student internationalization through web 2.0

NextEd: Web2.0 & a sustainable approach to Internationalising

students An invitation to “…spend the morning indoors going to Africa and back…”

Rose Quilling & Craig Blewett

Internationalisation?

Has always been about

• physical mobility• academic

cooperation• knowledge transfer

Internationalisation?

And may be about

• Mutual understanding

• Skill migration

• Revenue generation

• Capacity building

…about a process & growth

It’s about a journey…

Travel is fatal to prejudice, Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-bigotry, and narrow-

mindedness, and many of our mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these people need it sorely on these

accounts.accounts.

Mark TwainMark Twain

A documented journey…

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

Henry Miller

We must travel in the direction of our fear.

Berryman

We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.

Steinbeck

Benefits are clearBut let’s get real !

UKZN Student Exchange Programme: Semester 1 - 2011

…a good academicrecord.

…subject to selection at both the home and host

institution.

responsible for their own expenses including travel, subsistence,

accommodation, health insurance and any other costs as applicable at the host

institution.

……enrol for courses for which credits can

be transferred

Some financial aid will be available for financially

needy students

But let’s get real…

UKZN Student Exchange Programme: Semester 1 - 2011

…a good academicrecord.

…subject to selection at both the home and host

institution.

responsible for their own expenses including travel, subsistence,

accommodation, health insurance and any other costs as applicable at the host

institution.

……enrol for courses for which credits can

be transferred

Some financial aid will be available for financially

needy students

VERY

FEW !VERY

FEW !

We’d like to invite you to

“…spend the morning indoors going to Africa and back…”

Our invitation to you

…cross-cultural communication (electronic or otherwise) does not require a total transformation of behavior to suit cultural differences but does demand an ability to work within a culturally diverse framework.

Zakaria, et al. (2004:24)

Less immersive...

Using Web2.0

Using Web2.0

Anywhere – anytime

Engaging (multimedia)

Collaborate - contribute

Social Computing (Web 2.0)• Social networks• Social bookmarking• Wikis• Blogs• Virtual worlds

………….. is a global, virtual educational network, built on an ubuntu philosophy of collaboration anda scaffolded model of supportiveengagement.

Collaborations since 2008

UKZN• South Africa

• Originating institution

• BCom IS&T Hons (4th yr)

• 2 flexible modules: CMC & Special Topics

• 10-30 students

US & Africa

UMass• USA• MBA students - Core

MIS class (~20)• OR students Ugrad

(~70)• Topic link to

“Special Topics in IS&T”

Daystar• Kenya• BSc Applied Comp

Sc (4th year)• (10-20)• HCI module• Topic link to “CMC”

Practically…

• Share topics – not modules• Specific learning objectives

– Hard– Soft

• Jointly select platforms• Team

– Teaching– Assessment– Timing

ImpressionsThe wiki was a great collaboration platform – it’s nice to be able to add work, and edit the work of others, slowly molding and shaping

text into a final product.

I found my [SA] teammates to be knowledgeable and very willing to help. I was particularly surprised, and am not sure why, that their depth and knowledge of our

topic equaled ours. Perhaps it was a stereotype to think their educational system

would not be on the same level as ours, but it was quite

the opposite

… students participated in the group activities

very well and ended up learning more than they thought they would…

UMass(MBA)

Daystar Faculty

More tasks should be done in collaboration with students

from other countries.

Activities that require the use of Facebook,

Twitter, YouTube, Flickr should be

introduced and added to the module.

Impressions

Computers must be up to standard

…there was not enough collaboration

between SA and USA students.

Team issues!

Lessons We Learned..

• Courses & Students

• Requirements & Assessment

• Participants

L1: Courses & Students

• Courses– Courses with common content?– Compartmentalised into topics?– Aligning timing of topic?

• Student academic level– Knowing your own & collaborator’s

L2: Requirements & Assessment

• Requirements being made of students– Multidisciplinary teams – Variety of Skills– Notional study hours available for collaboration

• Assessment– Modes of assessment: assignments? exams?– Grading norms ~ NB for initiator

• Equally difficult for initiator and collaborator to judge?!

L3: Participants

• Expectations? Students & FacultyExpectations? Students & Faculty

• Success requires motivated Success requires motivated participants…So what? …What’s participants…So what? …What’s in it for me?in it for me?

• ““Seeing is believing” Seeing is believing”

ConclusionIt’s about vision casting

“Virtual Internationalisation” is not the same thing as “immersive” internationalisation!

Yet it is

–Simple

–Can be scaffolded

–Scalable

–Accessible

conclusion

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

THANK YOU

rosemaryquilling@gmail.com

craigblewett@gmail.com