Online collaborative cross-cultural learning: Students' perspectives

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes students' perspective on the process of integrating online collaborative cross-cultural modules in the traditional (full-time) courses. Twenty-five US, Lithuanian and Russian students participated in a 6-week online international project The Power of Media. After the course, students completed the questionnaire that explored their learning experiences. The study showed a positive attitude of the students toward international online collaboration and illustrated beneficial impact of such cross-cultural projects on the development of linguistic and intercultural competences of learners. However, results revealed that while students learn from differences in peers' cultural and educational backgrounds, dissimilar communication and learning strategies, as well as varied ways of student-to-content and student-to-student interaction, may hinder successful learning experiences in collaborative online international learning (COIL) environments. The results speak for the need for similar cross-cultural projects to carefully plan content and activities, set clear deadlines, and use a range of online communication tools including synchronous.