CoVE), Deputy Director and founding member since May 2020.

Lurdes Martins

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND INNOVATION

Lurdes Martins

Maria de Lurdes Martins is a Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, where she teaches and English in the Bachelor of Tourism and the Technical Course of Wine Tourism. She is currently the coordinator of the Wine Tourism course. Between 2012 and 2018, she coordinated Erasmus + mobility in the Management Department and was co-responsible for the creation of 3 International Semesters aimed at Erasmus students. She has been part of virtual exchange projects since 2014. Since then she has collaborated in the planning and implementation of virtual exchange projects with Germany, the USA, Canada, Ghana, Kenya, Italy and France. The participation in these projects has allowed participation in international conferences and some publications. She has Postgraduate Education in Multimedia in Education and has developed a PhD thesis in the area of Web 2.0 technologies in foreign language learning.

Her research interests focus on virtual exchange, international project planning and management, and languages for specific purposes.

Julian Kristi

MEMBER

Kristi Julian

Prof. Dr Kristi Julian

Middle Tennessee State University, USA

Dr Kristi Julian is a Professor and Program Coordinator at Middle Tennessee State University. Dr Julian is an (NCIDQ) registered interior designer with experience in facilities design, healthcare, hospitality and construction.

Dr. Julian has over 30 years of practical experience. She is an accreditation site visitor chair and has experience conducting hybrid and virtual site visits. Her research interests focus on interior design pedagogy, virtual exchange and sustainability.

Executive Director

Gloria K.Q Agyapong

Gloria K.Q Agyapong is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing. She holds a PhD and MBA in Marketing; Bachelor of Management Studies; and a Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK). Gloria is innovative and has the ability to coordinate both local and international projects. She has been involved in the implementation of both local and international projects including the German-African Entrepreneurship project, BET Ghana Project, and BAIN project, which is part of the CoVE Network. Gloria is a reviewer for several international journals and published in several internationally recognized journals and conferences. Her particular areas of research interests include service quality management; social marketing, sustainability marketing and SMEs market orientation. She teaches courses in marketing such as strategic and international marketing, marketing research, and marketing communications.

Contact Details: gagyapong@ucc.edu.gh

Wendi Hulme

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND ONLINE INTERFACE

Wendi Hulme

WENDI HULME – MA Int. Des., ARIDO, NCIDQ cert. #021336, IDEC, LEED AP 

Wendi Hulme is a Professor in the School of Design at Fanshawe College, teaching in the Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours) program, with 10 years teaching experience. As a registered (educator) Interior Designer with ARIDO, Wendi has 20+ years of practical experience in Canada and the USA on residential and commercial projects. She is a Council for Interior Design Accreditation Site Visitor and LEED Accredited Professional with her research interests focused on sustainability and virtual exchange.

Prof. Daniel Agyapong, UCC

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Daniel Agyapong

Daniel Agyapong is an Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship and the Director (Directorate of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance)  at the University of Cape Coast (Ghana). He is also an SME and PBL trainer and researcher who has published more than 50 research articles on SME financing and sustainable business development. He has worked at his current university since 2004. He holds a PhD in Business Administration and is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and Institute of Professional Managers Association, UK.

He has been involved in the implementation of both local and international projects, including the African Institute of Transformational Entrepreneurship, Building Expertise and Training for Growth in the Consumer Goods and Food Processing Industry in Ghana (BET Ghana) Project, GIZ ComCashew, Switch Africa Green, E-MAGIN, Graduate Enterprise Development Initiative, Participatory Appraisals of Competitive Advantage, Building Bridges Across Continents, the Partnership for Applied Sciences, and the German-African University Partnership Platform for the Development of Entrepreneurs.

Contact Details: dagyapong@ucc.edu.gh
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