Linkage grant promotes cross-cultural communication
As part of a program sponsored by the Eurasia Foundation U.S.-Russia University Partnership grant, four UGA faculty members from the College of Education and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences traveled to Moscow and Khabarovsk, Russia, to collaborate with key experts in the fields of second language acquisition, cross-cultural communication, and educational technology.
The purpose of the university partnership grant is to get faculty at our institution and a partner institution talking about new ideas, enhancing foreign language education and organizing instruction in general," said Victoria Hasko, an associate professor in the College of Education’s Department of Language and Literacy Education, who serves as the grant’s project director and principal investigator. “It’s an opportunity for faculty to collaborate and decide what avenues of their work they want to explore.
The last component of the linkage grant allowed faculty members to discuss the use of educational technology in the classroom. Nicholas Holt, the director of innovation and technology in the College of Education, shared the benefits of using technology as a teaching tool for both students and faculty during his visit to Russia.
All of these exchanges as the planet gets smaller are really important bridges to be built,” said Holt. “I wanted to push a bit outside of the comfort zone and say there might be some things that are outside of the cultural norm that get students really excited or keep faculty engaged.