Bilateral Web-based Collaborative Learning in the Transnational Higher Education - A Case of Sino-Canada Cooperative Finance Program

摘要

In the process of higher education internationalization, information technology and network have been applied to increase the foreign contacts. In recent years, Web-based collaborative learning (WBCL) has aroused peoples' interest by its unique superiority in facilitating the interactive learning. This paper focuses on the WBCL application in transnational education context, and a bilateral WBCL model of transnational programs is proposed. To demonstrate the performance of WBCL in transnational programs, an in-depth analysis is made on the case of a Sino-Canada cooperative education program. The program has applied the Web-based educational technologies into teaching the course of stock market simulation, which involves the students and faculties in different locations of both China and Canada into a virtual transnational learning environment. Through the interactive instructional methods, Chinese students are exposed to different economic, political, and multi-cultural issues and values of their Canadian classmates. And the statistic data shows that they have achieved better outcomes in the collaborative learning environment.