Language Learning for a Better World: Designing a Bilingual, Inquiry-to-Action Cross-Cultural Student Virtual Exchange

This session explores how educators can design and implement a bilingual, cross-cultural virtual exchange that cultivates students’ global competence, analytical thinking, and collaborative problem-solving via inquiry-based learning. The focus is on integrating authentic language learning with social impact projects, facilitated through virtual collaboration tools, digital platforms, and the design thinking process.Educator and student presenters from Broughton Magnet High School (Wake County Public School System) and North Carolina State University’s Friday Institute for Educational Innovation will (1) share an example bilingual, inquiry-based, cross-cultural student virtual exchange; (2) provide an overview of the design thinking process as a guiding framework for collaborative learning and problem-solving via virtual exchange; and (3) guide participants in a mini-design challenge to sketch a sample inquiry-to-action virtual exchange they could pilot with students in their instructional contexts.In addition to Ms. Himes and Ms. Tzeng, Broughton Magnet High School Chinese Language Students who are participating in the 2025-26 Cross-Cultural Student Virtual Exchange as part of Ms. Tzeng’s Chinese Language Immersion class will co-present this session. These students are bilingually communicating (Chinese and English) and collaborating with partners at Suzhou North America High School (Suzhou, China) to engage in social impact projects via virtual exchange and will be sharing their learning experiences with session participants.