ERIC Number: EJ798275
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1080-5699
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Building a Shared Virtual Learning Culture: An International Classroom Partnership
Starke-Meyerring, Doreen; Andrews, Deborah
Business Communication Quarterly, v69 n1 p25-49 2006
Business professionals increasingly use digital tools to collaborate across multiple cultures, locations, and time zones. Success in this complex environment depends on a shared culture that facilitates the making of knowledge and the best contributions of all team members. To prepare managers for such communication, the authors designed and implemented a semester-long intercultural virtual team project between a management communication course in the United States and one in Canada. To prevent faultlines between subgroups on each campus, the authors set a clear outcome for students' research, established equity between the two sites, structured assignments so that students worked interdependently across sites, and encouraged inclusive communication. Faculty considering such a partnership should incorporate a robust collaborative workspace, incorporate preliminary exercises before a large project, provide intensive mentoring and instruction on peer review, arrange for a real visit or videoconference between locations, and expect the project to be both fun and demanding.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Student Exchange Programs, Cooperative Learning, Partnerships in Education, Intercollegiate Cooperation, Virtual Classrooms, Educational Environment, Intercultural Communication, Distance Education, Management Development, Course Descriptions, Instructional Development, Instructional Effectiveness, International Educational Exchange
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A