Parallel virtual urban workshop: A "reasonable-cost" methodology for academic internationalization in problem-solving oriented postgraduate subjects

Abstract

New informationand communication technologies (ICTs) are offering unprecedented opportunities and challenges for innovating in a collaborative way at the academic and research realm. With the purpose of taking advantage of these opportunities, a project called "Parallel Virtual Workshop (PVW)" has been set in a Master's Program to pursue academic internationalization, to provide professional exposure to students and to develop a multidisciplinary planning methodology. Within PVW, ICTs are used to assemble these goals, while cutting down costs. PVW proposal is described, outcomes are presented, and strengths and weaknesses are discussed. Finally, and since it is an ongoing project, future work is presented. Overall assessment indicates that PVW may become an integrated, efficient and innovative approach to respond to present challenges faced by postgraduate programs that intend to attract an international audience at a reasonable cost.