cross-cultural collaboration using video and social networking

Cross-Cultural Collaboration Through a Virtual Community of Practice Using Video and Social Networking ED-MEDIA 2011 Lisbon, Portugal Bert Kimura, University of Hawaii, USA Mary Kimura, Kansai University, Japan Kenichi Kubota, Kansai University, Japan Curtis P. Ho, University of Hawaii, USA

Panel Session Overview
Project Background
Cross-Cultural Collaboration & Social Media
Video Production at a Distance
Learning Implications for VCoP & Cross-Cultural Settings
Q & A

Goals & Objectives
Student performance objectives
Plan using social media
Collaborate to produce a short video
Instructor expectations
How community emerges & evolves
Cross-cultural context
Social media

Background
Student Populations
Language level
Technology experience
Graduate student status
Class Descriptions
Schedule of Classes
Friends

University of Hawai‘i
Honolulu, Hawai‘i
ETEC 602, Teaching/Training Technologies
Graduate students (17)
Working
Online classes

Osaka, Japan
ICT for Learning
On campus (14)
Younger in age
Use of second language
Limited online experience
Kansai University

Project Description

Logistics
Student status
Semester schedule
Class schedule
Technology skill
Collaboration & teamwork
Time zone
Language

Getting Started
Students introduce themselves
Student divided into project groups
Facebook Group created for communication

Student Introductions
Initial Skype Sessions
Students introduce themselves
Some chatted on Skype with group members
Elluminate Sessions
Background discussion of Japanese students characteristics
Report on what they were doing

Forming Project Groups
Divided students into seven groups
Two Japanese students and 2 – 3 Hawaii students
Bilingual speaker in each group
Japanese groups had high and low level English speakers
Technically skill student in each group

Main Communication Tool
Facebook Group
Closed group
Video/pictures
Discussion Board
Kansai University/UH Facebook Group
Video introductions of Japanese students
Hawaii produced video about themselves
Students commented on videos
Discussion thread used for video project

Additional Tools
Communication
Email
Skype
File Sharing
Dropbox
File editing
JayCut
iMovie
MovieMaker

Survey of Communication Tools
Survey given in Japanese and English
Some students were interviewed by a bilingual UH student
Review of online discussions

Survey Results
Facebook used as the primary means of discussion
Students could check discussion at any time
Easier for Japanese students to read and write English
Five of 7 teams used another tool with Facebook
Skype
Could talk with group members about plans and progress
Scheduling difficulties
Sometime difficult for Japanese students to follow
Email
Some Japanese students didn’t like face-to-face communication
Easier for those unfamiliar with Facebook
Text Chat
Students could communicate in real time
Difficult for Japanese students to type ideas quickly

Using Facebook Groups
All students could review discussion and share ideas
Japanese could read comments, use dictionaries, ask for help
Students could plan and assign tasks
Faculty could track of student progress

Cultural Differences
Characteristics
Communication styles
Hawaii students were more direct
Japanese did not want confrontation
Decision making
Hawaii students were task oriented
Japanese students consensus oriented
Personalities
Hawaii students outgoing, assertive
Japanese shy, modest about abilities

Cultural Styles
Communication missed cultural signals
Japanese students used indirect communication
Suggested what they wanted to do
Would not object if their ideas weren’t considered
Hawaii students were more direct
Stated what they thought would be a good direction
Would explain why and how to use their ideas
Group Dynamics
Hawaii students wanted ice-breakers
Japanese students wanted some way to encourage “nominication”

Language Difficulties
Hawaii students tried to speak slowly and used simple English
Lower level Japanese students had difficulty following Skype conversations
Japanese students who were stronger English speakers took a greater role in communication and decision making
Some Japanese students reluctant to use English and needed encouragement to participate

Summary
Online tools allowed for a variety of ways of collaborating
A Facebook Group discussions provided written documentation of progress
Using other online tools with Facebook facilitated collaboration
Time differences made face-to-face interaction challenging
Possible future direction is to find a way to have online “nominication”

Collaborative video production process Objectives: To produce two-minutes cross-cultural video program collaboratively. Topic: Comparing media use in Japan and US Period: October 15, 2010 – November 19 Seven groups: Each group consists of 2 Japanese and 3 Americans.

Self Introduction 1 American Student Japanese Student

Self Introduction 2 American Student Japanese Student

Video Production Process

Collaborative Project: How has social networking services changed your life?

Collaborative Project: Facebook vs Mixi

Collaborative Project: Tag… You Are It!

Summary of Results
24-item online survey
F2F interviews
Online discussions
Quantitative and qualitative
data analyzed
High level of satisfaction overall
Japan students slightly less
Challenges identified

Implications
Issues with time management:
Provide timeline to students
Create milestones for incremental project outcomes
Incremental feedback
More time for
project

Implications
Time-zone difference:
Provide guidelines for collaborative work at a distance
Schedule synchronous sessions as part of class activity
Encourage
asynchronous
communication

Implications
Establishing relationships:
Need team-building activities at outset
Allow time up front for “socializing”
Need to make some activities “language
independent”

Lessons Learned
Need to be more explicit on instructions
Allow for more socialization time
Provide more milestones
Provide more time to work on project

Conclusion
Intercultural projects can be successful
Need to consider language proficiency and confidence
Clear guidelines and expectations critical
Project should be both outcome and process focused
Team-building is
essential

Future Work
Planning for a Fall 2011 project underway
Focus on implementing lessons learned
Will consider using a virtual learning environment like Second Life for team-building and socializing
Collect more data
Include classes from
other countries

Discussion
What is your experience with cross-cultural collaboration?
How do you deal with language differences?
How do you deal with time differences?
How do you deal with cultural differences?
What are your strategies for team or community building?

Mahalo! Bert Kimura, University of Hawaii, USA [email_address] Mary Kimura, Kansai University, Japan [email_address] Kenichi Kubota, Kansai University, Japan kubota@res.kutc.kansai-u.ac.jp Curtis P. Ho, University of Hawaii, USA [email_address]

cross-cultural collaboration using video and social networking

by curtispho on Jul 20, 2011

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