This Staff Training Program is open to instructors, teachers, and educators from any institution who want practical and conceptual tools to innovate their teaching.
The program consists of a series of interactive webinars exploring the activities, assignments, and technologies at the centre of TREnD’s immersive methodology. Each session is led by an experienced instructor and includes operative examples, bibliographical references, and best practices.
Key themes include:
- Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and virtual exchange design
- Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): goals, methods, and classroom applications
- Critical mapping for environmental and social challenges
- Virtual reality tools and immersive learning in higher education
In this session, Kelly Tzoumis (DePaul University / Johns Hopkins University) introduces the use of Virtual Exchanges for Global Learning.
How can virtual exchanges help students collaborate across borders, cultures, and disciplines? COIL method and other evidence-based approaches help to design meaningful online international learning experiences.
Drawing on years of teaching, research, and networking, the session explores practical tools, intercultural competencies, assessment strategies, and best practices for building impactful virtual exchanges that prepare students to think critically, communicate empathetically, and engage with global challenges.
In this session, Bill Rankin (Yale University) explores Critical Mapping for Higher Education.
Maps are never neutral and critical cartography can challenge the power structures often embedded in mainstream mapping.
Drawing on the history of data maps and on cartography, the session shows how maps can become tools for questioning dominant narratives, visualising environmental and social inequalities, and teaching students to think critically about place, power, and knowledge.
When do immersive technologies truly add value to teaching? In this TREnD staff training session, Miriam Mulders (University of Duisburg-Essen) explores how Virtual and Extended Reality (VR/XR) can support experiential, collaborative, and sustainability-oriented learning in higher education.
Moving beyond technological novelty, the webinar focuses on pedagogical design, accessibility, ethical challenges, and practical implementation.
Through concrete examples and reflective activities, participants learn how VR/XR can foster presence, exploration, perspective-taking, and emotional engagement while remaining grounded in clear educational goals.
How can virtual exchange support large-scale sustainability education?
In this TREnD staff training session, Hanna Lappalainen (University of Helsinki) presents the Erasmus+ CLUVEX and UnaVEx projects, two University of Helsinki-led initiatives connecting thousands of students through online learning on climate change and sustainable development.
Drawing on these projects, the session shares practical lessons on integrating virtual exchange into MOOCs, distance learning, and international sustainability education.