Internet dialogues as teaching devices for promoting cross-cultural communication and tolerance: A case study for the Middle East

MENA Dubai 2003 Abstract

Author Barry D. Berger and Stuart Silverman
Copy Approximately 200 honors students at the University of South Florida enrolled in sections of the seminar "Geographic Perspectives: Israel in the Context of the Middle East" (Berger, 1996, 2002). In pilot programs using general internet technology (1996) or a WebCT Interface (2002), USF students participated in email dialogues on didactic and personal issues among themselves and with counterparts from Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East. The email dialogues were particularly salient as learning tools, motivational devices, and catalysts for promoting cross-cultural understanding. The format used in this case study might be adapted to similar academic courses or other frameworks that foster diversity of viewpoints, cross-cultural communication and tolerance, and the prevention and resolution of conflicts.