Note: this PowerPoint is in the process of being redone, and so this is not a
complete or the most recent version. If you have questions or want more
information, please email jenell@ksu.edu. Thanks!
Strategies for Helping International
Students Succeed in Online
Learning Environments
Jenell Williams
Lab Director
Lina Metlevskiene
PhD student, Lab GTA
English Language Program, Kansas State University
Theoretical Rationale for Class
Communication
Competences
Collaboration
Skills
Intercultural
Experience
Skills for
Different Online
Communication
Tools
Knowledge about
Cultural
Differences in
Communication
Communication Competences
CMC communication competences by
Spitzberg(2006):
 Attentiveness
 Composure
 Expressiveness
 Coordination
Culture
Online learning is not culturally neutral.
Most of online learning classes are based on the
constructivist learning paradigm and western cultural values.
 Different Academic Culture
 Limited Language Proficiency
 Cultural differences
Culture: Academic Culture
Western Education (especially online learning) based on
constructivism learning paradigm
Asian and Arabic education often is based on behaviorism
learning paradigm
Culture: Language Proficiency
Limited Language Proficiency
 Everything takes more time (writing, reading, etc.)
 Think that American counterparts are more competent
 Do not initiate discussions
Cultural Differences
Cultural Differences:
Hofstede’s (1980) four dimensions of cultural
variability:
·
Power distance
·
Individualism-collectivism
·
High/Low Uncertainty avoidance
·
Masculinity/Femininity
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/
Low Context and High Context cultures (Hall,1976)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_context_culture
Culture
Most of Western countries are:
low power-distance, low uncertainty avoidance,
individualistic and low context cultures
Most of international students that enters our ELP
program (those from Asian, Middle East, and Latin
America) belongs to: the high power-distance, high
uncertainty avoidance, collectivist and high context cultures
Tools
Young generation can be pretty savvy in using such social
networking tools as instant messaging, Facebook, Skype, etc,
nevertheless, as research shows there are very few young generation
learners who blog or use wiki for content creation.
Bloggs and GoogleDocs, Wikis differ from Facebook, Instant
Messaging in:
 Genre used
 Communication skills required .
 Affordance for collaboration and learning.
Blogs, GoolgeDocs, Wikis are very widely used in Higher education
and workforce
Theoretical Rationale for the Class
There is a need for international student before entering
academia as full time students to get:
 Competences in CMC
 Basic skills in using different online communication
tools that are most commonly used in academia
 Knowledge about cultural difference and how they
affect online communication
 Intercultural communication experience
 Collaboration skills
Learning and applying the skills
Message board:
1. Social presence
2. Interaction
We need
1. A topic that will generate substantive discussion.
2. Multi-purpose material.
Message Board
 Creepy or cool?
 Read a blog/talk about privacy online
 (facebook accounts not required)
 http://www.takethislollipop.com/
 http://www.intel.com/museumofme/en_US/r/index.h
tm
 http://www.gigapixelfancam.com/fancams/football/co
ttonbowl/20120106/
SP indicators/characteristics of
good messages
 Be clear
 Say something
 Length matters
 Social presence – details, emotion, narrative
 Interactivity - repeating, responding, disagreeing
politely
Information
Social Presence
Interaction
Frank, I haven’t been to the capitol building in Topeka, but I can tell that
these works have emotional power. I don’t, however, agree that that is
because of the style. I think a good artist can convey emotion in any style.
Curry was able to portray powerful emotion in his particular style, so he
should be respected, not criticized for the method he chose.
Ann, you mentioned that you’d seen this kind of friction between artists
and institutions before. Did you have anything particular in mind? Could
you share, please?
I notice that many of you are writing about Curry’s ability to evoke emotion
with his art. However, maybe the question is – what emotion did the
people in the state of Kansas want him to show? Maybe they weren’t
criticizing his ability, but his choice of subject matter. What do you think?
Moving on to blogs
 Genre - writing styles
 Importance of blogs
 Scaffolding skills
Blog Review
 What is the topic of the blog? Who would read this?
 Who writes this blog?
 Does this blog allow comments? If yes, what are the
comments like? Polite? Thoughtful? On topic?
 Does this blog make money?
 Did you see anything that interested you on this
blog? What?
 How would you describe the design of the blog? Was
it easy to use? Did it have an attractive look?
Professional Blog Review
• Who writes this blog? Could you write on this
blog?
• What is the purpose?
• What kind of language is used? Formal?
Specialized?......etc.
• What features does this blog have?
• Is this blog useful for you? If no, do you think it
would be useful in the future?
Creating a blog
 Wordpress
 In class
 Written directions
 Video
 Project checklist
Written
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Getting iGoogle to organize your blog reading (you’ll be reading other students’ blogs in this class.)
If you don’t have a google account
Go to www.google.com
In the upper right hand corner choose “sign in”
On the next page, in the upper right hand corner choose “sign up for a new Google account”
Follow the directions to get a Google account.
To get iGoogle
Sign in to your Google account (go to www.google.com and choose “sign in” in the upper right
Look at the black bar at the top of the page. Choose “more”
In the more menu, choose “even more”
Find iGoogle. It should be near the top in the group “web”
Click on it and follow the directions to set it up. (BTW, they only offer you a few theme choices here,
but later you’ll have the choice of many - so don’t think about it too hard.)
To get Google Reader
On the left side of your iGoogle page, click on the “add gadget” button.
On the upper right you’ll see a search box. Type in “reader”.
Add reader to your iGoogle.
Video
Screenshot reminders
Online project checklist
Basic Blog Writing
•
•
•
•
Use first person
Social presence/personal narrative
Social presence/descriptive details
Conversational language/informal but
more thoughtful than Facebook or IM
• Proofread – grammar and vocabulary
errors will look bad
• You need a topic or issue
2 pts
2 pts
3 pts
Quality of
content
Elaborates on
original idea by
adding further
explanation and
examples
Applies idea to real or Adds to idea by questioning basic
imagined situations assumptions or by taking those
Adds personal
assumptions to the next level
interpretation and
opinion
Effective use of
Blog format
Uses blog style by
incorporating first
person and informal
language but still
expressing
substantive content
Adds links, images,
charts, videos, etc to
make post more
engaging and to
clarify ideas
Uses social presence indicators to
engage readers and invite
response
Google Documents/Wiki
 Use Google Documents to make welcome page for
class blog
 Introduction of genuine collaboration with simple
exercise and assignment of roles.
 Start with cooperative skills, move on to collaboration
 Find out how a wiki works – in preparation for final
project
How do you deal with new
technology?
 Wiki game
 Minimal scaffolding
 Chaos
 Fun/success
Assessment and review
Thank you!