Global Virtual Faculty program opens real world to students
Lauren Acurantes
Issue date: 10/30/03 Section: News
"We put the world at our students' fingertips."
Such is the slogan being used by the Office of Interdisciplinary, Distributed and Global Learning. Thanks to the introduction of the Global Virtual Faculty Program (GVFP), students taking online courses are able to communicate and interact with professionals from all over the world at the mere touch of a button.
"Having a GVFP member onboard gives the students a different perspective," said Dalila Suhonjic, director of Global Initiatives, "It allows the students to talk to someone who's outside of their own little world."
"It's very different, for example, to have someone from an Asian country talk about [their culture] than having an American professor merely lecture about it," added Dr. Michael Sperling, associate provost of the Office of Interdisciplinary, Distributed and Global Learning.
Twenty-eight online classes are being taught this semester with the aid of a GVFP member, ranging from topics like The Global Challenge to Arab Women Writers.
"The way this program works is very similar to discussion boards you see on Yahoo!," explained Suhonjic, "Students can pose questions or comments on the discussion board, and a GVFP member can respond to it at anytime. The GVFP member is not the primary instructor; he or she is there to supplement things learned in class."
Not all members of the GVFP are professors or members of academia, however. Some are actual practitioners. In the Arab Women Writers class, for example, the professor invited a Lebanese writer to join in the discussions. And the same thing happened a Caribbean Literature class, where a Caribbean poet was invited.
"It is up to the FDU faculty members whether or not they want to add a GVFP member in the discussions," said Suhonjic, "We recruit the GVFP members through nominations by FDU faculty members or from current GVFP members. We also can get them through universities with which we have partnerships."
Such is the slogan being used by the Office of Interdisciplinary, Distributed and Global Learning. Thanks to the introduction of the Global Virtual Faculty Program (GVFP), students taking online courses are able to communicate and interact with professionals from all over the world at the mere touch of a button.
"Having a GVFP member onboard gives the students a different perspective," said Dalila Suhonjic, director of Global Initiatives, "It allows the students to talk to someone who's outside of their own little world."
"It's very different, for example, to have someone from an Asian country talk about [their culture] than having an American professor merely lecture about it," added Dr. Michael Sperling, associate provost of the Office of Interdisciplinary, Distributed and Global Learning.
Twenty-eight online classes are being taught this semester with the aid of a GVFP member, ranging from topics like The Global Challenge to Arab Women Writers.
"The way this program works is very similar to discussion boards you see on Yahoo!," explained Suhonjic, "Students can pose questions or comments on the discussion board, and a GVFP member can respond to it at anytime. The GVFP member is not the primary instructor; he or she is there to supplement things learned in class."
Not all members of the GVFP are professors or members of academia, however. Some are actual practitioners. In the Arab Women Writers class, for example, the professor invited a Lebanese writer to join in the discussions. And the same thing happened a Caribbean Literature class, where a Caribbean poet was invited.
"It is up to the FDU faculty members whether or not they want to add a GVFP member in the discussions," said Suhonjic, "We recruit the GVFP members through nominations by FDU faculty members or from current GVFP members. We also can get them through universities with which we have partnerships."