Promoting international cultural and academic collaborative communication through technologies of open course ware

In the diverse cultures of an increasingly transnational world where
academic literacy in English or Englishes is required for advancement in
universities, communication technologies play critical roles. This paper integrates
scholars from diverse cultures through online technology which allows for
participants from several universities to develop their awareness of diverse
cultures and academic English across disciplines. This research addresses the issue
of how online collaboration among scholars can develop their technological,
cultural and academic literacies which are essential to their academic progress. By
creating electronic discussion forums that include scholars from universities
worldwide it is possible to engage in transcultural dialogue regarding how diverse
cultures view technology as a means to advance academic and cultural literacy.
Through combining the wealth of academic Open Course Ware (OCW) through
the consortium and linkages with international universities it is possible to create
credit courses for students in each of their home universities thereby overcoming
the major limitation of OCW by providing access to credit for OCW courses.