How to create global classrooms: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Dates:  

• Virtual part of the BIP: 5.-26.4.2027 
• Physical part of the BIP: 10.-14.5.2027 

Location:  

• Linnanmaa campus, University of Oulu, Erkki Koiso-Kanttilan katu 1, Oulu, Finland 

Application period:  

• 15.09-15.11.2026 

Registration: 

• Registration to the programme is coordinated by the local UNIC office.  The application period is between 15.09-15.11.2026. 

Programme Outline 

The ability to teach and learn across cultures, disciplines, and national borders is becoming an essential part of higher education. Today’s students need opportunities to work with peers from different backgrounds, engage with global perspectives, and develop the skills required to address complex societal challenges. For educators, this means creating inclusive learning environments, facilitating intercultural collaboration, and integrating international and global dimensions into their courses, whether delivered on campus, online, or in blended formats.

The UNIC InterTeach Blended Intensive Programme provides a practical opportunity to explore these approaches alongside colleagues from across the UNIC Alliance. Participants will examine concrete methods for internationalising teaching and learning, including Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), virtual exchange, challenge-based learning, inclusive assessment, and intercultural group work. Through interactive workshops, case studies, and peer exchange, participants will gain insights into how these approaches can be adapted to different disciplines and institutional contexts.

A key feature of the programme is collaboration. Participants will work with approximately 20 teachers and educational experts from UNIC universities to share experiences, discuss common challenges, and co-design solutions that enhance student engagement and international learning. By combining online activities with an onsite intensive week, the programme creates space for meaningful networking, intercultural learning, and the development of lasting teaching partnerships across the alliance.

Throughout the programme, participants will develop their own Global Classroom Blueprint: a practical plan for integrating international, intercultural, and inclusive learning elements into one of their courses or teaching activities. By the end of the programme, participants will leave with a concrete teaching concept, new international contacts, and practical tools for implementing internationalisation at home, inclusive teaching practices, innovative assessment methods, and virtual collaboration opportunities for their students.

Learning Outcomes 

Following this programme participants will be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes: 

1. Critically reflect on why and how their own and their students’ experiences, identities, and cultural perspectives matter in the design and facilitation of learning and teaching 

2. Design teaching artefacts in line with high impact practices to integrate international, intercultural and global dimensions in the curriculum. 

3. Propose approaches for how to respond to diversity of the student population through assessment design and enactment. 

4. Collaborate in the design of an inter-institutional teaching activity that supports virtual mobility/collaborative online international learning (COIL).  

5. Engage in collegial dialogue and practice exchange to enact innovative learning and teaching and foster a global mindset. 

Online Sessions

• Monday, 5 April 2027, 14:30-15:00 CEST | Introduction to UNIC InterTeach BIP Programme | Anca Teodosiu (University of Oulu) and Paula Ruppert (Ruhr University Bochum)
• Monday, 5 April 2027, 15:00-17:00 CEST | Calibrate Your Cultural Compass | Kamila Pytka (University of Lodz)
• Monday, 12 April 2027, 15:00-17:00 CEST | Classroom Ecosystems: Comparing Contexts, Finding Common Ground | Višnja Rajić (University of Zagreb)
• Monday, 19 April 2027, 15:00-17:00 CEST | Managing Large-Scale Near-Peer Programs | Dominique Verpoorten (University of Liège)
• Monday, 26 April 2027, 15:00-17:00 CEST | Collaborative Teaching for Global Classrooms | Patrick Dorls and Nathalie Auer (Malmö University)
• Monday, 26 April 2027, 17:00-17:30 CEST | Next Steps Towards Oulu | Anca Teodosiu (University of Oulu) and Paula Ruppert (Ruhr University Bochum)

On-site Session in Oulu

• Monday, 10 May 2027, 09:00-12:00 | Welcome to Oulu | Anca Teodosiu (University of Oulu) 
• Monday, 10 May 2027, 13:00-14:30 & 15:00-16:30 | Shaping Ideas and Growing Partnership | Catherine O’Mahony (University College Cork) 
• Tuesday, 11 May 2027, 09:00-12:00 & 13:00-14:45 | Whose Challenge Is It? Positionality, Care, and the Design of Transdisciplinary Global Classrooms | Joe Binetti (Erasmus University Rotterdam) 
• Wednesday, 12 May 2027, 09:00-12:00 | Assessing Students’ Presentation Performance in a Culturally Diverse Environment | Marek Molenda (University of Łódź) 
• Wednesday, 12 May 2027, 13:00-16:30 | How to Design Project-Based Courses in the Context of Sustainability | Betül Kaya (Koç University) 
• Thursday, 13 May 2027, 09:00-12:00 | The Global Classroom Incubator | Arantza Arruti Gomez (University of Deusto) 
• Thursday, 13 May 2027, 13:00-14:30 | From Inspiration to Implementation: Designing Virtual Exchange Activities That Actually Happen | Paula Ruppert (Ruhr University Bochum) 
• Friday, 14 May 2027, 09:00-12:00 | From Inspiration to Implementation: Designing Virtual Exchange Activities That Actually Happen | Paula Ruppert and Anca Teodosiu 
• Friday, 14 May 2027, 12:30-13:30 | Reflections, Discussions and Wrap-Up | Paula Ruppert and Anca Teodosiu 
• Friday, 14 May 2027, 13:30 | Programme Ends 

Note: The programme is still subject to change, and cultural activities will be announced later. 

Expected time commitment: approximately 10 hours for the online part and 36 hours for the on-site part. 

Facilitators 

Meet the team guiding your intercultural learning experience here.

Certificate 

An Erasmus participation certificate and UNIC certificate of attendance will be awarded to participants who complete the full programme.