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The Daily Tar Heel

ECU students going global

Supplement study abroad with web

Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a study abroad program, many students at East Carolina University are experiencing foreign culture inside the classroom.

The Global Understanding Program was created in 2003 to help students who are not able to travel abroad. The program allows students to video chat with people in different parts of the world and continue the correspondence through e-mail.

The program has increased in popularity since its start and thousands of students are now enrolled in its courses.

Rosina Chia, assistant vice chancellor for global academic initiatives and co-creator of the program, said that the program is an inexpensive way to experience a different culture.

“In these days, it is very difficult to study abroad because of terrorism and the economy,” Chia said. “However, the world is becoming more global, and we want to give our students a cheaper and safer alternative.”

At ECU 1 to 2 percent of students study abroad, said James Gehlhar, associate vice chancellor for international affairs at ECU.

More students choose to enroll in the program so that they can interact with other college students from more than 22 different campuses and 18 different countries, said Elmer Poe, assistant vice chancellor for emerging academic initiatives and co-creator of the program.

The objective of the course is to use simple technology, such as e-mail and video chat, inside the classroom to interact with students in another country and, more importantly, learn and understand their culture, Poe said.

The program has had a positive reaction from ECU students and has grown in universities around the world that connect with ECU, Gehlhar said.

In order to be a global partner with ECU, students must be able to speak English and universities must be able to provide simple technology for the class to take place.

These two prerequisites are sometimes difficult to obtain because many campuses don’t have technology like broadband Internet or adequate computers, Poe said.

The program helps them acquire the equipment in hopes of creating a partnership, Chia and Poe said.

“All of the students come out winners and the campuses do too, because its students are more aware of what is going on in the world from other points of view,” Gehlhar said.

Bob Miles, associate dean for UNC Study Abroad and International Exchanges, said that UNC does not have a program similar to Global Understanding, and most of the classrooms that hold video conferences are at the graduate level.

“The focus of this office is to send students abroad,” Miles said. “The college remains very committed to keep doing that.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.

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