Online Learning towards IC Competence

MOOC

2020

10th MOOC Run

SISU IC Institute

* This post contains new detailed information to help with course planning

This is an important time for virtual education around the world! To limit the spread of the Corona virus, other affected areas are noting China’s efforts to promote online learning. To help both teachers and students from anywhere connect with the world during this time, the SISU “Intercultural Course” is being offered again starting from March 2, 2020 (with FREE access for anyone from the day of their enrollment for 7 weeks, anytime between March and July).

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/intercultural-communication/10

Course Contents and Suggestions for Use

We hope that this early course launch helps all who want to learn with us, whether you engage with it now or later this semester. The course follows a “learning step” design (see details below), easy to incorporate into your class lessons. The 15 or so steps each week usually take leaners about 4 hours to complete. But we encourage students to spend more time to read the many comments posted and make their own, enriching social learning and broader cultural awareness on each step. 

Each week’s content begins with several introductory steps, awareness-awakening videos or articles on IC constructs, learning activities, relevant case studies, questions for response and reflection, and weekly review steps. The five topics included in this IC course include (learning step details appear in the slides):

WEEK 1 Comprehending Intercultural Communication

We introduce the course topic via definitions, metaphors, explanatory articles, an applied case and invite participants to reflect on possible sources of culture differences.

WEEK 2 Contextualizing Cultural Identities

We provide ways to get to know others by focusing on cultural identity and begin to adjust our perceptions of and communications with each other.

WEEK 3 Comparing Cultural Communication Styles

We introduce taxonomies that describe how ways of interaction vary across cultures to note differences in how social contexts, personality, space, and time might be perceived.

WEEK 4 Clarifying and Contrasting Values

We explore how values may underlie deeper cultural differences, examine ways to contrast variations, and consider how they help us analyze cross-cultural misunderstandings.

WEEK 5 Cultivating Intercultural Adaptation

We show how adaptation processes underlie all culture learning and interaction, and how engaging in the culture shock, stress, and adjustment process helps develop intercultural competence.

Swipe for weeks

History &

Status

SISU and FutureLearn have been partnering in online education since signing a cooperative agreement in 2014. The SISU “Intercultural Course,” launched in November of 2015 was China’s first course on the FutureLearn platform. 

● Stats

SISU Intercultural Course

Enrolled

54,000

Countries

200+

Engagement

30,000+

Comments

6,500-22,800

As of 2020.02.19

54,000 have enrolled from 200+ countries and regions in the previous 9 runs and 30,000+ have engaged in the learning steps (each run so far generating from 6,500-22,800 rich text comments)!

Besides providing helpful foundational contents on the subject of IC, the course encourages active learning with others and responses from each to indicate what they “like,” make comments, offer replies to other learners (to engage in social learning), and provide reflective learning summaries. You and your students can benefit greatly from seeing the thousands of comments offered by learners from this wide variety of ages, educational, work, and travel experiences, as well as the diverse national and cultural backgrounds. Please enroll and engage in this active intercultural learning experience! To get started just copy this link or click on the QR code above:

 https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/intercultural-communication/10

作者 l Steve Kulich

编辑 l 张安琪

跨文化研究中心

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