Exchange 2.0

Exchange 2.0 is a collective effort of educators, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies to increase the number and diversity of students worldwide who have a profound cross cultural experience as part of their education. Exchange 2.0 seeks to fully internationalize of education, as the traditional models of international education such as physical exchange programs have not reached the overwhelming majority of youth. According to the Institute of International Education 2012 Open Doors "Fast Facts" Report, in the United States less than 2% of college students study abroad. The number for high school students is even lower, according to the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel.
Defining characteristics
Innovative application of new technologies
A key innovation in this field is the development and refinement of diverse models of virtual exchange, defined as technology-enabled, sustained, people-to-people . Virtual exchange programs can complement and extend physical exchange experiences, fuel demand for physical exchange if conducted at an early age, and provide an alternative means of exchange for the 99% of youth who currently do not participate in any form of study abroad or educational exchange program. Since 2003, the United States Department of State has recognized virtual exchanges as an important component of public diplomacy through its Global Connections and Exchange Program (GCE). The United States Department of Education has partnered with the private sector to create tools for educators wanting to use technology to engage classrooms with the world through the "Exchange 2.0: A Teachers Guide for Collaboration on the Internet".
Results oriented with rigorous assessment methods
In light of a potential proliferation of new approaches to exchange, it becomes critical that there are means of assessing the impact of such programs so that those that are most effective can be replicated and scaled. As such, a key contribution of the Exchange 2.0 effort is helping to advance the state of the art in measuring the educational impact of exchange programming.
To this end, the Saxelab Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has formed a partnership with leading implementers of virtual exchange programming Global Nomads Group, iEARN, and Soliya as part of the Exchange 2.0 Coalition. Together they are working to develop tools for measuring the impact of exchange programs on participants, piloting these tools on these organizations’ virtual exchange programs and, once finalized, will make these tools freely available to providers of physical and virtual exchanges to encourage broad-based adoption of modern measurement methods.
Success to date
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has been a long-time advocate for Exchange 2.0. In February 2009, the United States Institute of Peace hosted a conference, named "Media as Global Diplomat", that explored the potential of virtual exchange as a key element to United States public diplomacy, which resulted in the publication of a USIP Special Report on the subject. Building on growing interest in the field, in April 2011 USIP hosted another convening in Washington D.C. titled "Connected Youth: The Future of Peace-building and Problem Solving", followed six months later by a third event "Exchange 2.0: The Science of Impact, the Imperative of Implementation". At the event, her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan highlighted the importance of virtual exchange programming to global peace and prosperity and Soliya’s evaluation partner, professor Rebecca Saxe, Director of MIT’s Saxelab Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, discussed MIT’s research measuring the impact of virtual exchange programming.
The Aspen Institute’s "Partners for a New Beginning" has also been a staunch ally to the Exchange 2.0 campaign. The Aspen Institute hosting a workshop in March 2011 for the collaboration of interested parties including Exchange 2.0 Coalition members, Partners for a New Beginning (PNB), USIP, the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the UN Alliance of Civilizations. The Aspen Institute convened another workshop in June 2012 between the virtual exchange providers and Community Colleges for International Development (CCID) to discuss bringing virtual exchange to students at community colleges across the United States, who too often are not able to study abroad physically.
The United States Government has also begun calling for and expanding support to virtual exchange programming. In May 2012, the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations issued a report attached to the 2013 State Department Authorization Bill in which they directed the Secretary of State to consider expanding support to virtual exchange programming in order to enhance the numbers, diversity, and experience of exchange participants. As a result, the State Department’s Education & Cultural Affairs Bureau will be establishing a Virtual Exchange Unit.
Exchange 2.0 leadership has also been invited to present at TEDx. In April 2011, Soliya’s CEO Shamil Idriss gave a TEDx Talk in Amman, Jordan on the importance of Exchange 2.0. A year later Soliya’s Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Lucas Welch, gave a TEDx talk at Columbia Teachers College in New York on the innovations in international education and how we can harness these innovations for global change.

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