Abstract:

People in the 21st century increasingly need to communicate, collaborate, do business and close deals internationally by means of technological tools. Today, most jobs currently require Digital Skills. This paper provides recommendations on how to develop in students, the Digital Skills they need to improve employability, and job quality in the digital economy era. It also aims to improve Intercultural Communication and Negotiation Competencies, using varied technological innovations. The study examines effectiveness on active learning methodologies, such as role-playing simulations, modeling, drama, and class dialog. A discussion contrasting effective tactics using educational technology and unproductive ones is included. The research focuses on technological tools to curate, produce and edit video; to communicate by means of texting, emailing, and videoconferencing; and to storage using cloud repositories. Findings in this paper are based on data from a Global Shared Learning classroom project, conducted across geographical locations and cultures in two universities. One is in Mexico and the other is in the United States. This project has been working over a period of two and a half years. Project design was guided by Experiential Theory, Socio-cultural Theory, Social Cognitive Theory and Cognitive Load theory.

Keywords:

digital skills, intercultural communication, negotiation competency, educational innovation, higher education.