Networked Learning and Postdigital Education

This paper considers the positon of networked learning in higher education learning and teaching in the postdigital era. The underlying origins and principles upon which networked learning are based can be traced back to the critical pedagogy of Freire and emphasise a critical relationship with the digital, the human and the current socio-political and material higher educational context. We examine the theoretical and practical ideas around networked learning in which connections are forged between learners; between learners and their tutors; and between learning communities and learning resources. We describe two case studies to illustrate the theory, pedagogy and practice of networked learning for contemporary higher education learning and teaching. One from the perspective of the online distant learner and their experience of networked learning; the other from the perspective of tutors, which focuses on the challenges they face in moving into the digital world. We conclude by claiming that the way networked learning has developed in theory and practice means it is an approach and pedagogy that makes it entirely suitable for a postdigital world

Intercultural Education for Intercultural Competence: A New Kind of Literacy for Sustainable Development

The concept of culture is subject to many different interpretations. For the present purpose, the wide-ranging definition of Pederson (2000), as summarized by Corey et al. (2011), would appear suitable. In this definition culture was conceptualized as including “demographic variables such as age, gender, and place of residence; status variables such as social, educational and economic background; formal and informal affiliations; and the ethnographic variables of nationality, ethnicity, language, and religion” (p.115) ..

Introduction

In the modern world intercultural communication is increasing rapidly, as people and their messages become more mobile. Asia is one of the areas where this increase is particularly evident, as its nations and peoples are becoming richer and more mobile than before. Effective communication between languages and cultures, whether between homeland languages or using an international language like English, requires enhanced levels of linguistic competence and intercultural understanding. There has been a corresponding surge of activity in pure and applied research into intercultural communication in Asia. One aspect of this work has involved English, especially American English, as a vehicle of communication. And even where studies of intercultural communication have involved Asian languages, the dominant frameworks from the literature have been Western in terms of theory and methodology, and in the parameters of intercultural communication, such as the "individualism similar to collectivism" dichotomy/continuum which were proposed by scholars like Hofstede (1984).This book explores the challenges now facing intercultural communication in relation to cultural boundaries, to ideology and values, and for institutions and individuals in an internationalising environment, especially educationally. Its eleven chapters address models, values and communication, English as a lingua franca, three key focal areas (city landscape, pain and humour), and identity