Harnessing Digital Tools to Foster Cross-Cultural Collaboration Among Future Educators
Abstract: The current study evaluates the integration of online digital tools within the teaching and learning process in higher educational settings. Specifically, it aims to identify the degree of interaction and engagement among students from two different countries when digital tools are integrated within the teaching and learning practice. For the purposes of the current study the digital tool Flipgrid was employed. Specifically, 24 Pre-service and In-service teachers from Cyprus (CIPSTs) and 23 Israeli Pre-service teachers (IPTSs) participated in a cross-cultural asynchronous interaction in the cloud via Flipgrid. A case study approach was employed collecting quantitative and qualitative data via an online questionnaire. The results are presented based on the research questions of the study related to participants’ level of participation, the benefits and challenges they described, and their willingness to use Flipgrid and digital tools in the future. The results of the study highlighted the great implications in pre- and in-service teachers’ education (at the university level) and professional development training in developing the competences to integrate new and emergent technologies in their teaching and learning practice.