Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 1 | 12 ORIGINAL RESEARCH COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher educa- tion: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience Mathieu JP Poirier1, Julie Hard2, Jens Holst3 1 School of Global Health, York University, Toronto, Canada; 2 Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, Canada; 3 Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Fulda, Germany. Corresponding author: Jens Holst; Address: Leipziger Str. 123, 36037 Fulda, Germany; E-mail: jens.holst@pg.hs-fulda.de Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 2 | 12 Abstract Aim: Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been causing unprecedented challenges to higher education by disrupting traditional face-to-face teaching as well as international mo- bility of students, faculty and staff. The factual knock-out of established modes of teaching and learning and the restriction of international travel called for rapid action and a shift towards remote learning and teaching. Methods: Within the framework of a pragmatic approach, global health faculty from Fulda University of Applied Sciences in Germany and York University in Canada, including a small group of public health students from Cluj in Romania, established a globally networked learn- ing environment. Between November and December 2020, a total of 147 students participated in joint virtual lectures and international collaborative group projects. To capture the ac- ceptance and effectiveness of the innovative didactic experience, a semi-structured student sur- vey was conducted directly after the last session. Results: The overall rating of internet-based cross-university teaching-learning was positive: Students reported benefits of an enriched learning experience through the sharing of different perspectives, approaches and debates with international professors and peers. Success and overcoming challenges for collaboration among students depended strongly on the level of coordination relating to time differences and expectations. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that transnational inter-university teach- ing-learning is feasible, provides a beneficial pedagogic option and points promising ways to the future. Keywords: COVID-19, higher education, learning, teaching. Conflict of interest: None declared. Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Prof. Dr. Kai Michelsen and Prof. Dr. Marius I. Ungureanu to the development of the three-country teaching-learning experience. Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 3 | 12 Background The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to physical closures of higher education institutions around the world. The sudden pivot from in-person to online education disrupted usual procedures of university ed- ucation. The global suspension of tradi- tional ways of lecturing posed unprece- dented challenges to both teachers and stu- dents. At the same time, it opened a window of opportunity for innovative pedagogic ap- proaches and techniques, including real- time cross-university exchange and active student cooperation. These pandemic measures have significantly intensified ef- forts and reduced reservations about the cost implications of cross-border teaching- learning and joint education. Without a doubt, the near universal shift to online learning also lowered the barriers to inter- university teaching and exchange. Previ- ously, sharing in-person teaching by coor- dinating sessions taking place in two or more classrooms with students physically present required the classes to be connected using one or more remote lecture halls where groups of students were present. The physical distance tended to cause different learning conditions between students phys- ically attending the lecture and those who were connected via video stream, because the latter had more indirect contact to the teachers and limited possibilities to interact with them (1). Mobility and internationalisation have been heavily affected by the pandemic and the measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus. As early as March 2020, almost two- thirds of European universities observed a negative impact on their outgoing student mobility (2). Internationalisation as an ob- jective and strategic agenda has certainly not diminished in importance, but its imple- mentation has clearly transformed in the short- to medium-term (3). These impacts have affected York University in Toronto, Canada, and, Fulda University of Applied Sciences in Fulda, Germany in different ways. The following paragraphs describe the impacts with reference to examples from Bachelor of Public Health pro- grammes. The pandemic posed some structural chal- lenge for York University’s (YU) newly es- tablished School of Global Health, but the opportunities for internationalisation and expansion of experiential education proved to be powerful incentives to embracing new pedagogic approaches. Students in York University’s Bachelor’s programme in Global Health that choose to enrol in the Specialized Honours degree options have the possibility to participate in an interna- tional internship placement, but most stu- dents either refrain from participating in this programme or select domestic options for practical, financial, or academic rea- sons. Once all courses were transitioned to an online format as of March 2020 and sub- sequent restrictions on travel were put in place, students that had hoped to participate in an international internship placement faced the possibility of being prevented or even prohibited from doing so, and students from all degree options raised concerns that online learning would reduce experiential learning opportunities. In fact, a November 2020 poll conducted by the Ontario Con- federation of University Faculty Associa- tions indicated that the quality of educa- tional experience was the top concern of students in Ontario, even outranking other financial, mental health, and safety con- cerns (4). COVID-19 turned out to be a bit more chal- lenging for Fulda University of Applied Sciences (FUAS) because it hit the univer- sity in two recent development areas. The first lockdown occurred during the initial phase of the implementation of a publicly funded internationalisation project. In Oc- tober 2019, the university’s department of Nursing and Health Sciences (PG) had ob- Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 4 | 12 tained considerable funding from the Ger- man Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for promoting the internationalisation of the department and the university as a whole. The majority of funds were planned for and assigned to the exchange of students, fac- ulty, and other staff from and to Fulda in or- der to build a network of university and practice partners in Europe and worldwide. As traveling became widely impossible from March 2020 onwards, the project staff had to look for other possibilities and path- ways towards an enhanced international partner network and increased international exchange opportunities and facilities. Simultaneously, COVID-19 restrictions of in-person teaching of all courses and partic- ularly the wide-ranging limitations of travel were put in place just as the first cohort of the newly established Bachelor’s pro- gramme International Health Sciences (IHS) was preparing and embarking on their compulsory semester abroad, which is regularly scheduled in the third year of the degree programme. Approximately 75% of the students had to postpone their semester abroad, leading faculty to provide the con- tent of the subsequent semesters half a year earlier than foreseen in the curriculum. The need to offer international education, train- ing and internships under the conditions of COVID-19 called for action to minimise the negative consequences of lockdowns and travel restrictions and take advantage of the potential positive opportunities for in- ternational exchange. Developing, setting up and testing innovative teaching and learning methods became an urgent need in order to allow students to finalise their study programmes within the standard pe- riod and reduce the negative impact of the pandemic on their training and education. Institutional support is obviously required but increasingly taken into account by per- tinent organisations (5). This paper de- scribes the process of developing, piloting, and evaluating a globally networked learn- ing environment between two universities in Germany and Canada, with the participa- tion of some guest students from Romania. Method Building on cooperation between FUAS and YU since 2019, faculty from both uni- versities started to explore options of col- laborative teaching approaches for selected courses. It should be noted that the two uni- versities offer quite similar Bachelor’s pro- grammes on International Health Sciences (FUAS) and Global Health (YU), respec- tively. Student exchange was initiated with Canadian students conducting an internship in Germany and extended student exchange was planned for 2020 and beyond but had to be put on hold under the COVID-19 pan- demic. The above-mentioned change in the timing of semester programming at Fulda University resulted in a possibility to col- laborate in the field of global health policy courses. Specifically, a Fulda course called “Global Health Policy and Politics” and a York course “Global Health Policy: Power and Politics” exhibited concordance and consistency in course learning outcomes and content. This led the faculty to explore the potential to include joint lectures and learning opportunities for students from both universities. Months of regularly scheduled calls over the summer of 2020 re- sulted in an agreement to establish jointly delivered virtual lectures in a three-week span of overlapping weekly courses. In ad- dition, students were invited to work collab- oratively in joint working groups dealing with “hot” topics related to the policy re- sponse to COVID-19. At a later stage, a small group of public-health students from Babeș-Bolyai University (BBU) in Cluj- Napoca, Romania, joined the international group exercise of the German-Canadian in- ter-university teaching-learning project. Cross-cohort and -university teaching took place in November and December 2020 Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 5 | 12 with a total of 147 students - 93 from YU, 36 from FUAS, and 18 from BBU. Three topics covered were deemed highly relevant for global health and global health policy: “Global trade policies and international co- operation regarding health” and “European Union health and social policies”, both de- livered by Fulda faculty (JH1& KM), and “Policy process: democracy, activism, and the battle of interests”, taught by York Uni- versity faculty (MP). These topics were not country- or region-specific, but provided excellent opportunities to point out differ- ent focuses and perspectives. The interna- tional group project consisted of matching students between universities to collabora- tively develop a policy brief and supporting podcast, narrated presentation or any other multimedia product comparing policy re- sponses to COVID-19 and proposing policy solutions to a range of pressing issues such as mitigating the medical, social, and eco- nomic impact of the pandemic, analysing social, economic, racial, ethnic, and gender inequities, and implementing protective measures in schools, businesses, and public spaces. To keep things manageable, only binational working groups were estab- lished. Due to the different cohort sizes, the allocation resulted in nine Canadian-Ger- man and four Canadian-Romanian working groups consisting of between 10 and 12 stu- dents each. Table 1. List of potential topics for collaborative student group projects Acceptance (and denial) of COVID- 19 measures To what degree has the public accepted governments’ and scien- tists’ response to the pandemic, and how has this evolved since the start of the outbreak? Decentralisation and the COVID-19 response What level of government has taken the lead in the response to the pandemic? Have there been conflicts between local, state/provin- cial/regional, and federal governments? Employment op- portunities / unem- ployment How severe have changes in employment been? What existing, new, and expanded programs have been implemented to reduce un- employment? Global health Effects of the pandemic outbreak on global health and global health politics. How has the corona crisis influenced the prevailing global- health debate? Impact on educa- tion What policies have schools implemented to protect students, teach- ers, and staff at the primary, secondary, and university levels? Protective measures What measures have been implemented to protect public health or public’s health, and how have these measures been relaxed or strengthened throughout the pandemic? Public information / media Who is responsible for communicating government public health and policy information to the public, and what is the role of media in disseminating this information? Regulation of mo- bility What measures have been put in place to monitor and restrict inter- national and domestic travel? Social impact and inequality What social, economic, racial, ethnic, or gender inequities have emerged or widened? Social protection Has social protection proven to be able to mitigate the medical, so- cial and/or economic impact of the pandemic? Socioeconomic in- equalities When, by whom and to which extent have inequities/inequalities been addressed during the COVID-19 crisis? Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 6 | 12 Choose your own topic If you are passionate about a global health topic not listed above, you can propose your own (must be approved by course director) The array of tasks ranged from analysing measures to control COVID-19 in the health sector to their impact in other policy areas (see Table 1). The organisation and facilitation of the inter-university group work relied heavily on the students them- selves who had the chance to choose be- tween different internet-based communica- tion and social media platforms. York Uni- versity students were prepared for the pro- ject by developing a group project plan to actively anticipate barriers to effective col- laboration such as language, cultural differ- ence, and time zones, and prepare a plan for how to overcome those barriers. Student group work was also supported by faculty feedback provided to each mixed student group in scheduled video calls. Due to the staggered course schedule, Fulda students had the opportunity to present their jointly developed products with Canadian students within their own group, to discuss them critically and to obtain feedback from the teachers. Finally, student perceptions were gathered in the final weeks of cooperation by York University International Relations (JH2) as an independent third party to mo- tivate unbiased and honest feedback. Results In the overall view of lecturers involved, in- ter-university and cross-country teaching offers an excellent opportunity to broaden the scope of content, reach a more diverse student audience, and learn from inter-cul- tural differences. Particularly in the field of health policy, and even more in interna- tional and global (health) policy, exchange between different country perspectives turned out to be enlightening and provided the courses with extraordinary added value for all participants. Students pointed out that they had learned how to collaborate and organise group work with a larger number of people. Canadian students particularly appreciated the oppor- tunity to get an insight into other healthcare systems and how other governments tack- led the COVID-19 issues from a first-hand experience perspective. Regarding didactic requirements, staff experiences gathered during the relatively short phase of inter- university teaching underpinned the need to provide students with timely feedback, in- cluding online video tutoring and email guidance after and between classes and to adopt measures to improve the degree and depth of students' class participation de- scribed elsewhere (6). Another critical determinant of student en- gagement appeared to be whether participa- tion and contribution to the collaborative group project was required and marked for course credit. Students indicated a greater willingness to attend guest lecture exchange and actively contribute to group work if they knew the work would be formally evaluated. For ensuring that all students communicate with each-other and start working on their assignment, students ex- pect all professors to clearly express the conditions and requirements of the joint teaching-learning project. And of course, the individual student experience depended very much on the group constellation and the commitment of peers and other group members. Fulda and York University found ways to integrate the jointly taught course elements into their grading systems. For Fulda students, the incentive was twofold: Faculty informed the students before the in- ter-university sessions that about 25% of the term paper to be submitted at the end of the semester were dedicated to a brief de- scription as well as a critical analysis and evaluation of the joint group work; in addi- tion, the active and proven participation in the joint group work was rewarded with a Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 7 | 12 0.3 bonus of the final grade (based on the German grading systems between 1 (best) and 5 (failed) with one-third steps. York University students were first required to prepare a group project plan worth 5% of the final mark, anticipating and planning to overcome barriers to effective collaboration prior to the start of the exchange. The inter- national collaborative project was evalu- ated on a group-by-group basis out of a total of 21% of the final mark, with adjustments based on individual contributions reported in a group progress report. Finally, a writing activity completed at the end of term prompted students to reflect on challenges and areas of growth spurred by the ex- change, and the final exam contained ques- tions based on lectures delivered in all three weeks of shared teaching. After finalising the inter-university lectures and the mixed working groups, students were invited to participate in an anonymous survey con- ducted by a third party (York International) to explore the impact of the innovative learning experience. Approximately 41% of the students participated in the survey, with 4 out of 18 BBU students, 20 out of 36 from FUAS and 36 out of 93 from YU participat- ing, for a total of 60 out of 147 students who attended the sessions. Students were asked about overall impressions of the course, challenges to overcome, and ways their learning was enriched. Figure 1. Student ratings of various aspects of the Globally Networked Learning Envi- ronment divided by university of respondent All in all, 55 out of the 60 students surveyed indicated that they would be interested to participate in a similar experience in the fu- ture. Figure 1 summarises the ratings of the overall intercontinental networked learning approach, inter-university working groups, working with fellow students, inter-univer- sity lectures, and lectures delivered by Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 8 | 12 teachers from other universities. Student satisfaction was consistently high, ranging from a low of 73% for lectures of teachers from other universities and a high of 88% for inter-university lectures and the inter- university working groups. Students partic- ularly welcomed the variety of teaching and the opportunity to meet new people as a nice change after having started feeling fa- tigue over the redundancy of online school- ing. Students were asked to comment on areas they felt the learning format and experience worked well. Recurring comments revealed student appreciation for the online lecture format provided by different professors, the opportunity to hear different perspectives on topic areas, and the process of collabo- ration with international students. Personal- ised feedback and assignments reportedly allowed for enjoyable and creative opportu- nities to develop teamwork and organiza- tional skills in a virtual international con- text. Students appreciated the chance to meet with the professors, discuss the pro- gress of group works and get personalised feedback. The combination of the policy brief and a more creative multimedia prod- uct as group work result was highly appre- ciated. Some notable limitations included over- coming the time difference of 6-7 hours be- tween Toronto and Germany / Romania, re- spectively. Time differences challenged students to find mutually agreeable times to coordinate international group work on as- signments. Students were additionally criti- cal of the size of each working group indi- cating groups were too large, further com- pounding coordination challenges, and re- portedly permitted variability in participa- tion among its members. One of the greatest challenges derived from the need to work with students in different time zones and make sure everyone is able to attend meet- ings and carry their weight of the work. Lecture duration and delivery times were felt to be too long, inconvenient, and too late in the evening for some students. In the future challenges related to time and time differences could be overcome by recording asynchronous sessions; however, this would reduce the interactivity and liveness of lectures that were highly valued by stu- dents who also expressed the desire to apply cross-university approaches when school move back to face-to-face teaching in order to be able to further benefit from inputs of lecturers and students from other universi- ties. Issues related to coordinating over several platforms for video conferencing (Webex, Zoom) and communication and file sharing (email, WhatsApp, Slack, Google) were relatively minor, with lectures being held over Webex and leaving other communica- tions and file sharing decisions to each stu- dent group. Some students complained that particularly in the beginning it was a bit challenging organising how to work to- gether and where to share findings and con- tributions; however, it turned out to be re- ally easy to connect directly and stay in con- tact, as well as working together on a docu- ment or presentation via Whatsapp, Zoom, shared Google Docs, etc. Even though stu- dents were unable to meet physically with their international peers, several expressed that the online experience helped with providing a "real-life" simulation of what it may feel like to collaborate with interna- tional colleagues. The process simulated the very real challenges related to coordi- nating between different time zones, tech- nologies, languages, and cultures that is in- herent to working in the field of global health. This intercultural exchange was also highlighted as one of the most rewarding aspects of the experience, with different ap- proaches to teaching, learning, collaborat- ing, and policy analysis ultimately enrich- ing the collaborative experience of working with students around the same age group, Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 9 | 12 understanding how life after COVID-19 has changed for young people and learning the differences and similarities between their experiences in school and life in general. The experience of meeting new people and communicating with them was evaluated as pleasant because students perceived them- selves mutually as very open. Discussion COVID-19 has been a huge challenge for higher education, and universities were forced to develop strategies for safeguard- ing adequate learning and teaching. Inter- university and cross-border had already been implemented earlier in various set- tings and generated an overwhelmingly positive reception among lecturers and fac- ulty (7). Prior research has shown both op- portunities and barriers of inter-university cooperation arising from the heterogeneity of the participants and different perspec- tives on the topics covered beyond group dynamics issues, trust, and technical as well as facilitation challenges (8). Recent evi- dence suggests that under COVID-19 re- strictions, online and remote teaching- learning helps students follow the lessons outside the classroom and create an alterna- tive to in-class teaching for completing the syllabus (9). It turned out to be helpful that students did not face major issues in terms of communication and level of knowledge, although some did differ in discipline with regards to punctuality in research and scheduled meetings. Online learning re- quires higher than usual commitment from students, and both students and lecturers are required to develop and implement innova- tive approaches for making higher educa- tion successful. At the same time, online teaching opens unprecedented opportuni- ties for students to co-design activities and assessments, creating improved opportuni- ties to making them co-producers of their learning. The fact that it is easier to shape the format of live sessions according to stu- dents’ needs and regular feedback can help universities make students participate more proactively in directing the course of their learning. Students were able to directly and mutually explore how policies and norms in daily life differ between countries, and some of the even perceived a bit of a culture shock. Of course, this case study has certainly some limitations. Due to the rapid and un- foreseeable development of external cir- cumstances during the COVID-19 pan- demic, our cooperation had to be planned and organised at very short notice. Under these conditions, the participating lecturers had to opt for a pragmatic approach without a prior test run or in-depth planning. Like- wise, the survey to explore the impact of the innovative learning experience, which was conducted shortly after the lectures and joint group work, was descriptive in nature and applied without a pre-test. The fact that the lecture periods of the participating uni- versities only partially overlapped put addi- tional timely pressure on the implementa- tion of the internet-based cross-university teaching-learning experience. Moreover, the fact that this case study is limited to two global health courses and a relatively small number of participants reduces the general- isability of the described teaching-learning experiment under pandemic conditions. While the potential to make students act in- creasingly as partners in their education looks tempting, it should not be over- stretched. Even in online teaching via video chat, the commitment and active enrolment in the education depends more on individ- ual conditions than in face-to-face teaching. It is easier and less risky for students to (partly) pull out of the sessions and hide be- hind the anonymity of online teaching. This applies mainly to larger cohorts which do not allow a direct supervision of all partici- pants at the time. Moreover, concurrent ex- perience shows that the ability of students Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 10 | 12 to follow lectures, to actively work on the material and, above all, to actively partici- pate in the lessons, shows even greater dif- ferences in online teaching than in face-to- face teaching. Inter-university online teach- ing does not only have to take into account this general condition but be aware of greater differences within and between the different cohorts. In the teaching experi- ence of York and Fulda Universities, the at- titude, commitment and participation did not show discernible differences between students enrolled in Canadian and German higher education; however, Romanian stu- dents were less visible what might be at- tributable to their low number and the role of guest students. Students noticed differ- ences in the teaching and research focus and priorities. For example, Canadian students were more focused on statistics whereas students from Germany were more focused on a holistic understanding of the topic. Nonetheless it has to be stressed that the more different teaching-learning habits and cultures are, the more challenging it will be to assure equal possibilities and opportuni- ties for all participants. Online learning has certainly an equalising potential, as both lecturers and all students attend online ses- sions from their homes in order to adjust to the realities imposed by the pandemic out- break. However, inequality remains an im- portant issue for concern. Availability of adequate hardware equipment, internet con- nectivity, supportive social integration and individual contacts remain critical topics that challenge equality of opportunities for students. Hence, for preparing joint inter- university sessions and working groups, the faculty of the academic institutions in- volved are strongly recommended to ex- change about teaching-learning strategies, didactic approaches and practical experi- ences in order to be prepared and capable to adequately respond to the needs and habits of the different student cohorts. As a matter of fact, differences in language fluency have to be taken into account for preventing misunderstandings as well as insecurities in joint group works. Online teaching-learning relies heavily on internet connectivity and the technical equipment available to teachers and espe- cially students. Although coverage of relia- ble internet connections varies in Germany and offer room for improvement particu- larly in rural areas, technical problems on students’ side were negligible. In the To- ronto region internet connectivity is very good overall and allowed students to follow the joint sessions and perform in the joint group work. For Romanian students, the technical conditions were also sufficient and did not cause major problems. How- ever, one has to be aware that online inter- university teaching learning is likely to be more challenging with academic partners located in low-income or other countries where internet connectivity is unstable; ad- ditional challenges might arise if power supply is unreliable. Beyond the general framework conditions, differences in tech- nical equipment are also very likely to play a role. If students depend on smart phones instead of computer or laptops, knowledge transfer via presentations is seriously ham- pered, and participation severely limited. Hence, reliable power and internet supply as well as adequate technical equipment are indispensable for making inter-university higher education effective, enjoyable and successful. Making all lecture recordings available is considered crucial for cross- university teaching-learning as it allows students repeating innovative or compli- cated topics; copyright issues have to be sorted out, and teachers are highly recom- mended to make their inputs accessible for students living in time zones where it is dif- ficult to follow the live session and for all others who want to work the topic more in depth. One of the challenges which is highly rele- vant for students is the question of how to Poirier MJP, Hard J, Holst J. COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 11 | 12 include inter-university learning-teaching into the regular schedule and especially the given grading and assignment conditions, which may differ from one university to an- other. It is worth mentioning that most stu- dents were motivated to attend the inter- university lectures and committed to con- tribute to the mixed working groups, alt- hough the impact of the joint sessions and working groups as part of the course assign- ment and grading was limited. This sug- gests that the primary motivation can be sufficiently strong for students at the differ- ent universities involved to broaden their perspectives and get to know other faculty and students. Moreover, compared to tradi- tional examinations with a focus on re- calling information rather than exploring a topic, putting together policy briefing pa- pers, and recording podcasts, videos, nar- rated Powerpoint presentations or other multimedia products require and reward cu- riosity and academic inquiry. In a nutshell, inter-university online teach- ing-learning modes adopted by York and Fulda University, with partial involvement of Babes-Bolyai University during the COVID-19 adversity have proven to be very promising for both, intellectually en- riched opportunities particularly on the field of global health and for further future academic cooperation. In fact, they are al- ready being replicated in similar formats, and further online teaching-learning activi- ties are being prepared. Institutional condi- tions and arrangements are increasingly be- ing adjusted to the new needs and promis- ing to lower the barriers of implementing fruitful cross-university teaching-learning cooperation (5). These promising ap- proaches help overcome the persisting re- strictions in real-life internationality and globality due to the ongoing and prolonged pandemic. If one of the lessons to be learned from COVID-19 is a critical valida- tion of physical travel needs, online inter- university teaching and learning exercises have the potential to anticipate the future and prepare students for the working condi- tions in the field of global health in the next decades. References 1. Lamba P. Teleconferencing in Medical Education: A Useful Tool. Australas Med J 2011;4:442-7. DOI: 10.4066/AMJ.2011.823. 2. European University Association. European higher education in the Covid-19 crisis. Brussels: 2020. 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COVID-19 pandemic providing a window of opportunity for higher education: Case study of a three-country teaching-learning experience. (Origianl research). SEEJPH 2021, posted: 15 November 2021. DOI: 10.11576/seejph-4924 P a g e 12 | 12 16_HRK-S-Entschliessung_Eck- punktepapier_EN.pdf (accessed: July 20, 2021). 6. Bao W. COVID‐19 and online teaching in higher education: A case study of Peking University. Hum Behav Emerg Tech 2020;2:113-5. DOI:10.1002/hbe2.191. 7. Poulová P, Šimonová I. Borderless Education: InterUniversity Study – Tutors’ Feedback. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 2015;171:1185-93. DOI:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.230. 8. Činčera J, Mikusiński G, Binka B, Calafate L, Calheiros C, Cardoso A, et al. Managing Diversity: The Challenges of Inter-University Co- operation in Sustainability Educa- tion. Sustainability 2019;11:5610. DOI:10.3390/su11205610. 9. Mishra L, Gupta T, Shree A. Online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Educ Res Open 2020;1:100012. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedro.2020.100012 . __________________________________________________________________________________________ © 2021 Poirier et al; This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons At- tribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.