Improving Cross-Cultural Communication Through Collaborative Technologies

The paper discusses an original research project in the area of education and cross-cultural rhetoric on the use of persuasive digital technologies to enable intercultural competencies among students and teachers across globally-distributed teams. The paper outlines the methodology for the research, including the use of video conferences, collaborative blogs, a project wiki, webforums, and Google documents, and presents the findings on how such information and communication technologies can influence people to approach cross-cultural communication with greater political understanding, ethical awareness, and intercultural competencies in order to bring about improved international and social relations. The paper presents statistical data pertaining to qualitative and quantitative assessment of project outcomes; it situates the project within current debates in intercultural communication and digital pedagogy; and it concludes with a projection on the scalability and sustainability of using computers to change human attitudes and behaviors in positive ways in an international context.