Presenters: Regina Brautlacht, Lurdes Martins and Joseph Owino

Conference: “Virtual Exchange – Borderless Mobility between European Higher Education Area and Regions Beyond”

Date and Time: December 11, 2019 • Session 1 - 13:15 – 14:30

Title: Online Collaboration Among European, African and US Students: A Didactical Resume of the Building Bridges Across Continents Project

Country Coordinators

Regina BrautlachtUniversity of Applied Sciences Bonn, Germanyregina.brautlacht@h-brs.de

Prof. Dr. Daniel AgyapongUniversity of Cape Coast, Ghanadagyapong@ucc.edu.gh

Prof. Dr. Nils RauhutCoastal Carolina University, USA

Dr. Joseph OwinoUniversity of Nairobi, Kenyajowino@uonbi.ac.ke

Prof. Dr. Lurdes MartinsPolytechnic Institute of Viseu, Portugallurdesmartins@estgv.ipv.pt

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Presentation Outline

Virtual Exchange

Theoretical Framework

Building Bridges Across Continents Project

Conclusion

References

Jager, Nissen, Helm, Baroni & Rousset (2019)

VIRTUAL EXCHANGE

People-to-people

Technology enabled

Different cultural

backgrounds

Constructive interactions

Educators as facilitators

Virtual Exchange

Partnership for 21st century Learning (P21)

P21 Framework for 21st Century Learning: Student outcomes and support systems

Collaboration – working together towards a shared goal

Communication – expressing ideas and opinions

Creativity – producing new and unique ideas

Critical Thinking – reasoning, analyzing and solving problems

Information literacy

Media literacy

ICT literacy

Flexibility & adaptability

Initiative & self-direction

Social and cross-cultural skills

Productivity & accountability

Leadership & responsibility

Source: http://www.battelleforkids.org/networks/p21

The TPACK framework

Source: Koehler and Mishra, 2009

ContentKnowledge

(CK)

PedagogicalKnowledge

(PK)

TechnologicalKnowledge

(TK)

TechnologicalPedagogical Content

Knowledge(TPACK)

TechnologicalContent

Knowledge(TCK)

TechnologicalPedagogicalKnowledge

(TPK)

PedagogicalContent

Knowledge(PCK)

Contexts

Content: Global Topics and Cultural Diversity

Pedagogy: Socio-Constructivism; Competency-Based Learning

Technology: Social Media Tools; Joint Platform; Email; Smart Devices

Building Bridges Across Continents

Goals

19 July 2017 Regina Brautlacht Dr. Joseph Owino Dr. Daniel Agyapong

Collaboration and communication in an international

environment

Getting to understand cultural dynamics and

differences

Practice writing and speaking in

English

Communication Media literacy

Social and Cross- Cultural

Critical thinking

Collaboration Flexibility

Skills

Tasks

Joint Platform

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Students’ Reflections

Although we are spread across the whole globe, our generation is the first one, that is united by social media. This enormous power could be the key to solve current and future problems.

The videos introduced me to the cultural categories of my colleagues and it gave me a fair idea about their culture and ways of life before the interview. The videos played a major role in my interviews.

Earlier, I had some negative attitude towards visiting some countries especially due to issues of racism and feeling as if I would not be able to get along with them. However, after the videos and the interviews, I can confidently say that I can freely visit these places because at least I realized that the situation is not as I thought.

An interview with Nádia

What did you learn about yourself?

What did you enjoy the most?

What was your main challenge and how did you overcome it?

What are the most important things you learned through the project or the collaboration with other students?

Year 2019 (Winter) 2019 (Summer) 2018

Country Germany, Ghana, Portugal,

Kenya

Germany, Ghana,Kenya

Germany, Ghana, Portugal,

Kenya, USA

Number of STDs 55 35 59

Tools used ✓ Wiki✓ Email✓ Skype✓ Zoom✓ Smartphone✓ Video Editing Software

✓ Wiki✓ Email✓ Skype✓ Zoom✓ Smartphone✓ Video Editing Software

✓ Wiki✓ Email✓ Skype✓ Smartphone

Activity a. Engaging in cultural exchange. b. Making and posting of cultural videos online.c. Interviewing and being interviewedd. Writing personal report.

a. Engaging in cultural exchange. b. Making and posting of videos online.c. Conducting survey and writing survey report.d. Convening, chairing and writing minutes from virtual

meeting.e. Recording of virtual meetings.

Project Duration 4 months 4 months 4 months

Design Exploratory

Project Approach and Design (2018 – 2019)

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Year 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013

Country Germany, Ghana,

Kenya, USA

Germany, Ghana,

Kenya, USA

Germany, Ghana

Germany, Ghana

+Germany, Italy, Portugal, Franc

Germany , Ghana+

Germany, Italy, Portugal, France

Number of STDs 41 48 80 36 30

Tools used ✓ Wiki✓ Email✓ Skype✓ Facebook✓ Smartphone

✓ Wiki✓ Email✓ Skype✓ Facebook✓ Smartphone✓ WhatsApp

✓ Wiki✓ Email✓ Skype✓ Facebook✓ Smartphone

✓ Wiki✓ Email✓ Skype✓ Facebook✓ Smartphone

✓ Wiki✓ Email✓ Skype✓ Facebook✓ Smartphone

Activity a. Engaging in cultural exchange. b. Making and posting of videos online.c. Conducting survey and writing survey report.d. Convening, chairing and writing minutes from virtual meeting.e. Recording of virtual meetings.

Project Duration 4 months 4 months 4 months 4 months 4 months

Design Exploratory

Project Approach and Design (2013 – 2017)

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Number of StudentsWe have connected 384 students since 2013.

Challenges

• Lack of flexibility;

• Difficulties in solving problems;

• Different levels of ICT proficiency;

• Lack of netiquette;

• Difficulties in rephrasing;

• Connectivity problems.

Students

Challenges

• Different pedagogical approaches to autonomous learning, scaffolding and tutoring.

• Project management.

• Different levels of institutional and financial support.

• Cultural diversity of the students.

Coordinators

Conclusion

Cultural videos engaged students in meaningful dialogues.

Gaps between social and professional use of digital tools.

Students need to develop more problem solving techniques.

Learning outcomes depend on the level of commitment.

Scaffolding based on country needs.

Student guidelines are crucial.

Need to develop guidelines for coordinators.

Questions?

How do we select our students?

How do we assess our students?

How do we fund the project?

Any other questions?

References• Beelen J., Jones E. (2015) Redefining Internationalization at Home. In: Curaj A., Matei L., Pricopie R., Salmi J., Scott

P. (eds) The European Higher Education Area. Springer, Cham

• Jager, S., Nissen, E., Helm, F., Baroni, A., Rousset, I. (2019) Virtual Exchange as Innovative Practice across Europe. Awareness and Use in Higher Education. Retrieved from https://evolve-erasmus.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Baseline-study-report-Final_Published_Incl_Survey.pdf

• Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.

• P21 - The Partnership for 21st Century Learning. (2015). P21 Framework Definitions. Retrieved from: http://www.battelleforkids.org/networks/p21

• Spiro, R.J., Feltovich, P.J., Jacobson, M.J. & Coulson, R.L. (1991). Cognitive flexibility, constructivism, and hypertext: Random access instruction for advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-structured domains. Educational Technology, 31(1), 24-33