BUILDING VIRTUAL INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

1. “So many haven’t traveled out of state, so working with Kazakh students through
EDGE offered a mind-expanding experience they won’t forget.”
-Alan Peslak, professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State Scranton
Since 2019, a top-ranked higher education institution
in Kazakhstan, S. Seifullin Agro Technical University
(KazATU), has connected its students and faculty with
their counterparts at Pennsylvania State University. Both
institutions prioritize the role of a global perspective in
higher education. As studying or researching abroad is
not always a possibility for students and faculty, these
institutions have gone beyond borders digitally.
To support global experience for all its students and
faculty, the Penn State Beaver campus developed
the Experiential Digital Global Engagement or EDGE
program. EDGE enables Penn State faculty to co-create
curriculum with their peers in other countries, leveraging
accessible technology platforms like Zoom to enhance
student interaction.
“Our students are less likely to study abroad than at
other institutions,” said Chancellor Jenifer Cushman,
who launched EDGE at Penn State Beaver in 2016.
“Interacting with students in the virtual classroom really
connects the international realm and links to future study
abroad potential.”
With a grant awarded through the Central Asia University
Partnerships Program (UniCEN), administered by
American Councils and funded by the US Department of
State through the US Embassy in Kazakhstan, KazATU
and Penn State have broadened their international
activity using EDGE.
HIGH-IMPACT LEARNING ACROSS 10 TIME ZONES
Through UniCEN, American Councils has cultivated a
network of dozens of higher educational institutions
across Central Asia, and provided coaching and training
to realize partnerships with US institutions. In 2018,
Penn State Beaver invited two faculty members from
the KazATU to its campus in Monaca, Pennsylvania for
a workshop on how to launch EDGE, and see it working
in real time. A reciprocal visit of Penn State faculty to
Kazakhstan further established the parameters of the
project, preliminary design, and possibilities for future
semester-long projects. As a result of the initial campus
visits, faculty designed two separate three-week modules
where US and Kazakh students worked together in
classrooms over video in real time.
In fall 2019, thirty-three KazATU ecology students and
eight Penn State Scranton IT majors took part in co-
designed and multi-disciplinary EDGE classes. KazATU
students collected data on plant distribution in northern
Kazakhstan and provided it to their student peers at Penn
State Scranton, who created Eco Life, an Android app that
brings soil data to life through data visualization, maps,
and a glossary.
“Students develop their critical thinking skills by finding
solutions to the issues they face in developing the app,
so they are now thinking more innovatively,” said Alina
Zhaglovskaya, the professor who co-led the course.
In an English for Academic Purposes course, KazATU’s
agronomy students collaborated with Penn State
Beaver’s business writing students on two projects that
contrasted food choices in the US and Kazakhstan, and
a class presentation and discussion of English slang
expressions. This interdisciplinary format prepared
business writing students to communicate effectively
with an international audience, interact with different
cultures, and develop digital skills.
VIRTUAL INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE IS
TRANSFORMATIVE
Such high-impact practices help cultivate diverse
and inclusive experiences for students to prepare
them for the 21st century workforce, explained Tiffany
MacQuarrie, an assistant teaching professor of English
who co-led the project.
“The benefit of EDGE is that students can work together
in a short time, interactions where students learn
about culture and their schools and backgrounds,” she
said. “In order for our students to be competitive, we
recognize the value of connecting with other countries,
BUILDING VIRTUAL
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
IN HIGHER EDUCATION

2. recognizing that we are global citizens. There is
importance in communicating and learning about
our place in the world and in the world around us.”
Another key benefit of virtual exchange is accessibility.
By avoiding the costs associated with international travel,
US and Kazakh students took part in transformative
academic experiences and completed assignments with
real-world application. Giving IT students the opportunity
for an international project was too good to pass up,
shared Alan Peslak, professor of information sciences and
technology at Penn State Scranton.
“So many haven’t traveled out of state, so working
with Kazakh students through EDGE offered a mind-
expanding experience they won’t forget,” he said.
“If there is a defined objective used outside of the
classroom, students work harder for an external client.”
In Kazakhstan, word of the program model’s
effectiveness spread quickly. In January 2020, the
Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in
Kazakhstan contacted KazATU and Penn State with a
request to build a custom app, which led to the launch
of another class with 10 students involved. This project
is now student-run with faculty members serving as
advisors. The department of agriculture and plant
production at KazATU now uses EDGE to teach English
for academic purposes in a first-year master’s course
that launched in 2020.
VIRTUAL EXCHANGE IS A MODEL FOR A NEW
ERA OF INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION
EDGE serves as a sustainable model for international
partnerships between US and Central Asian universities.
At present, KazATU is creating a guidebook for Kazakh
colleagues to help replicate online learning platforms
like EDGE. According to Saltanat Meiramova, Director
of International Cooperation at KazATU, the virtual
exchange model offers partners an inexpensive tool
that is easy to replicate.
“It builds a long-term collaboration with our American
partner and results in a syllabus designed for the
course,” she said. “The app can be taught and used
for future cohorts.”
The project, supported by UniCEN, helped both Penn State
and KazATU better understand international collaborations
and uncover further opportunities in Central Asia. Despite
an 11-hour time difference, faculty in Pennsylvania and
Nur-Sultan broke down the barriers for global learning.
ABOUT UNICEN
Funded by the US Department of State through its missions
in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, UniCEN is a platform to
increase sustainable collaborations between US and
Central Asian higher education institutions. UniCEN builds
expertise in the areas of strategic planning, administration,
faculty policies and practices, student mobility, curriculum
development, and alumni relations to advance the
development of mutually beneficial partnerships.
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
Penn State Beaver and Penn State Scranton
Penn State is a public research university with 24
campuses across Pennsylvania, offering bachelor
and graduate programs with a global perspective.
Penn State Beaver is a commonwealth campus of
Pennsylvania State University located in Center
Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Penn
State Scranton is also a commonwealth campus
of the Pennsylvania State University located in
Dunmore, Pennsylvania.
S. Seifullin Agro Technical University
(KazATU)
One of the top-ranked higher education
institutions in Kazakhstan, S. Seifullin Agro
Technical University (KazATU) has rapidly
expanded its international collaborations
with the United States.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Adrian Erlinger | aerlinger@americancouncils.org