Intercultural understanding in the new mobile learning environment

Daniel Chun

Abstract


The proliferation of mobile learning technologies, wireless devices and cloud-based applications had been attracting a school of researchers and educators worldwide in developing new programs or extending their current programs. This growing phenomenon can be explained as part of many higher education institutions’ strategy to meet the growing demand from offshore students which domicile in another country, speak another language and have a different culture.  A desk based study into recent academic research in mobile learning and distance learning has been conducted with particular emphasis in evaluating competence in intercultural understanding.  It is in this context that we review the current practices by higher education which is by and large still using teacher-led pedagogical model with their own cultural orientation, values and actions of how they perceive as beneficial for the learners and whether specific design strategy can be used to enhance intercultural understanding and competence for both the institution and learners alike.


Keywords


Intercultural Understanding, mobile learning, intercultural competence, transnational education, distance education, online learning

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References


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