This study integrated telecollaboration into EFL classes through structured tasks. Research focused on meaning-making and tension-resolution processes in online interactions as revealed by videoconferencing. It examined the degree of intercultural effectiveness achieved by various telecollaborative techniques. Findings can help teachers design effective telecollaborative tasks for future global citizens.
Telecollaboration, the practice of guiding groups of students in online interaction, has internationalized language curricula (O'Dowd & Lewis, 2016).This project aimed to improve pre-service teachers'professional knowledge of how to design telecollaborative tasks. It also investigated whether they perceived telecollaboration to be useful. Seventeen student teachers, six from a national university in Taiwan and eleven from a public university in Poland, were assigned to three cross-cultural groups. Each group had to communicate and complete three tasks, during which telecollaboration was made possible through Facebook Groups. The first task, on information exchange, involved sharing personal backgrounds. The second task, on comparison and analysis, consisted of discussions related to educational issues and similarities and differences between respective cultures. The third task, on product creation, required students to design a group video in which they summarized findings from the previous tasks. Participants also utilized technology to design skill-based lessons for their future students. During the course of completing the three tasks, participants from both Taiwan and Poland shared ideas, commented on each other's video productions and lesson plans, and responded to peers' posts. Participants filled out post-task surveys and attended semi-structured interviews on their perceptions of the utility of the project. Results showed that they regarded the project as a useful gateway to understand teacher education in the partner country. Relying on actual practice at communicating using the various tools of the project, the pre-service teachers gained familiarity with computer-mediated innovations, voices from different cultures, and new strategies for working with others. Findings from this study will encourage use of technological advances in the classroom, and help prospective teachers innovate when training global citizens.
