Ivy Tech Fosters Global Connections at IVEC Conference in Greece

This past October, I had the privilege of representing Ivy Tech at the International Virtual Exchange Conference (IVEC), hosted in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. IVEC is the premier conference dedicated to international virtual exchanges (VEs) – connecting classrooms worldwide through platforms like Zoom. I was honored to receive a scholarship from the conference organizers at Hellenic Mediterranean University and to attend with the support of the Ivy Tech Indianapolis School of Arts, Sciences, and Education Professional Development Committee. 

Throughout the weeklong conference, I had the opportunity to engage with inspiring educators from around the globe. Researchers from the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) emphasized the role of VEs as a high-impact practice, providing students with unique and meaningful global learning opportunities. These exchanges are vital in equipping students with the skills necessary for an increasingly interconnected international workforce. I also had the chance to connect with representatives from U.S. community colleges, such as the Alamo District Colleges, as well as faculty from Indiana University and Ball State University. 

Ivy Tech has been running international virtual exchanges for over three years, providing our students with opportunities to collaborate across borders and engage in real-time learning experiences with peers from around the world. These exchanges have connected our classrooms with educational institutions across five continents, including countries such as Chile, Germany, South Africa, Spain, and Uzbekistan. Through these partnerships, our students have gained invaluable perspectives on global issues and developed key workforce skills, including cross-cultural communication and collaboration in international teams—skills that are essential for success in today’s global workforce. 

A major highlight—and the heart of my experience—was an in-person meeting with Dr. Lyudmila Kruhlenko, an international collaborator from the University of Bamberg (Germany) and Pryazovskyi State University in Ukraine, which has since been displaced from Mariupol due to the Russian occupation. I first connected with Dr. Kruhlenko two years ago through an online network of educators. After learning of her remarkable efforts in supporting students and colleagues during the war, I invited her to speak at a LEAP Indiana statewide Trauma-Informed Teaching and Learning Community event which I was organizing. She also served as a featured speaker at our 2024 Communities of Care Virtual Symposium. 

During that time, LEAP Indiana focused on the growing mental health challenges faced by students, with research showing alarmingly high levels of stress and anxiety coming out of the pandemic. The young people of Indiana were telling us that something was wrong, and our Trauma-Informed Faculty Learning Community explored how we, as educators, could better serve students as whole individuals. Dr. Kruhlenko’s talks were deeply inspiring, offering a unique perspective on how to navigate these challenges within the extreme context of war.

Currently, I’m working with Dr. Kruhlenko on a VE for my English 111 students this semester. One of our recent sessions was particularly poignant - her students in Dnipro had to take shelter as Russian drones hit the city. During a follow-up session, one of her students, Andrii, shared his experience and even showed videos of damage just a block away. It was a powerful reminder of the resilience of students and educators in the face of unimaginable adversity. At IVEC, it was a joy to finally meet Dr. Kruhlenko in person after two years of virtual collaboration – and a delight for our students to hear about the trip. 

The conference featured many other deeply inspiring and innovative sessions from educators worldwide. International Virtual Exchanges currently include regional leaders from places such as Japan and South America, and I left the conference with a wealth of new knowledge and resources. I was also fortunate to reconnect with Dr. Konstantinos Petridis, whom I had previously met at the NAFSA: Association of Educators conference in San Diego this past summer, where I co-presented with Ivy Tech’s Dr. Carmen Paniagua. Dr. Petridis is a Fulbright Scholar and a passionate global educator with a track record of developing international partnerships. 

For those interested in learning more about global learning opportunities, including international virtual exchanges and partnering your classrooms with educators from around the world, feel free to reach out to Prof. Gerald Maki at gmaki@ivytech.edu.

Stay tuned for more on Ivy Tech’s international virtual exchanges in the upcoming Ivy Indy Magazine, set to be released in January 2026. Subscribe to be one of the first to receive the fifth edition of the magazine here.