What have we learned from COVID-19? We’ve learned that we suffer deeply when we lose human connection. That collaboration is the only way we can stop the spread of the virus. That our fates are bound to one another. My responsibility or lack thereof affects your very survival. We’ve learned that unity, solidarity, and perseverance are the only ways forward.

I believe nothing helps develop 21st-century skills and global citizenship better than international exchange. Sadly, COVID-19 has brought international exchange to its knees. From study abroad to high school exchange to Peace Corps programs, the ability to build human bonds across borders in the physical realm has been largely shuttered. It will likely remain that way for some time.

However, it would be an enormous mistake to write off international exchange. The deeper the crisis, the greater the opportunities that lie behind it. The global pandemic challenges educators to transform global learning. It demands that we accelerate innovative new ways to connect with one another and foster global solidarity. This is a time to embrace, not abandon exchange programs.

We can transform the nature and delivery of international exchange as we know it. In fact, it’s already happening. Technologies are improving rapidly. So is the quality of programming. Virtual exchanges hold more opportunity than mere faces on screens. Managed properly, they can connect students on a scale never envisioned before.

Nothing will replace the human connectedness of in-country exchanges but there are advantages to virtual exchange that could very well outnumber the educational benefits of physical exchange. Firstly, we can broaden our reach. With technology we can develop exponentially more global citizens—perhaps in the hundreds of millions. Second, virtual exchanges allow greater access and inclusion. Virtual programs can bring economically disadvantaged or marginalized students into dynamic online classrooms with students of many different socioeconomic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds.

Read the full article about global learning amid COVID-19 by David Santulli at The Aspen Institute.