Research Project to Develop Learning Designs of International Distance Education using ICT for Fostering Intercultural Competence

Kaken Kiban (C) Project

Leader: Kumiko Aoki

Background

• In 2002, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) put forth a five-year action plan to cultivate “Japanese with English Abilities,” in which the importance of international understanding and cooperation and the necessity of communication abilities in English as a common international language are recognized

Background (continued)

• English education in higher education in Japan– English conversation classes by native speakers – Study abroad programs– International exchange with universities abroad

through ICT = international distance education• There are not many examples yet, but the number has

been increasing

• Many of them occur outside of the formal curricula and based on voluntary participation of students

• Whatever subject of the international distance education, one of the objectives will be to foster intercultural competence of the participants

• Intercultural competence is not just language skills, but it is the skill to build “the third place” where actors understand dynamic nature of cultures and have comfortable relationships with people in other cultures (Kawakami, 2005)

Background (continued)

5 Elements of Intercultural Competence (Byram, 2003)• Attitudes: curiosity and openness, readiness to suspend

disbelief about other cultures and belief about one's own. • Knowledge: of social groups and their products and practices

in one's own and in one's interlocutor's country, and of the general processes of societal and individual interaction.

• Skills of interpreting and relating: ability to interpret a document or event from another culture, to explain it and relate it to documents from one's own.

• Skills of discovery and interaction: ability to acquire new knowledge of a culture and cultural practices and the ability to operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-time communication and interaction.

• Critical cultural awareness/political education: an ability to evaluate critically and on the basis of explicit criteria perspectives, practices and products in one's own and other cultures and countries.

The Overall Objective of this Project

• To explore and develop learning designs of international distance education for the purpose of fostering intercultural competence among students

• To combine the following two fields:– The field of educational technology where the

application of technological tools are being studied– The field of intercultural communication and

foreign language education where the studies of intercultural competence are done

Basic Steps of Project Development

1. Define “intercultural competence” in the context of higher education in Japan

– Develop indicators to assess the level of “intercultural competence”

– Based on the indicators developed above, come up with effective learning activities to raise the level of “intercultural competence”

2. Develop learning designs to hold the learning activities listed previously from the perspectives of technology, system, logistics, activities, and assessment

3. Conduct field experiments using the learning design developed above and analyze the results

4. Come up with models of international distance education

Basic Steps of Project Development

Project Design/Team

Learning Design of International Distance Education

for Fostering Intercultural Competence

Content of Learning Activities

Assessment

Technology/ Tools

System/ Logistics

Eric BrayTerumi Miyazoe

Kumiko AokiYoshikazu Ishibashi Lrong Lim

Bert KimuraCurtis P. Ho

Uniqueness of the Project

• Interdisciplinary – combining the field of educational/instructional technology and foreign language education/intercultural communication

• The majority of team members are non-Japanese teaching in Japan

• Action research – building theories based on field experiments

Significance of the Project• Currently educating Japanese students to be

global citizens is an eminent issue • Various technological tools are becoming

available for international/intercultural exchange

• Many of such trials so far have been one-time events or voluntary activities not part of the formal curricula

• There is the need for a solid theory and road map to facilitate international distance education

Timeline of the Project• 2007.5~2008.3

– Planning Stage 1• Define “intercultural competence (IC)” and develop indicators to assess

IC• Analyze past cases of international distance education and list learning

activities suitable for fostering IC

– Planning Stage 2• Evaluate and select technological tools to conduct learning activities

listed previously• In evaluating and selecting tools, consider cost, usability, maintenance

needs from a long-term perspective• Examine and develop systems/logistics and assessment methods for the

learning activities

– Experimentation Stage 1• Based on the learning design, conduct field experiments

Timeline of the Project

• 2008.4~2009.3– Evaluation Stage 1

• Examine the ways to improve learning activities, technological tools, systems/logistics, assessment methods

• Propose revised learning designs

– Experimentation Stage 2• Based on the revised learning design, conduct field

experiments again. Collect quantitative and qualitative data for the effectiveness of the learning design

• 2008.4~2009.3 (continued)– Evaluation Stage 2

• Examine the ways to improve learning activities, technological tools, systems/logistics, assessment methods

• Propose revised learning designs

– Application/ Presentation Stage• Build a universal reference model for learning designs

which can be used in a different context at a different institution

• Publish reports to summarize the project results and make them available on the Web

Timeline of the Project

What’s Next?

• Conduct reviews on the topic each member is assigned to

• Present the result at the next meeting– Early July or in August?– Every member takes turn to hold a meeting

• Yokkaichi University

• Osaka Gakuin University

• Kagawa University