Digital Innovation to Remotely Guide the Development of Global Competencies Abroad

The importance of global competencies for an engineering workforce to address cross-border challenges and the emphasis on studying abroad to develop these abilities is well known. Some of the biggest problems in society require extensive collaboration beyond national borders. In today's digital professional context and interconnected global community, borders no longer separate international colleagues. Traditionally, in-person instruction during study abroad programs has been a prominent means to develop a global skillset [1]. Since 2019, Penn State University's College of Engineering has offered a three-week summer study abroad program to develop global competencies through a technical communication course paired with a cultural course in a Como, Italy. In 2023, the faculty employed innovations to both prepare participants for their sojourn while enhancing the potential to foster global competencies. An asynchronous, remote pre-departure course primed students before departure. They were introduced to the language and culture of the region, including using tools/assignments such as recording dialogues, and reflections, engaging with natives through a digital cultural exchange platform, and creating individual study abroad field guides. Additionally, students participated in a global symposium featuring expert speakers. During the summer 2023 travel portion of the abroad program, students learned technical presentation skills abroad, while the cultural engagement and language tutelage, previously managed on-site, occurred remotely. While abroad, participants created a website, made entries in a sketchbook, and reflected on topics including observation, cultural competence through experiential learning, and a self-guided cultural excursion in a local village, as well as several Zoom classes delivered by a faculty member who remained in the U.S. Faculty assessed this shift to guide the program's cultural engagement remotely through student focus groups, feedback from the on-site faculty, and course evaluations. This case study discusses how engineering programs could harness virtual guidance to develop global competencies. Lessons learned from this initiative and its potential to add value to study abroad programs are explored.