As technology continues to change the way society communicates, teachers need to prepare their students for digital literacy and competencies in their adulthood. Specific training is necessary for educators in the appropriate and effective methods for incorporating technologies such as smart phones and hand-held devices. Teachers, who work in international boarding schools, are more effective in their use of technology when they understand the classroom cultural differences and are able to clarify any misconceptions. To determine what experienced teachers find missing in their instruction and what should be included in a teachers' instructional guide, a guide was developed based upon the existing literature; the guide was tested and revised under three conditions. In the first phase, a panel of subject-matter experts reviewed the guide draft to identify the instructional goals and validate the survey instrument. In the second phase, a teacher's workshop was conducted and provided in-depth discussions on how they use technology in the classroom. Teachers shared examples of how culture affected students' use and misuse of technology. In the final phase, observations were conducted as teachers used the lessons and resources in their instruction. The final revision, presented in this document, includes closing comments made by participating teachers. The goal was to develop a digital citizenship guide for teachers in international boarding schools that reflected best practices from the literature and the input from experts and teachers. The results identified the specific skills and competencies that are required to teach students how to communicate in the digital world and become good digital citizens. The culturally diverse student population at the investigation site made it possible to generalize instructional sets that will be of value to teachers everywhere. The guide, developed through the dissertation initiative, provides educators with the knowledge, tools, and examples necessary to teach students how these technologies can be used in a multicultural learning environment. It can be used to address the fundamentals of digital citizenship and provide insight into the role culture plays in the use of technology in education.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The number of students studying outside of their country of birth is growing rapidly. While the United States of America only sends a small number of students abroad every year, high profile institutions and individuals have argued that studying abroad has become an important developmental experience in the globalized world. This effects (and will continue to effect) countries that send students as well as those that accept such students. While it is recognised that study abroad is both a business and an educational endeavour, the relative importance accorded each facet is disputed by those working and researching in the field. Some argue that to reduce study abroad to a ‗business endeavour‘ would be to remove the quintessential benefits of the experience. Nevertheless, the field (along with all education) is moving to embrace neoliberalisation. Research into the effect of this mass movement is sparse, scarcer still is research into the actual effects on students participating in this movement. This study is an analysis of the linguistic identity construction of American students shortly after a semester abroad at Stellenbosch University. Forty seven surveys were analysed to demonstrate how the way in which students construct their identities is influenced by broader practices in the field. The research shows how identities are co-constructed and suggests that the field of study abroad needs to be critically self-reflective in order to mitigate the potential negative effects of the practices they use. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die aantal studente wat buite hul land van geboorte studeer is vinnig besig om toe te neem. Alhoewel die Verenigde State van Amerika jaarliks slegs ʼn klein aantal studente oorsee stuur, beweer hoë profiel institute en individue dat ʼn buitelandse studiegeleentheid ʼn belangrike ontwikkelingsondervinding is in ʼn toenemend geglobaliseerde wêreld. Dit beïnvloed (en sal aanhou om te beïnvloed) beide die lande wat studente stuur en die lande waarnatoe die studente gestuur word. Hoewel dit algemeen erken word dat ʼn buitelandse studiegeleentheid beide ʼn besigheid en ʼn opvoedkundige aangeleentheid is, betwyfel navorsers en die wat in die praktyk werk die mate waartoe beide aspekte bydra tot die praktyke wat gebruik word. Sommige beweer dat om ʼn buitelandse studie geleentheid te reduseer tot ʼn besigheidsaangeleentheid, die ervaring van sy wesenlike voordele ontneem. Ten spyte van die kritiek word toenemend meer waarde geheg in die veld van 'buitelandse studie geleenthede' (saam met ander opvoedkundige kontekste) aan neoliberalisme. Navorsing wat die invloed van neoliberalisme op onderrigpraktyke ondersoek is raar, nog raarder is navorsing wat die effek van neoliberalisme op studente ondersoek. Hierdie studie analiseer die linguistiese identiteitskonstruksie van Amerikaanse studente kort na hul ʼn buitelandse studiegeleentheid van ʼn semester by Stellenbosch Universiteit voltooi het. Sewe en veertig opnames is geanaliseer om te demonstreer hoe die manier waarop studente hul identiteit konstrueer deur die praktyke in die veld beïnvloed word. Die studie dui aan dat identiteite saam gekonstrueer is en beveel aan dat die veld van 'buitelandse studiegeleenthede' krities en self-reflektief moet wees om potensiële negatiewe effekte van die praktyke wat gebruik word teen te werk.

Colleges and universities have become increasingly diverse since Brown .v Board of Education requiring that institutions figure out how to manage a more racially diverse student body. Unfortunately, many predominantly White institutions (PWIs) continue to fall short in attending to the specific needs for students of color to feel included and supported. The primary purpose of this study is to learn more about how students of color experience and make meaning of cross-racial relationships in designated multicultural program. I intend to specifically focus on the experiences of students of color who have self-selected to live in a designated multicultural community. To capture individual student stories and realities that illuminate the complexities of how students of color make meaning at a PWI, group and individual interviews will be facilitated during the academic year. Observation/field notes of the community and the use of a group interview will be used to triangulate the data. Qualitative research will provide the greatest opportunity for an in-depth understanding of individual student experiences.

This thesis contains a qualitative analysis of the Czech children's television program, which the main topic is the presentation of other cultures. The aim is to answer a question, of how other cultures are presented to the children audience within this particular program. The key terms are viewed in the context of the concept of culture and cultural identity as defined by social anthropologists, that is, as a set of meanings and practices that are learned. The findings are also understood and compared to multicultural education, in which a culturally standard approach is seen as the prevailing approach in the researched TV program. Attention is also paid to the representation of children in the media content, and to the structure of children's media content. The qualitative analysis brought the resulting scheme entitled as Strategy of Children's Knowledge, which defines the three phases way in which individual areas and different cultures are presented to the audience. The first introduction is the first step when the viewer gets acquainted with emotionally and ideologically unpainted facts. In the second confrontation phase, the introductory information is further elaborated and related to the main characters, so it is clearly defined as who "we" are and who are "the others". In the final stage,...