Using Innovation Hubs as Global Educational Collaboration Centers: Changing the International Education Model

This paper adapts existing international educational models to address collaborative education using innovation hubs as the coordinating mechanism. Our goal is to improve global engagement and mobility of students during their educational path. In this paper, we address challenges in international education through an approach based on collaboration among universities with innovation hubs. We base our discussion on theories of organizational change and knowledge management. Qualitative data collected from three partner universities, two in Germany and one in the United States, are presented. Each had specific innovation hubs but none used these resources in a structured international context. We explore ways in which an innovation hub developed and operated by multiple international education partners might be an appropriate platform for new ways of collaboration. An innovation hub might provide a mechanism by which global partners learn in rich ways across diverse platforms, norms, and motivations. Theory grounded in organizational adaptation, open innovation and global education suggests that integrating an innovation hub with international education programs may yield effective results at the individual (students, staff, faculty) and the organizational (intellectual property, reputation, etc.) levels. Desired outcomes include creating mutual benefits through collective knowledge generation and implementation of new ideas. We conclude that implementation of this model would involve a change process, thus specific characteristics and indications for change management should be applied. We offer recommendations for implementing this model and discuss implementation options and the involvement of global partner faculty, students, and staff.