ERIC Number: ED542292
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Dec
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1324-9320
EISSN: N/A
Blogging with the Facebook Generation: Studying Abroad with Gen Y
Downey, Greg; Gray, Tonia
Australian Association for Research in Education (NJ1), Paper presented at the Joint Australian Association for Research in Education and Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association Conference (AARE-APERA 2012) World Education Research Association (WERA) Focal Meeting (Sydney, New South Wales, Dec 2-6, 2012)
Web 2.0 technologies create opportunities for distance learning with particular promise for students while they are on international exchange. The current generation of students departing for study abroad is electronically literate or "digital natives", who have thoroughly integrated internet and communication technologies into their daily lives. But their modes of interacting may not be adequate to really gain all that they might learn through study abroad. Many international exchange programs, at the same time, have not kept pace and are missing significant opportunities to reinforce intercultural learning while students are sojourning abroad. This paper reports on qualitative and strategic findings from the project "Bringing the Learning Home," an Australian Learning and Teaching Council-funded pilot project to develop reflection-based curriculum for improving study abroad outcomes. In particular, we discuss qualitative findings from in-country blogging and reentry workshops using photo elicitation, reflection-based learning, and meta-cognitive teaching strategies, with intercultural skills and professionalization as primary goals. Perhaps most importantly, we found that online tools and visual literacy, with adept instruction and practice, could produce a virtual "third space" where students could better reflect on cultural differences, sharpen their own intercultural skills, and gain the metacognitive skills necessary to become life-long learners from experience. (Contains 1 footnote.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Educational Technology, Web 2.0 Technologies, Electronic Publishing, Web Sites, Computer Mediated Communication, Social Networks, Distance Education, College Students, Program Descriptions, Program Effectiveness, Outcomes of Education, Qualitative Research, Study Abroad, Pilot Projects, Cultural Differences, Visual Literacy, Reflection, Metacognition, Student Exchange Programs, International Educational Exchange, International Education, Cultural Awareness, Photography, Generational Differences, Workshops
Australian Association for Research in Education. AARE Secretariat, One Geils Court, Deakin ACT 2600, Australia. Tel: +61-2-6285-8388; e-mail: aare@aare.edu.au; Web site: http://www1.aare.edu.au
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE)
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A