ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some online cross-cultural discussions that have increased students’ global exposure and, in turn, global awareness and cultural competence. Despite the difficulty of measuring learning outcomes related to intercultural and international learning, there are a number of benefits beyond global learning that occur when students engage in online cross-cultural connections between classrooms. Online cross-cultural discussion topics can occur in the context of any discipline, and assignments can be of any form adaptable to the online environment. Online and cross-cultural experiences help spice up learning, and students enjoy the experience. Cross-cultural exchanges such as those described can increase students’ understanding of other cultures. The international conversations students have had online with those from another culture have opened their eyes to seeing the world in new ways and, in turn, allowed for firsthand development of their personal global education.
