While You Were Sleeping: Realising the Dream of International Collaborative Teaching

Collaborative teaching between two or more geographically distant universities is possible. Informed by global trends, we know that our future professionals and practitioners will increasingly move through different jurisdictions and cultural contexts. Twenty-first century university education can bridge the academic/practitioner divide, by using effective communication to build cross-border communities that refocus learning, teaching and innovation. This paper describes the construction of partnerships and collaboration, considers the importance of quality assurance arrangements and poses challenging questions about how these collaborative partnerships can be developed, maintained and taken further. We wanted to provide students with a stimulating learning opportunity that prepares them to operate in international surroundings in relation to criminal justice agencies. The "Murder @" projects require students to engage in a series of online activities, and to collaborate with each other in the setting of a virtually authentic professional environment. The key focus is on teaching, learning and pedagogy framed around a narrative of how meaningful international collaboration can be achieved.