Virtual Exchange and Study Abroad
The Virtual Exchange and Study Abroad [VESA] program is meant to equip and empower faculty to enhance their international and domestic curricula with meaningful, authentic intercultural learning opportunities and engagement.
Using the library's equipment checkout system, faculty, staff, and students have a menu of photo/video capture kits and accessories to choose from. These kits are created to make it easy for faculty to gather the content for community engagement, marketing, and intercultural curricula building.
The VESA program aims to truly empower faculty, and equipment rental is only the first part of this. Those who check out the kit will also be given access to a comprehensive trainig where they will not only learn how to make the most of the equipment, but also how to make the most of the photos and videos they capture.
Types of VESA Kits
How does the VESA Kit...
By using the VESA Kit, faculty who take different groups of students to the same community partners annually can facilitate better continuity of engagement between student groups by capturing content to share with each student group.
Content captured with the VESA kit:
- Introduces the community voice so the community voice can begin leading early
Introduces to the genuine need/desire of the community from the community's perspective to ensure projects remain genuinely beneficial to the community
Prepares students, encourages follow-through on multi-year commitments and builds mutual trust through early familiarity
Through the training provided in the Canvas module and quality devices for visual content, this initiative can help faculty collect prime content to create powerful marketing and promotional materials.
The content collected with the VESA Kits can be used to promote their study abroad programs on:
- Social media
- VT News
- Websites
- Newsletters
- Blogs
- Classroom presentations
- Digital and Phyiscal Flyers
- And more
Content gathered from the VESA Kit can be used to enhance new or existing courses with intercultural and global learning elements.
Integrating this content in Blacksburg-based classes can:
- Increase students' global competencies
- Increase students' exposure to different cultural and geographical elements related to the subject being taught
- Increase understanding and empathy regarding global perspectives
- Increase awareness of global issues and concerns within their field of study
Examples of the VESA Kit being used...
Using the VESA Kit, communicator Will Rizzo created this highlight reel to accompany a VT News story and post on social media.
Using the VESA Kit, a student created this indepth introduction to partner universities in Egypt. The video is used primarily to introduce Virginia Tech faculty members to partners in Egypt and showcase opportunities for community engagement in the area.
Using the VESA Kit, communicator Will Rizzo created this highlight reel to accompany a VT News story and post on social media.
Using the VESA Kit, a student created this indepth introduction to partner universities in Egypt. The video is used primarily to introduce Virginia Tech faculty members to partners in Egypt and showcase opportunities for community engagement in the area.