Internationalising Higher Education

This poster presentation will summarise the role of the innovative curriculum design and delivery model the Global Studio, which, as a cross-institutional research informed teaching and learning project, runs between international universities and industry partners based in the UK, USA, the Netherlands and Korea. The aim of the Global Studio is to meet current and future industry needs by equipping design students with the necessary skills for working in globally networked organisations, especially intercultural communication and collaboration. Through the Global Studio, design students develop skills to allow them to work effectively in a distributed product development process. The majority have found it to be an interesting and motivating experience, and felt that it had improved their skills in virtual teamwork and designer-client communication. Through Web 2.0, Wi-Ki pages and other ICT technologies such as conferencing, video-conferencing and e-mail, the Global Studio enables students to engage with students from their own and participating universities, thus contributing to the development of student learning communities within and across universities.