Successful Application of Learning Technologies (SALT)

«Funded»

School leaders and students in today's world require an understanding of the world's cultural traditions, appreciation of differences, and opportunities to communicate across cultures. The purpose of this project, therefore, is to increase the capacity and skillfulness of Instructional Technology students to successfully collaborate with colleagues from different cultures utilizing online communication tools. The rationale is to internationalize the curriculum, addressing core competencies of 21st Century Skills Framework related to cross-cultural communication skills and global awareness. One primary problem that will be addressed is the evaluation of the types of synchronous and asynchronous tools that best encourage and support intercultural collaboration and information sharing. Another problem to be addressed is the assessment of change in our students' global perspective, as a result of this project. The benefits to the college are numerous, and include developing in our students an increased awareness of the world's complexity and interdependence. A further benefit is that this project will positively impact the design of online learning environments, to identify the most effective online communication tools to support intercultural collaboration – an important question to research as we expand our programs nationally and globally through distance learning.