re: collaborative learning

It sounds like it was an interesting and valuable experience, Nancy, despite the difficulties. Having the people meet in-person, or via video-conferencing, or even chat, might help bridge the gaps. But if none of those things are possible, even encouraging private email among the participants might help (encouraging people from different countries to become like "pen pals"). Also, perhaps set up (in addition to the forum) a collection of email lists so that smaller subgroups of people can get to know each other better. Make the groups as mixed as possibly (especially regarding nationality).

Forums are "public" places, which may result in more formal or superficial connections among people. Encouraging more cozy interactions might help.

Your project is a great experiment in multi-national interactions. Learning about other peoples customs and norms for socializing is challenging, but that's one of the great things about the internet. Encouraging people to talk about those cultural differences while working on a project or task is probably a very good idea.

Replies:

There are no replies to this message.

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

Copyright ©1996-1999 Behavior OnLine, Inc. All rights reserved.