Alina Slapac
University of Missouri, St. Louis, United States
Alina Slapac is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at University of Missouri–St. Louis. Her scholarship focuses on teacher development, culturally and linguistically responsive teaching, participatory action research, and the internationalization of higher education through COIL/virtual exchange grounded in social justice frameworks. She has collaborated with educators and researchers from China, Norway, Romania, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States on international teaching, COIL and research initiatives. Dr. Slapac serves as a SUNY COIL Community Engagement Leader and as a UMSL Global Fellow and Global Faculty Network Ambassador. She co-edited the 2024 volume Encouraging Transnational Learning Through Virtual Exchange in Global Teacher Education. In addition, she serves as Co-Moderator of the SUNY COIL Research Idea Hub and Section Head Editor for Education and Teacher Development for the forthcoming Springer handbook The Handbook of Virtual Exchange Across Disciplines: Building Global Citizens from Home (2026, Ed. K. Tzoumis).
“COIL creates meaningful opportunities for reflective practice, collaboration, and global engagement while strengthening disciplinary knowledge through authentic intercultural experiences. As the field continues to evolve, it is important to continue advancing virtual exchange through research that deepens our understanding of effective pedagogical design, cross-cultural dialogue, and transformative educational practice.”
Project Information
Book, articles and book chapters related to COIL/virtual exchange:
Slapac, A., Collett, K., & Bolton, N. (2026). Teacher development through the Learning Science Principles and Teacher Actions framework in a U.S.–South Africa virtual exchange. In K. Tzoumis (Ed.), The handbook of virtual exchange across disciplines: Building global citizens from home. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-10711-4_52-1 (Open access chapter).
Slapac, A., & Masardo, A. (2025). Editorial: IVEC 2024 Special Issue. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 8(SI-IVEC 2024), i-iv. https://doi.org/10.21827/jve.8.43103
Slapac, A. & Huertas Abril, C.A. (2024). (Eds.). Encouraging transnational learning through virtual exchange in global teacher education. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/9781668496192
Collett, K., & Slapac, A. (2024). Social justice pedagogy: International perspectives on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) through a World Café engagement. Journal for Virtual Exchange, Special Issue IVEC 2023, 7. https://doi.org/10.21827/jve.7.41852
Collett, K., Slapac, A., Coppersmith, S.A. & Cheng, J. (2024). Towards a ‘response-able pedagogy’ in teacher development through Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL): An American-South African partnership. In A. Slapac & C.A. Huertas Abril (2024). (Eds.), Encouraging transnational learning through virtual exchange in global teacher education. (pp.79-107). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-7813-4.ch004
Slapac, A., Collett, K., Wessels, F., Gamiet, G., & Knudsmoen, H. (2023). Social justice pedagogy and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL): Across three partner higher education institutions. In P. Escudeiro, N. Escudeiro, & O. Bernardes (Eds.), Handbook of research on implementing inclusive educational models and technologies for equity and diversity (pp. 252–272). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-0453-2.ch013
Podcasts:
Tzoumis, K. [Host and Book Editor]. (2026, February 11). Teacher development through the Learning Science Principles and Teacher Actions framework in a U.S.–South Africa virtual exchange with Alina Slapac, Karen Collett, and Natalie Bolton [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast series on chapters from The handbook of virtual exchange across disciplines: Building global citizens from home (K. Tzoumis, Ed.). Springer Nature. URL forthcoming June 2026.
Slapac, A. [Host & Section Head Editor for Education and Teacher Development]. (2026, April 21). Simulating complexity for praxis and cultivating consciousness: Virtual exchange as a transformative space for teacher education with M. Laura Angelini and Raluca Pop [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast series on chapters from The handbook of virtual exchange across disciplines: Building global citizens from home (K. Tzoumis, Ed.). Springer Nature. URL forthcoming June 2026.
Slapac, A. [Host & Section Head Editor for Education and Teacher Development]. (2026, April 22). Cross-national peer mentoring in virtual exchange: Professional learning, reflection, and cultural literacies in teacher education with Alex Masardo, Miquel Alsina-Tarrés, and Cristina Mallol-Macau [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast series on chapters from The handbook of virtual exchange across disciplines: Building global citizens from home (K. Tzoumis, Ed.). Springer Nature. URL forthcoming June 2026.
Slapac, A. [Host & Section Head Editor for Education and Teacher Development]. (2026, April 27). English as a foreign language teacher disciplinary learning: Evidence from reflection-for-action and reflection-on-action in a global virtual exchange with Banu Çiçek Başaran-Uysal, İlknur Yüksel, and Blerta Mustafa [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast series on chapters from The handbook of virtual exchange across disciplines: Building global citizens from home (K. Tzoumis, Ed.). Springer Nature. URL forthcoming June 2026.
Slapac, A. [Host & Section Head Editor for Education and Teacher Development]. (2026, April 29). Multimodality, criticality, culture, and language: Interdisciplinary learning in a cross-cultural virtual exchange for an expanded worldview with Olivia G. Stewart, Jordan González, and Ekaterina Midgette [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast series on chapters from The handbook of virtual exchange across disciplines: Building global citizens from home (K. Tzoumis, Ed.). Springer Nature. URL forthcoming June 2026.
Slapac, A. [Host & Section Head Editor for Education and Teacher Development]. (2026, May 21). Virtual exchange in pre-service English as a foreign language teacher education: Reflections and insights from three continents with Hülya Tuncer, Wisma Yunit, and Ester Quiroz Uribe [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast series on chapters from The handbook of virtual exchange across disciplines: Building global citizens from home (K. Tzoumis, Ed.). Springer Nature. URL forthcoming June 2026.
Slapac, A. [Host & Section Head Editor for Education and Teacher Development]. (2026, May 22). Digital dialogues, shifted practices: Virtual exchange as a transformative tool for family-engaged literacy instruction with Tara Mathien and Renata Castillo [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast series on chapters from The handbook of virtual exchange across disciplines: Building global citizens from home (K. Tzoumis, Ed.). Springer Nature. URL forthcoming June 2026.
Other COIL Related activities:
Section Head Editor for Education and Teacher Development section for The Handbook of Virtual Exchange across Disciplines: Building Global Citizens from Home (Springer Nature; Editor: Kelly Tzoumis) 2025-2026
Guest Co-Editor (invited) for the Journal of Virtual Exchange, IVEC Special Issue 2024 (2024-2025)
Co-Moderator (invited) for Monthly COIL IDEA Hub series on COIL+ Research, SUNY COIL (2024-presently)