Page 33 - Campus Technology, October/November 2018

2018
For example, in one cringe-worthy moment, one of the Americans suggests working through lunch instead of hit- ting the host’s favorite local restaurant, while another Amer- ican declares that he “loves Chinese take-out.” The host’s conclusion: “I don’t think this company will be a good part- ner for us. They don’t seem to know what they’re doing and are extremely rude to the people who work with them. They don’t even understand the importance of having a good meal together.”
What those stop-action vignettes reveal, according to Misaras, are the cultural assumptions present in the com- munication. The discussion that follows then focuses on what the individual characters were thinking.
“It’s a safe space. They’re all fake characters, so you’re not offending anyone,” explained Misaras. GTI found that it was helpful for students because they were forced to “take a step back and say, ‘OK, maybe there’s something cultural going on here. Let me think about some of these values and dimensions that I’ve learned about. And then let me try to think about it from that point of view.’”
The project originated when the university’s Distance Ed- ucation and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA) unit issued GTI a grant for the “innovative use of technology.” GTI is a unit of the institution’s Office of Global Engagement. Its main purpose: to tackle short-term projects for students, fac- ulty and staff and develop custom training for international and local professionals. Teaching cultural competency has long been a part of GTI’s programming (unit members are certified as Berlitz cultural orientation approach practitioners),
A custom camera rig allowed the team to shoot 360 video from a first-person perspective.
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | October/November 2018