Communicating Soccer Globally
In this project, CJC students in a class on global perspectives of communicating soccer taught by Eric Esterline and Roxane Coche partnered with a class focused on career development from the University of Brighton taught by Professor Owen Evans. Students discussed and compared how soccer is reported in each country. In small groups, the students were able discuss how sports reporting, and soccer in particular, differs between the two countries. This project earned a recognition for Innovation of the Year in the 2020 National Council for the Training of Journalists Awards for Excellence competition.
An in-depth explanation of the project and its impact on students’ intercultural competence is available in this article: Course Internationalization Through Virtual Exchange: Students’ Reflections About “Seeing the World Through the Lens That is Soccer.”
Abstract: Virtual exchange (VE) is an emergent but promising trend in course internationalization, which consists of using technology to interact and work with another class located in another city/country to develop digital skills and intercultural competence. After a VE project was implemented in a sports-related communication course, students reflected on their experience in a short paper or a video. This case study is a qualitative analysis of these 17 reflections. Despite some complications, students indicated they learned much about cultural differences and would be keen to repeat the VE experience.
Learn More
To read more about virtual exchange at UF, visit the UF International Center’s virtual exchange website.