Promoting global citizenship development in the Americas through virtual exchange

Abstract

Virtual exchange is a pedagogical strategy providing accessibility to virtual collaborative learning experiences for university students across the globe. Researchers have called for incorporating global challenges (King de Ramirez, 2021; O'Dowd, 2020) and global citizenship (Falasca, 2025) in virtual exchange learning experiences to avoid reinforcing superficial cultural comparisons and stereotypes. Given the dearth of research pertaining to the implementation of VE to promote global citizenship in the Americas, this study utilized the Global Citizenship Conceptual Model and the Global Citizenship Scale developed by Morais and Ogden (2011) to examine the perspectives of Latin American and U.S. university students prior to and following five virtual exchange interactions. Utilizing a mixed‐methods approach, findings share participants' perspectives as well as distinctions between the two groups. Pedagogical implications suggest the implementation of critical virtual exchange to promote global citizenship development.