Patricia Spence
Humanities
Intercultural Communication Project Online
Featured Teaching and Learning Practice
Fall 2007
In fall of 1999, Patricia Spence launched Introduction to Speech Communication online for Richland College as well as to the Dallas County Community District. One of the course objectives is for students to demonstrate interpersonal communication within a small group. These objectives are seemingly not easy to accomplish online. However, Patricia has designed a unique course that knits together speech communication concepts and Blackboard capabilities.
Over a span of five weeks, students are divided into groups and are asked research a specific foreign culture. By the completion of the project, each group will identify culture-specific communication behaviors and prominent cultural characteristics, and will discuss the ease or difficulty in which someone from that culture would adjust to life in the U.S. or vice versa.
To complete each stage of the project, each group must communicate and collaborate through a variety of online tools including public discussion boards, chats, e-mail and electronic file exchange. In addition, students use the course link to the RLC library to research online databases and other Web resources.
Lastly, group members submit their reflection of the group experience to the Blackboard Digital Drop Box. Group norms, leadership styles, task preferences, and the impact of an online community are all explored.
One of Patricia's colleagues writes, "this project allows the students to learn more about intercultural communication and the dynamics of group communication through hands-on discovery. With the emphasis on teamwork, cultural diversity, and mediated communication in today's workplace, the students are provided with a project that allows them to learn and build communication skills that will benefit them greatly in their careers."