MARCTICA and GIGAtwo examples of Virtual Student Exchanges

Stefaan Van Ryssen, Hogeschool Gent, Ghent, Belgium

Technologies get more interesting when they break down,

projects are more exciting when they go wrong.(so much like marriages, isn’t it?)

MARCTICA and GIGA

• two or more universities in different countries

• more or less equal numbers of students (Giga: 40 in each country, Marctica: up to 120)

• students at both sides are grouped (2 to 4 st per group)

• cross-national teams are formed with groups from Belgium, Argentina, France, USA, ...

• teams negotiate a topic within subject of the course or the project

• teams collaborate and produce a paper

SETUPMARCTICA and GIGA

• a digital learning environment (e.g. Blackboard) and/or a website

• minimum bandwidth for communication

• individual email adresses for students

• a common language (GiGa: Spanish, Marctica: English)

• a model of intercultural communication and negotiation like Hofstede’s...

REQUIREDMARCTICA and GIGA

PHASES

Phase 1: students make their 'profiles' = short presentations of themselves and their group

Phase 2: group profiles are published on the web

Phase 3: groups contact eachother to form teams

Phase 4: teams choose a common subjectGiGa: anythingMarctica: a brand, a product

Phase 5: groups do their homework and share results with their partners in the team

Phase 6: write-up of a common paper per team

skip this slide, refer to handout!

MARCTICA and GIGA

Phase 0: making contact between professors, preparation,...

USE of ICT

• minimally: email

• optionally:

• chat (very commonly used)

• ICQ and instant messaging (less common)

• webconferencing (rarely)

• navigation through cyberspace

• e-awareness

• digital literacy

MARCTICA and GIGA

PAEDAGOGICAL added value

• Students (and teachers) learn to communicate effectively through the net

• intercultural communication, intercultural negotiation (use the model!)

• teamwork

• collaborative learning

• problem solving instead of theory reproduction

• English as second language

• global awareness

MARCTICA and GIGA

Problem solving:

• when things break down: technology, Internet communication, chat, webconferencing…

• when the project fails:

group fails to communicate

group fails to negotiate

group fails to agree on final paper

group fails to see they’re in the wrong

“failing” lever for learning

MARCTICA and GIGA

Keys to success:

failing tech

failing comm

creative teachers

MARCTICA and GIGA

• example: http://etna.hogent.be/marctica/

• information: stefaan.vanryssen@hogent.be

MARCTICA and GIGA