VM curriculum designing

International online group work consists of  the use of technology to facilitate class discussions and do collaborative course assignments across national borders or time zones. These course exchanges can be synchronous or asynchronous or involve a combination of both.

CONTENT

Firstly it is important to define which content students will need to master through the online group work. Here you will also need to take the scope of the group work into account: will the focus be on the ‘international’ or ‘intercultural’ dimension?

GROUP SIZE
Form groups of four (max. 6) members. Groups of four offer the biggest chance on a successful learning opportunity for all group members. In bigger groups there will almost inevitably be students who do not engage fully in the tasks.

TASKS

• Organize the group work around a task or a sequence of tasks.
• To define (a) suitable task(s), you have to ask yourself what you want to achieve through these tasks: exchange of information, analysis and comparison or collaboration. The selection of the tools is also closely related to the choice that is made here.
• Sequence tasks from simple and guided to more complex and independent, both in terms of language and cognitive load. Information exchange tasks are most suitable to start with in a context of online international group work. These type of tasks can serve as ice-breaking activities and will help to create the social bonds that are necessary for future success of the collaboration. Allowing one to two weeks for preparatory tasks that enable students to develop a sense of mutual trust and community, as well as to feel comfortable with the technology, will lead to a more fruitful exchange.
• If the goal is to provide students with a truly intercultural experience, you will need to include at least one collaborative task. Tasks that are often most suitable here are tasks that resemble real life contexts and in which students have to look together for a solution to a cognitively authentic problem. To make sure the task requires true collaboration (and cannot be divided into separate individual tasks) there are some guidelines to follow:
  
  • Make sure the task has a degree of inter-dependence, e.g. completion depends on knowledge, information or artefacts that only the peers have access to.
  • Make sure the tasks can be split up in interdependent sub-tasks that are more or less equal in terms of volume and importance. Equal participation will ensure a feeling of ownership and will add to students’ motivation.
  • Every group member needs to be individually accountable for his/her sub-task.
     

THE ISSUE OF LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURALITY

• Which language will be used as “lingua franca”? This is an important question because it might put one set of students (native speakers) at an advantage and the other at a disadvantage. In this case you can balance this out by for instance using the communication and collaboration tools the “disadvantaged” students are used to. Language can be merely a communication tool or it can be at the centre of tasks when language acquisition is one of the goals of the group work. The role of language  (means to an end or goal) will also play a part in choice of tools.
• Not only the level of knowledge of the lingua franca will influence the communication. Different cultural backgrounds and institutional cultures will also condition the specific communication styles of the different students. This issue needs be a point of attention from in the beginning.
• Understanding intercultural communication is a bit like learning a new language and it is not uncommon that unspoken differences between collaborating students can create challenging moments when misunderstandings arise. These awkward moments are not necessarily a bad thing, as they can provide an opportunity for discussing and exploring cultural differences. It is important both for teachers and students to be prepared for intercultural communication.
  
  • Preferably teachers can work together with somebody who guides the student in the partnering institution
  • Before the intercultural learning experience starts teachers are advised to raise awareness about this issue among students e.g. by preparing readings and tasks. It is important to bring the issue explicitly to the forefront from the start.
  • During the group work it will be important to spot misunderstandings in time so they can be contextualized and turned from problems into valuable learning experiences. It is important to keep bringing the issue under the student’s attention, for instance by asking them to reflect upon it on a regular basis during and after the collaborative experience.
  • Reflection is closely linked with the issue of developing intercultural awareness and collaborative skills. To stimulate this in students, it is important to provoke regular reflection on their learning process. Use tools like blogging and portfolio to help students reflect and provide examples of their learning (Unit 3).