The global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has undermined our perspective of the world in substantial and profound ways. The familiar has become unapproachable; the safe seems vulnerable; and certainty has been replaced by unpredictability. This is not going to be a temporary situation. Instead, the impact and implications of this crisis stretch far and wide into every educational sector (streamlining of distance learning, readiness of digital learning tools and platforms, blended approaches for diverse learning needs, and ensuring awareness of data security and privacy) including the higher education system. Amidst a global pandemic which is forcing workplace and educational changes, adaptability is the key. This paper shares a progressive "pedagogical COVID-19 vaccine" characterized by our "Tandem Lessons for the 21st Century Learning" project, an ongoing inter-institutional action research (Two language specialized universities located in Taiwan and Japan) investigating the impact of tandem learning among English as lingua franca (ELF) learners at the tertiary level and in global virtual learning communities. Rather than simply attempting to conduct a language exchange platform, the project investigators/course instructors aim to engage three cohorts of students from different cultures and educational institutions to discuss and review issue-based reading materials drawn from "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" (Harari, 2018) while using their target language, the lingua franca of English to communicate and develop writing and speaking tasks. Complying with the COVID-19 emergencies and school closures, this project is grounded in autonomous, reciprocal, collaborative and cooperative language learning contexts to legitimize learnership, strengthen connection, encourage conversations, and embrace diversity for 21st century global citizenship. In addition to the issue-focused project-based learning, the effective infusion of information technology tools and digital applications have acted like the veins conjoining the process and outcome of this tandem learning project. In other words, the constraints of traditional classroom and foreign language teaching have been unshackled while learning has been enhanced and augmented with the ubiquity and diffusion of digital and information technology (e.g., smartphones, social networking platforms, G-suite for Education, and software applications of multimodal discussion and presentation boards, etc.). This tandem learning project is also evaluated through the lens of the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) framework (Puentedura, 2013) to reassure quality teaching practices in project/lesson design with the hierarchical integration of digital technology. This SAMR model challenges the language educators to "teach above the line" moving from technology as a means to enhance teaching to an approach that transforms foreign language instruction. Many educators, including the three Tandem Lesson Project instructors across two partner institutions, have made a serious commitment to preparing students for the future by leveraging digital communication technologies. This commitment is guided by the understanding that instructional technology provides a vehicle to support autonomous learning and sustainable pedagogy in the foreign language classroom, both physically and virtually.