27.09.2019  NovSU students gain real-life experience in international virtual teamwork

Novgorod State University and Appalachian State University (North Carolina, USA) have launched a joint online course "Cross-Cultural Business Communication”.

By doing the course and working on a joint project, NovSU graduate students majoring in Linguistics  and students of the Appalachian State University will develop various competences, including:

• Cooperation in international virtual teams using various communication technologies.
• Determination of the cultural impact on international business relations.
• Creation of a map of cultural differences to understand the impact of culture on their own business behaviour and the one of their partners.
• Development of the best strategy for successful interaction with partners from all over the world.
• Ability to deal with difficulties that arise when communicating with representatives of other cultures.
• Tolerance in relations with representatives of other cultures.

This course is a part of a joint online graduate development program “Leader of International Virtual Team”, which is being developed by faculty members of the NovSU and the ASU. The program consists of four online courses: “Cross-Cultural Business Communication”, “Technologies for Collaboration”, “Leadership” and “Sustainable Development”. Those courses are being developed according to the principles of Pedagogical Design and Universal Design, which makes them highly inclusive. They are accessible for students with special needs, students who may not always be physically present at a university and people of the “third age”, or active seniors. The experience gained by teachers in the process of development and implementation of the program will be distributed among teachers of NovSU and other universities.

The teachers of the course are:

Dr. Natalia Ilyashenko, senior specialist in public relations of NovSU Office of International Relations, assistant professor of the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Intercultural Communication, PhD in Education. She has over 25 years of experience in international activities and cross-cultural business communication.

Dr. Barbara Howard, a professor in the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian State University. She has over 25 years of experience in the field of education and educational management.

English