Round Square opens Virtual Student Exchange portal

Posted: 28 August 2020

With student travel currently impossible for most schools, this week Round Square has invited schools to sign up to participate in a Virtual Exchange experience, as part of the existing RS Exchange programme.

The initiative will provide schools with a structured and purposeful framework in which to connect students with their counterparts in schools around the world to interact on email, through videoconferencing and on social media, to share experiences, develop their language skills, understand more about one another’s country and culture, build friendships and remind one another that we are all in this together.

Under the new protocols, a RS Virtual Exchange takes place over a minimum of six weeks during which time the students interact and get to know one another through online video and audio calls (e.g. zoom, facetime, skype), email exchanges and connecting on social media. Round Square Virtual Exchanges can be 1:1 or can take the form of a group exchange involving up to three students from two schools and should involve at least five Exchange elements chosen from a list that Round Square provides as part of the programme. Along with regular calls and social media/ email conversations, the list includes options such as virtual family meals, practicing and performing music together, writing each other’s life story, language lessons and many more ideas.