Best Practices for Online Global Cross-Cultural Collaborations

• In Event: 31.074 - Online Teaching and Learning SIG Paper Session 3

Abstract

To understand how globally distributed teams can best work in online collaborative environments, the researchers conducted a survey of those who have worked collaboratively in cross-cultural environments. The researchers wanted to determine how collaboration was defined and what elements affected positive outcomes in those collaborations in order to produce best practices for online collaborative work in a cross-cultural environment. Data confirmed that training, time, and patience were essential for positive outcomes in a cross-cultural online collaboration. Different ideas for training for this type of work, ways to think about technology, and ways to integrate collaborators and technology are introduced. Future implications require that technology be less Western-centric and more globally responsive as well as having multimodal approaches to problem-solving.

Authors

• Dawn M. Armfield, Frostburg State University

• Shadow William Jon Armfield, Northern Arizona University

• Laura Esthela Sujo-Montes, Northern Arizona University

• J.Michael Blocher, Northern Arizona University