Speaker

Regina Brautlacht

Regina Brautlacht

Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Präsidialbeauftragte für digitale Internationalisierung der Lehre

Regina C. Brautlacht is appointed Commissioner for Global Digital Learning and Senior Lecturer in English and Business Communication at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Germany. She coordinates the English language program for the Department of Management Sciences. She is a member of the Commission for Teaching and Learning, the Commission for Quality Assurance in Teaching, the Commission for International Affairs, and an active university champion for Digital Teaching & Learning at her university. Furthermore, she is an associated member of the Centre of Entrepreneurship. She is Deputy Executive Director and founding member of the Consortium on Virtual Exchange (CoVE). She received the “Excellence in Teaching” award in 2016 for her blended-learning course in Business English that incorporates several virtual exchange opportunities. She has also coedited a Handbook of Applied Teaching and Learning: German-African University Partnership Platform for the Development of Entrepreneurs and Small/Medium Enterprises and has published a number of articles in the field of virtual exchange, international communication using digital media to collaborate across continents.
She started her career in the USA, after graduating from George Mason University with a BA in German and International Studies and holds a Master of Arts in Educational Media from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
Her areas of interest are global digital learning, international communication, entrepreneurship education, international project management and media didactics.

Global Shutdown: Voices from Universities Around the World

Digital technologies have had a great impact on higher education institutions (HEI) in recent years, but COVID-19 has propelled the integration of technology into the education sector worldwide. This panel discussion will give an account of different university stories from Europe, North America, and Africa.
Universities were faced with the task of offering online or blended learning scenarios overnight. What effects did the shutdown have on their country’s educational sector and HEI? How was digitalization perceived after the lockdown? How did the institution deal with transforming their traditional classes? Are there state or federal policies in place that support and provide mechanisms to address technical issues, social inequalities, accessibility issues and training for faculty and staff? What are the biggest challenges in digital learning that need to be overcome? What lessons were learned and how can we learn from each other. Global learning and virtual exchange can offer new opportunities for the global educational community? Can COVID-19 be a blessing in disguise for the educational community? What lies ahead and is there going to be a “new normal” after this crisis has died down?
Each panelist will present a short brief about the educational policies in their respective country by highlighting how their HEI tackled the enormous challenges caused by the pandemic since March 2020. We will hear voices from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Portugal), Conestoga College, Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning (Canada), Middle Tennessee State University (USA), University of Cape Coast (Ghana), and University of Nairobi (Kenya).

Regina Brautlacht

Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Präsidialbeauftragte für digitale Internationalisierung der Lehre