Online learning+++ NILE +++Absolutely Intercultural 292+++

 

Norwich Institute of Learning Education
Norwich Institute for Language Education

Welcome to Absolutely Intercultural show number 292 on World Futures Day. My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark, but when you’re online, does it matter where I am? In this show we’ll be looking at some of the issues that can happen in online courses. Yes, believe it or not, online learning existed long before the Covid 19 pandemic and for this show I decided to ask some of my colleagues at NILE in Norwich about some of the things that can happen when you are teaching online.
We’ll hear from Robert about a joke gone wrong, from Eva about how to organise a mixed gender group so that the genders are never mixed and what happened in Neil’s Zoom session that so upset the rest of the group?

absolutely separate

So let’s start with Eva and go absolutely separate about how to organise a mixed gender group so that the genders are never mixed.

absolutely funny

In our next segment we’ll be talking to Robert about something that he experienced when he was facilitating a very diverse group from around the world. Is it absolutely funny?

absolutely real

And in our final segment, we’ll meet Neil who lives in Spain and works for NILE teaching aviation English where we’ll learn how online learning can be absolutely real. But first the dilemma of adjusting meetings to meet other cultural norms.

Neil’s story about his student in Kiev reminds me that this week on several TV stations simultaneously, a new series called “In her Car” tells the story of a Ukrainian woman who volunteers to drive people in Ukraine during the current conflict.

If you have any stories about intercultural challenges with online learning then  let us know here on the blog in a comment.

And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too.

By the way, did you know we are also  on Apple Podcasts and now Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

The next show will be coming to you from Germany with Laurent Borgmann on the 5th of April.

Until then – stay tuned!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

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Futures Studies +++ Georgia +++ India +++ Absolutely Intercultural 291 +++

 

Image of hiker in misty mountains from Pixabay
Stereotypical image of future

Imagine the future. What do you see? I think I could safely bet a lot of money that what you’re seeing now in your mind involves high tech, humanoid robots, and metallic high-rise cities! Can we be more imaginative about the future? And how do you see your personal future? Welcome to show 291 of Absolutely Intercultural coming to you from Denmark. My name’s Anne Fox and in this show we’re going to talk about the future, or rather, futures. Futures?

absolutely plausible

We’ll start with finding out more about what Futures Studies is, or are, by talking to Thor Svanholm Gustavson of the Copenhagen Futures Studies Institute and no, it’s not about predicting the future but about the possible, the preferred and the absolutely plausible. So what are Futures Studies?

absolutely specific

Thinking about the future is good for societies but let’s explore the personal level. Now let’s be absolutely specific and find out what Viktoria from Georgia told Mariam about her views of her future.

absolutely educational

In our next segment we hear again from Thor in Copenhagen. Let’s go absolutely educational and find out why Futures Studies should be on the school timetable. Thor’s final point makes me want to run a competition to draw a vision of the future that doesn’t include high tech, robots and flying cars. But maybe that’s for the future… 

absolutely predictable

Now we’ll hear from Raj, from India, about the role of parents in writing their children’s future. There’s a clear example of the present influencing the future when Raj goes back to India and aims to promote sustainability.

So who’s writing the story about your future?  You? Your parents? Society? Do you feel limited by the number of futures that are presented to you or do you, on the other hand have too many possible futures and you need to start thinking about your preferred future? What pictures of the future do you have? Are they all high tech? You can let us know here on the blog at absolutely-intercultural.com  where we have links from the organisations mentioned in the show.

And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too.

Thanks to Mariam for interviewing our two RheinAhr Campus students.

By the way, did you know we are also  on Apple Podcasts and now Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

And talking about predicting the future it is very likely that the next show will be coming to you from me in Denmark on March 1 which by sheer coincidence is World Futures Day!

Until then – stay tuned!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

Co-host: Mariam Bilge

Links mentioned in the show:

UNESCO https://www.unesco.org/en/futures-literacy

Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies https://cifs.dk/

Teach the Future https://www.teachthefuture.org/

Image: Pixabay

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Media Consumption +++ Infotainment +++ Fake News +++ Absolutely Intercultural 290 +++

Hello dear listenersand welcome to show 290 of our podcast“Absolutely Intercultural”. Today’s topic is all about the impact of our media consumption. I am Laurent Borgmann, your host, and as I am over sixty years old, I feel obliged to start with a bit of media nostalgia. Back in the good old times, yes, in fact,more than 50 years ago, every house in our street got a newspaper on their doorstep before 5 am every morning. Subscription was the rule. People would read it during breakfast, and this seemed as essential as the first cup of coffee in the day. In our city, we had two papers to pick from, but honestly, although one was slightly more left and the other slightly more right-wing they were like twins separated at birth. They sometimes even shamelessly used the same pictures on the front page. At school I learned that they were actually produced in the same printing house. And the effect? In the 1960s, when you caught up with the neighbours over the garden fence, it was like a big gossip party. All neighbours knew the same news stories and were ready to outraged by the same scandals. The update in the evenings was also the same–at 8 o’clock, families all over Germany tuned in for the TV news, and you could bet most people were watching the same news show–Die Tagesschau! Of course,even then people had different takes on the same news, depending on their political affiliations or demographic backgrounds. But we could all still join the chat because everyone had the same input. Those were the good old days.

absolutely informed

In our opening story, “absolutely informed”, we’ll tune in to Emanuel from Germany. As a young adult in Germany, Emanuel is interested in what is happening around the world. However, finding out which news reports can be trusted and which are only an opinion for the bubble they are meant for, seems a constant challenge for us nowadays.

absolutely independent

In our next part “absolutely independent”, we’ll hear from Rozana, who is from Albania and now she works as a guest lecturer in Germany. Rozana shares with us her concerns about potential government influence on the contents of the news.

absolutely positive

In our final story, “absolutely positive”, we’ll hear from Krishna, originally from India and now an exchange student in Germany. Krishna does not like to follow the news as he prefers to keep his surroundings positive.

Now, we’re curious about your own experiences with Media, are you a keen news reader like Emanuel or do you keep negative information out of your life like Krishna? Are you good at detecting fake news and do you ever report any?

Share your story with us via comment or email, and you can feature in one of our upcoming shows. For more information and previous episodes, visit our website at absolutely-intercultural.com. If you enjoyed the show, please give us a thumbs-up on Facebook.

And did you know we’re also on iTunes and Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe for free, leave a rating, and drop a comment there. 

Our next show, hosted by Anne Fox in Denmark, will be out on 2 February.

Until then – look out for fake news!  and

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell! 

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Natalia Obikhod

Assistant Editors: Mariam Bilge, Sebastian Berg

 

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Hidden history +++ Our Story +++ Absolutely Intercultural 289 +++

Fatima Al-Fihri
Fatima Al-Fihri – founder of the first university in the world in Morocco

Welcome to show 289 of Absolutely Intercultural.

Did you know that the richest man who ever lived was an African from Mali in the fourteenth century whose wealth exceeded that of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates put together?

Did you know that the first university in the world was not in Milan, Italy but in Morocco started by a female refugee, Fatima Al-Fihri?

In this show we’re going to find out more about a publishing company called Our Story aimed at young children and their teachers, and why this might help intercultural understanding.

My name’s Anne Fox and I’m based in Denmark and for this show I’m working with Mariam in Germany.

In this show we are going to meet Fahad Siddiqui, a Londoner, living in Brazil, who thinks that we should all know more these people who have faded from history.

absolutely historical

Let’s go absolutely historical and meet Fahad Siddiqui who created the Our Story company to share these stories with children.

absolutely multicultural

As well as being interesting in their own right, one of the aims of the Our Story materials is to introduce children to different cultures so let’s find out more about that and go absolutely multicultural with Mariam.

absolutely charitable

One of the features of the Our Story books is that every time you buy one of the books, the company makes a donation to the charity, CAMFED, which supports the education of girls in a selection of African countries. Let’s go absolutely charitable to find out how and why.

I loved finding out more about the many facets of the Our Story books and I know that our conversation left Mariam thinking hard about her home country of Georgia and whether there would be a candidate for one of the books from her cultural history. And maybe you know of one from your culture too?

Share your story with us via comment or email, and you might feature in one of our upcoming shows. For more information and previous episodes, visit our website at absolutely-intercultural.com. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you on 5th January from Laurent Borgmann in Germany

Until then – stay tuned!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

Co-host: Mariam Bilge

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Why Denmark? +++ Iceland +++ South Africa +++ Masters +++ PhD +++ Absolutely Intercultural 287 +++

Peter & Úlfar in Iceland

Welcome to Show 287 of Absolutely Intercultural coming to you from Denmark. My name’s Anne Fox and Denmark is where I have lived for almost thirty years. It is a small country of nearly 6 million people which has 8 universities. Compared to Germany’s 380, or the USA’s seemingly too many to count, but let’s settle for over 4000, eight Danish universities seems like a very small pool to choose from. So why would anybody come to Denmark for their university studies? This is what we’re going to find out in this show. We will be talking to Peter from South Africa who has a complex family history that is reflected in the languages spoken at home and Úlfar from Iceland who’s noticed something about Denmark.

absolutely uncertain

In our first segment, “absolutely uncertain”, let’s find out how Peter came to Denmark, to study in Danish, after being brought up in South Africa and having done his schooling in German.

absolutely engineered

In our next segment, “absolutely engineered”, let’s hear from Úlfar, an Icelander who had limited options for his Masters back in Iceland and chose Denmark.

So maybe small is beautiful after all. Family history and colonial ties seem to count greatly in addition to any global ranking that Danish universities may also have. Just for information DTU is number 165 globally or, when we’re talking specifically engineering and technology, 3rd after Stanford and MIT, while Copenhagen is 107 globally. And Iceland has seven universities which is only one less than Denmark, but it’s something to do with size! What about you? Did you ever consider studying in a small country like Denmark? Get in touch, feel free to share your unique story with us here on the podcast.

Write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page, absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes, and you can leave comments. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too.   

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment. 

Our next show will be coming to you on 3 November from Laurent Borgmann in Germany.

Until then, stay tuned!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

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Hidden Cultures +++ Cultures in Management +++ Empathetic Leadership +++ Absolutely Intercultural 251 +++

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IMG_81492-684x1024.jpgHello and welcome to show 251 of Absolutely Intercultural, Cultures in Management, coming to you from the beautiful Rheinland in Germany. Today’s show is about the culture of management, where we listen to three managers and how they handle some of the more hidden cultures in their workplace to be effective leaders. Culture can be more than just national or geographical identity, it can be about direct/indirect, female/male, formal/informal, old/young or it can unite people who have the same profession but who all grew up in the same country. You will have certainly encountered some of these yourself throughout life.

Continue reading “Hidden Cultures +++ Cultures in Management +++ Empathetic Leadership +++ Absolutely Intercultural 251 +++”

100%forthe children +++ Signe Møller +++ Kenya +++ Ghana +++ SDGs +++ Absolutely Intercultural 234

 

Happy New Year! In this show, we are going to go back to shows 70 and 74 in 2008 and 2009 when I talked to Signe Møller here in Denmark about a new charity she had just set up.

This show, 234, is ten years later, so why am I re-visiting Signe’s charity 100% to the children? Because I bumped into a stall for her charity at a local Christmas market last November and I was curious to find out how this one-woman organisation was doing.

Continue reading “100%forthe children +++ Signe Møller +++ Kenya +++ Ghana +++ SDGs +++ Absolutely Intercultural 234”

Open-hearted +++ Boquerones +++ Málaga, Spain +++ Absolutely Intercultural 233 +++

In this show, which could carry the sub-title “absolutely boquerones” we are going to focus on the culture of Málaga in Spain. And Boquerones is the typical fish grilled over open fire on the beaches of Málaga, but it is also the nickname for the inhabitants of Malaga. First, we will listen to Julian talking about his experience in Malaga, Spain, as he is doing a Semester abroad at our partner University, Universidad de Málaga. Juanjo, an Erasmus Student from Spain, who is currently studying a semester at RheinAhrCampus in Germany, will talk about the differences he noticed in the educational systems of Spain and Germany. And finally, we will listen to Trish, who is originally from Ireland but lived in various different countries and now lives in Málaga, will share with us why she decided to live in Spain.

Continue reading “Open-hearted +++ Boquerones +++ Málaga, Spain +++ Absolutely Intercultural 233 +++”

Soliya +++ Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange +++ African Science +++ Absolutely intercultural 232 +++

What is a virtual exchange? Maybe not what you think. We’ll be digging deeper into that in this special edition of Absolutely Intercultural coming to you from Denmark. My name’s Anne Fox and this is show 232. Today’s show is mainly about promoting dialogue between different groups of people. So what is dialogue? And can you tell the difference between dialogue and, for example, debate?

Continue reading “Soliya +++ Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange +++ African Science +++ Absolutely intercultural 232 +++”

Classroom Response Systems +++ Interactive Classroom +++ Learning Culture +++ Auto-Evaluation of Essays +++ Absolutely Intercultural 226 +++

Can technology in the classroom change the culture of teaching and learning? Could this culture be more democratic and give a voice to participants who in regular seminars would not be heard? Let us listen to Hannah Peter an exchange student from Canada who talks about a Classroom Response System she has tried out as a teaching assistant in lectures at RheinAhrCampus. Then we hear from a professor Jalal Kawash, also from Canada who has been using Classroom Response Systems for years. Finally,  Tsegaye Misikir Tashu from Hungary talks about a tool for Automated Essay Evaluation where professors can leave the reading and grading of essays to a computer program. Should we be scared by such innovations in the culture of teaching and learning? Continue reading “Classroom Response Systems +++ Interactive Classroom +++ Learning Culture +++ Auto-Evaluation of Essays +++ Absolutely Intercultural 226 +++”