Leading Change in Study Abroad Workshops

From January 27–29, 2025, CIEE and 14 partner institutions gathered at ASU’s Tempe campus for a focused workshop, Overcoming Curricular Barriers with Online Learning. Together, attendees explored strategies to expand ASU online access and experienced its flexible, intuitive technology firsthand through EdPlus and Dreamscape.

Some workshop participants arrived unsure about the benefits of online learning within a study abroad program but went home with appreciation for the benefits of the model.

Levi Brautigan, Associate Director, Office of Education Abroad at Villanova University, explained that his opinion about online learning underwent a radical reversal thanks to the workshop. "My experience with online learning is historically rooted in ineffective, one-way content delivery that is required for in-service and when learning needs to take place on a mass-scale," he said. "Combine that with the abrupt shift, in spring 2020, from in-person learning to a quarantined, 'stay in your room and take classes online' mode, and the trauma as many of us transitioned our personal lives and families to online learning following the outbreak of Covid-19, all added up to a strong personal bias towards online learning...After the workshop, I was happily disappointed with [my initial resistance] and convinced that integrating online learning into study abroad programs offers significant benefits."

“We often hear that much of student learning occurs outside the classroom. If this is so, then why not offer an option for the student to free up time during their day to take advantage of their host city and do their learning when it best suits their schedule and learning need/style,” said. Brautigan.

Dr. Ryan Larsen, Executive Director, Office of Global Engagement, and Senior International Officer at Western Washington University, was impressed by the level of online education pedagogy in ASU online courses. "[In the workshop I learned] there’s a way to design online learning that is engaging, integrative, and that delivers learning outcomes in measurable ways," he said.

Workshop attendees particularly appreciated hearing firsthand from students about their personal experiences combining online coursework with immersive study abroad. "Hearing directly from students who benefitted from the opportunity was particularly helpful and their enthusiasm was inspiring!" said Amy Shenberger, Interim Vice Provost for International Affairs and Director of Study Abroad at University of North Texas. "I went into the discussions unconvinced that this is something that students really want, but I left seeing it as one of many tools that students can use to make study abroad possible."

Several participants shared that they went home with a better understanding of the mechanics and potential impact of online learning within a study abroad program. They described their plans to build awareness in their campus communities of how this program model can increase access to study abroad.

"My colleagues and I continue to speak with students, administrators, and faculty members at Western Washington University about the CIEE/ASU Online partnership as a means to remove obstacles for students seeking a study abroad experience," said Larsen. 

"Accessibility is key," said Brautigan. "If we can provide high-quality coursework that is typically hard to find in study abroad programs, in an online format, why hesitate to offer this option? Given the challenges in sending underrepresented majors abroad, and the straightforward solution offered by ASU's online courses, why not consider this option?"