An international educational network, launched in the early 2000s, that connects classes in writing, usability testing and translation across borders and cultures, involving more than 40 universities. Participants carry out the projects in collaborative technology-mediated environments.
Published in Chapter:
Cultural Awareness and Distance Communication: A Project-Based Intervention in Higher Education Environments
Suzana Noronha Cunha (Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal), Graça Bigotte Chorão (Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal), Manuel Moreira Silva (Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal), and Sandra Ribeiro (Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 12
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1591-4.ch007
Abstract
This chapter reflects upon technology-mediated projects used to discuss and foster cultural awareness and proposes a methodology to be implemented in international, educational environments where communication could easily be hindered by cultural dissimilarities leading to conflict. More specifically, it seeks to answer two main questions, namely, whether technology is an aid or an obstacle in effective communication between students that never meet face-to-face and which obstacles, generated by technology-mediated communication in virtual teams, affect the intended outcome and how. These questions were raised during the participation of the authors of the chapter over a number of years in the Trans-Atlantic & Pacific Project, where the complex process of learning-by-doing was achieved through peer interaction and the completion of realistic collaborative activities performed by North American and Portuguese students, prospect technical writers, and translators, respectively.