TEL as a pathway to intercultural learning and global competence in ELT

Jancileidi Hübner

doi:10.21428/8c225f6e.f68f074d

Commentaries

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): TEL in English language teaching, learning and assessment

TEL as a pathway to intercultural learning and global competence in ELT

Jancileidi Hübner^▸^▾

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DOI:: https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.f68f074d
Submitted: 13 August 2026
Published: 15-08-2026

Abstract

As a Brazilian English teacher and teacher educator, I believe that preparing future English teachers in Brazil and other countries in the Global South is an increasingly complex and demanding task. At the same time, it holds deeply transformative potential given today’s technology-driven and interconnected diverse educational landscape. In this scenario, Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) can play an outstanding part. Among the variety of aspects within TEL brought together in this special issue, initiatives such as Collaborative Online International Learning and Virtual Exchange (COIL/VE) have emerged as a powerful mechanism. It provides teacher educators with a way to develop a more critical and globally competent approach to English Language Teaching (ELT) in which technology facilitates the access to foreign partners for collaboration. As Hackett et al. (2024) described, the methodology brings educators from diverse backgrounds together in the collaborative task of co-designing and co-facilitating online interactive activities and the borderless co-creation of knowledge.

References

Beelen, J., & Jones, E. (2015). Redefining internationalization at home. In A. Curaj, L. Matei, R. Pricopie, J. Salmi, & P. Scott (Eds.), The European higher education area: Between critical reflections and future policies (pp. 59-72). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20877-0_5
Hackett, S., Dawson, M., Janssen, J., & Tartwijk, J. (2024). Defining collaborative online international learning (COIL) and distinguishing it from virtual exchange. TechTrends. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-024-01000-w
OECD/Asia Society. (2018). Teaching for Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World. OECD Publishing, Paris/Asia Society, New York. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264289024-en
Fields, C. W., & Hübner, J. (2025). Borderless technology enhanced learning: The affordances of COIL in ELT educator preparation programs. Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.2792a1cc

[1] Beelen, J., & Jones, E. (2015). Redefining internationalization at home. In A. Curaj, L. Matei, R. Pricopie, J. Salmi, & P. Scott (Eds.), The European higher education area: Between critical reflections and future policies (pp. 59-72). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20877-0_5

[2] Hackett, S., Dawson, M., Janssen, J., & Tartwijk, J. (2024). Defining collaborative online international learning (COIL) and distinguishing it from virtual exchange. TechTrends. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-024-01000-w

[3] OECD/Asia Society. (2018). Teaching for Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World. OECD Publishing, Paris/Asia Society, New York. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264289024-en

[4] Fields, C. W., & Hübner, J. (2025). Borderless technology enhanced learning: The affordances of COIL in ELT educator preparation programs. Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.2792a1cc