Strategies to Promote Students’ Engagement in Web 2.0 Environment: Qualitative Approach from Korean Perspective for the Australia and Korea BRIDGE Project

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to propose strategies to promote students’ participation in web 2.0 environment for the international collaborative project called BRIDGE (Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement) between Korean and Australian students. The BRIDGE is a project which was initiated and supported by Australian government for primary and secondary school students since 2009 in order to introduce Asia in Australia and Australia in Asia. BEIDGE used the web 2.0 wikispaces as the platform for students’ online activities. This study used the 2011 activity for data collection which was done from the mid April to September of 2011. Total 16 teachers (8 pairs) of Australian and Korean schools and 446 students participated. Strategies for active engagements for the international collaborations require clear understanding the school culture and the school calendar (very specific information from schools and classes), governance over ICT policy (state governments as well as the schools), ownership of class activities for BRIDGE, and pedagogical strategies by schools and individual teachers, A model is suggested with activities by stages of executing BRIDGE.