Collaborative Opportunities

Tower Bridge International Group (TBIG), Wake Forest University (WFU), and the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools (NCAIS) have aligned resources in a collaborative effort to enhance intercultural skills and global competency, while building and promoting additional international educational research.

The program is comprised of two facets: the WFU Research Hub for Global Competency and a Global Textbook Project (GTP). The WFU research hub will be a leading academic center for research on helping international students succeed. It will, in part, be comprised of research liaisons who participate in focus groups, assist in analyzing student participant feedback, and publish findings on global competency and international student adjustment.

NCAIS schools have two distinct opportunities for involvement.  

• Students at NCAIS schools, as a part of a faculty-advised club, may work with Wake Forest researchers using augmented reality (AR)  platform to create "The 21st Century Textbook" to deliver curriculum between U.S. high school students and Chinese middle school students. 

• Teachers from participating NCAIS schools will receive training and certification from WFU, built around curriculum developed via the new WFU Research Hub on Global Competency. These teachers may also have the opportunity to receive training and compensation for participating in a summer teaching experience in China.

The program will use AR to bring teaching into classrooms connected around the world. Chinese students will have the opportunity to participate in short-term learning programs in the United States, coming full-circle with the American students they meet, virtually, and the content they learn through the AR platform.

The program is scheduled to officially launch in June 2019, with the introduction of research output and an AR workshop for participating U.S. schools, followed by activities that begin in the 2019 – 2020 school year. The collaboration identifies a path to continued student learning experiences based on global competency.

Schools interested in exploring this opportunity should contact Jay Gentry at New Oasis/Tower Bridge or Linda Nelson at NCAIS.