Robert O’dowd
Biographic Data
| ID | 1585591 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Robert O’dowd |
| GIVEN NAMES | Robert |
| FAMILY NAME | O’dowd |
| SIGNATURE | O’DOWD R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universidad de León |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7348-135X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 25 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Virtual Exchange as an educational tool in contexts of conflict: Potential and challenges
This study examines Virtual Exchange (VE) in contexts of conflict through qualitative data from 29 educators. The research explores VE's role in providing intercultural learning opportunities, trauma support, and potential peacebuilding in conflict zones. Findings reveal educators’ perceptions that VEs enable students to share their experiences internationally and maintain educational continuity during conflict, while also highlighting challenges…
The Learning Process Is Mutual”: Connecting Student Teachers and In-Service Teachers in Intercultural Virtual Exchange
This article reports on a case study where students of Initial Teacher Education in Spain and Germany collaborated with in-service teachers from around Europe on the theme of Foreign Language materials development. It examines to what extent engagement in this model of virtual exchange contributes to student teachers’ and in-service teachers’ intercultural and didactic competence development. The study also explores how students’ perspectives on …
Issues of equity and inclusion in Virtual Exchange
The increasing recognition of the limitations of physical mobility programs has led Foreign Language departments to consider online approaches such as Virtual Exchange (VE) and Blended Mobility as alternatives in international education. These online approaches have the potential to promote inclusion and diversity by providing opportunities for student cohorts who are unable to participate in traditional mobility programs. However, there are stil…
The First Steps of Blended Mobility in European Higher Education: A Survey of Blended Intensive Programmes
Blended Mobility refers to the strategic combination of phases of online learning with periods of short physical mobility. This approach to international learning has gained considerable interest in European university education in recent years due to the introduction of Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) in the new Erasmus + programme. BIPs are defined as a form of Blended Mobility which involve short, intensive programmes that use innovative w…
Upscaling Virtual Exchange in University Education: Moving From Innovative Classroom Practice to Regional Governmental Policy
Virtual exchange (VE) is an educational practice that involves the engagement of groups of learners in extended periods of online intercultural interaction and collaboration with international peers as an integrated part of their educational programs and under the guidance of educators and/or facilitators. Despite more than 20 years of research and recent large-scale initiatives such as Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, this approach remains relatively …
What do students learn in virtual exchange? A qualitative content analysis of learning outcomes across multiple exchanges
Virtual exchange refers to the engagement of groups of learners in online intercultural interaction and collaboration with partners from other cultural contexts or geographical locations as an integrated part of course work and under the guidance of educators and/or expert facilitators. This study presents a qualitative content analysis of reported learning outcomes by students of English in a Spanish university following their participation in o…
A transnational model of virtual exchange for global citizenship education
Virtual exchange is a well-known pedagogical approach in foreign language (FL) education which involves engaging classes in online intercultural collaboration projects with international partners as an integrated part of their educational programmes. This paper begins by reviewing e-tandem and telecollaborative approaches to virtual exchange which are currently being used extensively in FL education and presents two case studies which illustrate …
The Role of Pedagogical Mentoring in Virtual Exchange
Virtual exchange, or telecollaboration, is a well‐known pedagogical approach in foreign language education that involves engaging classes in online intercultural collaboration projects with international partners as an integrated part of their educational programmes. This article focuses on the role of the teacher as pedagogical mentor in virtual exchange and examines the impact of the strategies and techniques that teachers use in their classes …
From telecollaboration to virtual exchange: State-of-the-art and the role of Unicollaboration in moving forward
Telecollaboration, or ‘virtual exchange’, are terms used to refer to the engagement of groups of learners in online intercultural interactions and collaboration projects with partners from other cultural contexts or geographical locations as an integrated part of their educational programmes. In recent years, approaches to virtual exchange have evolved in different contexts and different areas of education, and these approaches have had, at times…
The training and accreditation of teachers for English medium instruction: An overview of practice in European universities
English-medium instruction (EMI) is widely believed in higher education contexts to support the internationalisation of universities, to make study programmes more accessible to international students and to enhance the international prestige of academic staff. However, the pressure on European institutions to offer subjects through English raises the issue of whether a sufficient number of teachers are capable of teaching their subject content t…
Innovations and Challenges in Using Online Communication Technologies in CLIL
In content and language integrated learning (CLIL) contexts, online communication technologies have great potential for supporting the development of students’ foreign language skills and intercultural competence, and for increasing understanding of subject matter. One effective way of engaging CLIL students in motivating and innovative online learning is virtual exchange, or telecollaboration. Virtual exchange involves engaging students in onlin…
Virtual Exchange and internationalising the classroom
Telecollaboration, or ‘Virtual Exchange’ refers to the application of online communication tools to bring together classes of learners in geographically distant locations with the aim of developing their foreign language skills, digital competence and intercultural competence through online collaborative tasks and project work. In recent years approaches to Virtual Exchange have evolved in different contexts and different areas of university educ…
Online Intercultural Exchanges
Online intercultural exchange (henceforth OICE) refers to the application since the early 1990s of online communication tools to bring together classes of language learners in geographically distant locations with the aim to develop their foreign language skills and intercultural competence through collaborative tasks and project work.
Online foreign language interaction: Moving from the periphery to the core of foreign language education
In this paper I argue that online intercultural interaction and exchange remains a relatively peripheral ‘add-on’ activity in most foreign language classrooms. In its current state, it is yet to be considered an integral part of curricular activity and it does not yet form a significant part of high stakes assessment procedures. Against this background, it is becoming increasingly difficult for educators to justify to learners the value of their …
Online Intercultural Exchange: An Introduction for Foreign Language Teachers
This book explores online intercultural exchange, the activity of engaging learners in collaborative project work with partners from other cultures using online communication technology. It examines how online collaboration can be integrated into the foreign language classroom and can improve students’ intercultural communicative competence.
Negotiating Sociocultural and Institutional Contexts: The Case of Spanish–American Telecollaboration
This paper reports on a telecollaborative exchange between university language learners in Spain and the USA and analyses the effects of the different institutional and sociocultural contexts on its development. While the socioinstitutional dimension of German–American exchanges has already benefited from extensive study in the literature, this paper focuses on the particular issues and problems which arise in the Spanish–American context and ill…
A transnational model of virtual exchange for global citizenship education
Virtual exchange is a well-known pedagogical approach in foreign language (FL) education which involves engaging classes in online intercultural collaboration projects with international partners as an integrated part of their educational programmes. This paper begins by reviewing e-tandem and telecollaborative approaches to virtual exchange which are currently being used extensively in FL education and presents two case studies which illustrate …
Negotiating Sociocultural and Institutional Contexts: The Case of Spanish–American Telecollaboration
This paper reports on a telecollaborative exchange between university language learners in Spain and the USA and analyses the effects of the different institutional and sociocultural contexts on its development. While the socioinstitutional dimension of German–American exchanges has already benefited from extensive study in the literature, this paper focuses on the particular issues and problems which arise in the Spanish–American context and ill…
Online foreign language interaction: Moving from the periphery to the core of foreign language education
In this paper I argue that online intercultural interaction and exchange remains a relatively peripheral ‘add-on’ activity in most foreign language classrooms. In its current state, it is yet to be considered an integral part of curricular activity and it does not yet form a significant part of high stakes assessment procedures. Against this background, it is becoming increasingly difficult for educators to justify to learners the value of their …
The Role of Pedagogical Mentoring in Virtual Exchange
Virtual exchange, or telecollaboration, is a well‐known pedagogical approach in foreign language education that involves engaging classes in online intercultural collaboration projects with international partners as an integrated part of their educational programmes. This article focuses on the role of the teacher as pedagogical mentor in virtual exchange and examines the impact of the strategies and techniques that teachers use in their classes …
Innovations and Challenges in Using Online Communication Technologies in CLIL
In content and language integrated learning (CLIL) contexts, online communication technologies have great potential for supporting the development of students’ foreign language skills and intercultural competence, and for increasing understanding of subject matter. One effective way of engaging CLIL students in motivating and innovative online learning is virtual exchange, or telecollaboration. Virtual exchange involves engaging students in onlin…
Issues of equity and inclusion in Virtual Exchange
The increasing recognition of the limitations of physical mobility programs has led Foreign Language departments to consider online approaches such as Virtual Exchange (VE) and Blended Mobility as alternatives in international education. These online approaches have the potential to promote inclusion and diversity by providing opportunities for student cohorts who are unable to participate in traditional mobility programs. However, there are stil…
Negotiating Sociocultural and Institutional Contexts: The Case of Spanish–American Telecollaboration
This paper reports on a telecollaborative exchange between university language learners in Spain and the USA and analyses the effects of the different institutional and sociocultural contexts on its development. While the socioinstitutional dimension of German–American exchanges has already benefited from extensive study in the literature, this paper focuses on the particular issues and problems which arise in the Spanish–American context and ill…
Online Intercultural Exchange: An Introduction for Foreign Language Teachers
This book explores online intercultural exchange, the activity of engaging learners in collaborative project work with partners from other cultures using online communication technology. It examines how online collaboration can be integrated into the foreign language classroom and can improve students’ intercultural communicative competence.
Online foreign language interaction: Moving from the periphery to the core of foreign language education
In this paper I argue that online intercultural interaction and exchange remains a relatively peripheral ‘add-on’ activity in most foreign language classrooms. In its current state, it is yet to be considered an integral part of curricular activity and it does not yet form a significant part of high stakes assessment procedures. Against this background, it is becoming increasingly difficult for educators to justify to learners the value of their …
Online Intercultural Exchanges
Online intercultural exchange (henceforth OICE) refers to the application since the early 1990s of online communication tools to bring together classes of language learners in geographically distant locations with the aim to develop their foreign language skills and intercultural competence through collaborative tasks and project work.
Virtual Exchange and internationalising the classroom
Telecollaboration, or ‘Virtual Exchange’ refers to the application of online communication tools to bring together classes of learners in geographically distant locations with the aim of developing their foreign language skills, digital competence and intercultural competence through online collaborative tasks and project work. In recent years approaches to Virtual Exchange have evolved in different contexts and different areas of university educ…
From telecollaboration to virtual exchange: State-of-the-art and the role of Unicollaboration in moving forward
Telecollaboration, or ‘virtual exchange’, are terms used to refer to the engagement of groups of learners in online intercultural interactions and collaboration projects with partners from other cultural contexts or geographical locations as an integrated part of their educational programmes. In recent years, approaches to virtual exchange have evolved in different contexts and different areas of education, and these approaches have had, at times…
The training and accreditation of teachers for English medium instruction: An overview of practice in European universities
English-medium instruction (EMI) is widely believed in higher education contexts to support the internationalisation of universities, to make study programmes more accessible to international students and to enhance the international prestige of academic staff. However, the pressure on European institutions to offer subjects through English raises the issue of whether a sufficient number of teachers are capable of teaching their subject content t…
Innovations and Challenges in Using Online Communication Technologies in CLIL
In content and language integrated learning (CLIL) contexts, online communication technologies have great potential for supporting the development of students’ foreign language skills and intercultural competence, and for increasing understanding of subject matter. One effective way of engaging CLIL students in motivating and innovative online learning is virtual exchange, or telecollaboration. Virtual exchange involves engaging students in onlin…
A transnational model of virtual exchange for global citizenship education
Virtual exchange is a well-known pedagogical approach in foreign language (FL) education which involves engaging classes in online intercultural collaboration projects with international partners as an integrated part of their educational programmes. This paper begins by reviewing e-tandem and telecollaborative approaches to virtual exchange which are currently being used extensively in FL education and presents two case studies which illustrate …
The Role of Pedagogical Mentoring in Virtual Exchange
Virtual exchange, or telecollaboration, is a well‐known pedagogical approach in foreign language education that involves engaging classes in online intercultural collaboration projects with international partners as an integrated part of their educational programmes. This article focuses on the role of the teacher as pedagogical mentor in virtual exchange and examines the impact of the strategies and techniques that teachers use in their classes …
Upscaling Virtual Exchange in University Education: Moving From Innovative Classroom Practice to Regional Governmental Policy
Virtual exchange (VE) is an educational practice that involves the engagement of groups of learners in extended periods of online intercultural interaction and collaboration with international peers as an integrated part of their educational programs and under the guidance of educators and/or facilitators. Despite more than 20 years of research and recent large-scale initiatives such as Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, this approach remains relatively …
What do students learn in virtual exchange? A qualitative content analysis of learning outcomes across multiple exchanges
Virtual exchange refers to the engagement of groups of learners in online intercultural interaction and collaboration with partners from other cultural contexts or geographical locations as an integrated part of course work and under the guidance of educators and/or expert facilitators. This study presents a qualitative content analysis of reported learning outcomes by students of English in a Spanish university following their participation in o…
The First Steps of Blended Mobility in European Higher Education: A Survey of Blended Intensive Programmes
Blended Mobility refers to the strategic combination of phases of online learning with periods of short physical mobility. This approach to international learning has gained considerable interest in European university education in recent years due to the introduction of Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) in the new Erasmus + programme. BIPs are defined as a form of Blended Mobility which involve short, intensive programmes that use innovative w…
The Learning Process Is Mutual”: Connecting Student Teachers and In-Service Teachers in Intercultural Virtual Exchange
This article reports on a case study where students of Initial Teacher Education in Spain and Germany collaborated with in-service teachers from around Europe on the theme of Foreign Language materials development. It examines to what extent engagement in this model of virtual exchange contributes to student teachers’ and in-service teachers’ intercultural and didactic competence development. The study also explores how students’ perspectives on …
Issues of equity and inclusion in Virtual Exchange
The increasing recognition of the limitations of physical mobility programs has led Foreign Language departments to consider online approaches such as Virtual Exchange (VE) and Blended Mobility as alternatives in international education. These online approaches have the potential to promote inclusion and diversity by providing opportunities for student cohorts who are unable to participate in traditional mobility programs. However, there are stil…
Virtual Exchange as an educational tool in contexts of conflict: Potential and challenges
This study examines Virtual Exchange (VE) in contexts of conflict through qualitative data from 29 educators. The research explores VE's role in providing intercultural learning opportunities, trauma support, and potential peacebuilding in conflict zones. Findings reveal educators’ perceptions that VEs enable students to share their experiences internationally and maintain educational continuity during conflict, while also highlighting challenges…
Pedagogy (13 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Foreign language (6 works) · Intercultural communication (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Business (5 works)