UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Experiential Digital Global Engagement program (EDGE) under Penn State Global is announcing new funding for Penn State faculty.
EDGE, as described on their website, is a subset of what is commonly referred to as "COIL" (Collaborative Online International Learning) or Internationalization at Home. It is a project-based teaching and learning approach that promotes the development of intercultural competence across shared multicultural learning environments using Internet-based tools and innovative online pedagogies. EDGE fosters meaningful exchanges between instructors and students with peers in geographically distant locations and from different lingua-cultural backgrounds.
EDGE projects, which connect a class at Penn State with one abroad, are co-equal and linked by instructional partners who collaborate to develop a shared course project that emphasizes experiential and collaborative student-centered learning.
Essentially, EDGE provides opportunities for virtual global engagement right here in Pennsylvania. EDGE projects can be cross-disciplinary and bring together two groups of students — a group from Penn State and a group from abroad — to collaborate on a shared project. Examples of previous EDGE projects include:
- RHS 300, where 10 Penn State Abington students and 27 students from Langara College in Canada jointly created resource websites around topics related to mental health, issues in employment settings, and current topics in American and Canadian societies.
- CI 280, where 18 Penn State Brandywine students and 18 students from the State University of Maringá in Brazil presented research projects around topics relevant to pre-service teachers including bilingual education in Brazil and the U.S. and the status of foreign languages in the two countries.
- EDGSN 100, where eight Penn State Lehigh Valley students and 18 students from An-Najah National University in Palestine and the Higher Institute of Technological Studies of Beja in Tunisia presented solutions aligned under the social entrepreneur umbrella, which address one of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
All faculty who are interested in developing an EDGE collaborative project for the 2022-23 academic year can apply for an award, whether they are a new EDGE faculty (have not yet delivered an EDGE collaborative project) or returning EDGE faculty (faculty returning with the same EDGE partner).
For new faculty, there are six available awards of $750 each. For returning faculty, there are six available awards of $500 each.
Application Requirements:
- Submit the EDGE Faculty Awards AY 2022-2023 form
- Forward department head email providing approval of EDGE project to EDGE@psu.edu
- Forward international partner email providing confirmation of participation in EDGE project to EDGE@psu.edu
Partners:
Applicants can either bring their own partner or seek a new EDGE partner using the EDGE Collaboration System.
Applicants can indicate on the EDGE Faculty Awards AY 2022-2023 form if they are seeking a new EDGE partner and will be contacted by the EDGE Program Associate with more information.
Timeline:
- Application review begins: Monday, Oct. 31
- Recipient notification begins: Monday, Nov. 14
- Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all awards are distributed.
If selected, faculty must complete the EDGE project and submit the EDGE Post-Project Form by June 1, 2023 in order to receive the award. The EDGE Post-Project Form will be sent to documented faculty at the end of each semester.
For more information, please contact Tracy Coleman, EDGE Program Associate, at Tracy.Coleman@psu.edu.