For Students

2023 COLAB Discussions on CANVAS involve:
- Assignment One
PART A - week 1: Welcome, introductions (personal/professional and cultural information, and experiences of past/present cross-cultural encounters)
PART B - week 2: Sharing childhood memories
- Assignment Two
PART C - week 3: Documenting a "day in the life of an early childhood setting in your context"
PART D - week 4: Researching and presentation of social justice issues in local area
PART E: Final reflection paper
Over the course of 4 weeks students engage in a Collaborative Online Learning Across Borders (COLAB) with preservice early childhood and elementary teacher educators in the United States, New Zealand and Australia. We hope that students will be actively engaged and aim to understand the complexity of doing collaborative cross-cultural work.
COLAB tasks include:
- Use of assigned readings
- Reflections on personal/professional experiences
- Timelines and assignments
- Course and online threaded discussions.
- Comprehension of materials
- Thoroughness in completing all tasks
- Respectful, considerate, collaborative and culturally sensitive language and intercultural exchanges

"By engaging with preservice teachers from around the world in this ... discussion I realized how important it would be for me to be open to learning new ideas and ways of doing things and I began to see and try to understand the components involved in increasing my intercultural competence."
-COLAB Student