Welcome to “Be a Tech Advanced Cultural Learner,” an e-book created to provide you the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in the new digital world and understand how culture and technology interact. This book aims to serve as a helpful guide and companion for Dr. Melody Li’s culture classes, such as CHIN3343 Chinese Popular Culture, CHIN/WCL3342 Tales of East Asian Cities, CHIN3344 Global Chinese Literature, and others. Understanding how technology influences cultural traditions and vice versa has become crucial in our connected and digitalized world for personal development, career advancement, and promotion of meaningful cross-cultural interactions inside and outside of the classroom.
This e-book serves as a comprehensive guide that empowers you to embrace technology as a tool for learning and engagement in- and outside classrooms. However, there are times that technology (phones and computers) are not encouraged, like while you are listening to a professor’s lectures. Whether you are a student, a K-12 or college teacher, or simply someone curious about the world, this resource will provide you with practical strategies, insights, and resources to become a tech-savvy cultural learner.
Chapter 1 lays the foundation by exploring the importance of technology in our culture classes, and focuses on learning goals. Whether you are learning with a class or not, these syllabuses, timelines, and strategies will help tailor your goals and help you align these goals with course objectives.
Chapter 2 delves into the vast array of digital resources available to enhance our engaging learning experience. Students will learn the engagement and find technology that can improve learning engagement, including social media, video-based discussion, visualization technology, and others.
Chapter 3 explores strategies and platforms to help students develop their own engagement with the course materials, peer students, and professor. Through various examples of students, this chapter introduces different technological platforms and encourage students to incorporate them into their studies.
Chapter 4 discusses one of the topics that concerns students the most—beating the assessment, learning how to excel in assessments and assignments, and how to use technology. We also add the students’ own reflection as well to further improve the course over time.
We have selected insightful case studies, knowledgeable interviews, and engaging exercises for this e-book to increase your comprehension and interest. Culture and the possibilities for intercultural communication are both evolving along with technology. Adopting a technologically sophisticated approach to cultural learning will help you broaden your horizons while also developing empathy, global awareness, and a greater respect for the diversity that makes our world so interesting.
Set out on this transformational path to become a tech-advanced cultural learner and you will be able to take advantage of the endless opportunities that technology presents for bridging cultural divides, promoting intercultural communication, and accepting the complexity of our globalized society. Now then, let’s begin!
