Abstract:

Innovations in collaborative learning through online international exchange (telecollaboration) can contribute to the creation of a more equitable, respectful and just society. In the first part of my presentation, taking my cue from the insights of such diverse thinkers as Mikhail Bakhtin, Zygmunt Bauman and Robert O'Dowd, I will suggest that telecollaboration can meet one of the biggest challenges of our time: the exercise of the rules of mutual hospitality. In this educational context, the willingness to acknowledge cultural strengths and uniqueness of each participant goes in tandem with openness to the creation of supranational community of learners. I will further propose that online intercultural exchange, facilitated by instructors who see themselves as life-long learners, can become a manifestation of the liberating power of collaboratively created knowledge in any setting.

In the second part of my paper, I will discuss the collaboration between the State University of New York, Empire State College (USA) and Krakow Pedagogical University (Poland) in the co-developing and co-teaching of Language and Culture course.

This course has five major goals:
(1) to expand students’ knowledge about the ways in which language behavior reflects diverse cultural patterns;
(2) to highlight the role of language in the processes through which children and adolescents become members of particular groups in society;
(3) to foster cross-cultural understanding and acceptance thought engaging students in implicit debates on most controversial topics, including class, race, gender, and linguistic choice in its relationship to both American and European politics and globalization;
(4) to develop respect for diverse members of world population, indispensable for the democratic citizenship;
(5) to prepare students for a teamwork with international partners, which is a highly desirable skill for the professional success in almost every area.

Our work was informed by the assumption that international network-based learning can be beneficial in terms of both knowledge and experience. This, indeed turned out to be the case. I will share some of the most successful and innovative activities, which allowed students to meet academic goals set for the course, and, ultimately, to become open-minded, respectful and confident communicators.

Keywords:

international collaboration, innovations, e-learning, language, culture