OL 3300.01: Teaching the International Student

This course is designed to provide you with material and activities that can assist you in online classes that enroll significant numbers of international students. The course is designed for instructors who have not had extensive experience dealing with international students, or who have worked only with international students in advanced degree programs that afford considerable one-on-one interactions. Because online courses do not have these same affordances, we developed this course to assist faculty in preparing to work with international students in an online environment. Given the projected growth trends for World Campus, we expect to see more and more international students enrolling in online courses and programs in the coming years.

Course Goals

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will cover:

• research on issues and concerns of postsecondary instructors in working with international students in online environments
• research on the motivations for, and experiences with, taking online courses among international students
• research on how cross-cultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, and empathetic communication strategies can improve international student participation in class
• effective strategies to support intercultural communicative capacity, such as using unidiomatic English, providing multiple messages formats, and considering access issues
• activities to promote critical reflection on assumptions or biases encoded in the curriculum
• effective practices for online instructors and advisers of international students
• curriculum adjustments for the international learner — for example, considering alternative practicum experiences, location, and supervision, and the role of accreditation for international students