Search

Purpose: Allowing for interaction with foreign cultures without the need to travel, intercultural virtual collaboration represents a potential tool to develop business students' intercultural competence. This study aims to explore students' perceptions towards the implementation of a research-based task sequence in a project in which undergraduate Business students from Spain collaborated virtually with undergraduate business students from The Netherlands during a semester. More specifically, this paper investigates what intercultural competence indicators were mostly developed by the sequence implemented; how much each task from the sequence in question developed different intercultural competence indicators; and how much students enjoyed participating in each task. Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected through after-task reflection questionnaires. A quantitative analysis of Likert-type questions was carried out and open-ended responses were used to illustrate findings. Findings: Results reveal that the task sequence developed different dimensions of students' intercultural competence and, particularly, fostered a positive attitude towards intercultural relationships, increased students' cultural knowledge and awareness and equipped students with skills to work in diverse teams. It also showed that as complexity grew along the sequence, the average students' perception of their intercultural competence development tended to decrease. The majority of students' very much liked participating in the different tasks. Originality/value: Designing telecollaborative projects can be very challenging and understanding the learning potential of different pedagogical strategies for virtual collaborative environments can help teachers to take better-informed decisions.

One of the major challenges for edu-communication research is to analyze the influence of social media on young and adolescent users. This article examines the evaluation of gender inequalities - real and symbolic - in the consumption of social networks such as YouTube and Instagram among young people. Within the framework of a Research & Development & innovation (R&D + i) project, it presents a discursive-theoretical analysis of how young users of social media perceive the presence and representation of gender on social media and whether such digital representations can be associated with an empowering gender perspective. This study presents results from 14 focus groups (N = 83), composed of students aged 12 to 18, drawn from three Spanish Autonomous Communities (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Basque Country). The results show that gender issues arise in participants' conversations, especially among female participants, who perceive the importance of physical appearance on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Female participants feel more pressure in terms of appearance and dress compared to male participants. Among male participants there are more expressions of self-affirmation and more mentions related to fun and social prestige. Both male and female participants express concern about the impact of that pressure on younger girls. The influence of social media on self-image is more evident among female participants, who make frequent mention of the importance of self-esteem in relation to beauty standards and exposure to idealized body images. Notably, there were no comments by male participants that acknowledge any influence of social media on their self-image. The findings are in line with existing research and taken as a whole gives rise to concern as to the gender disparities observed in the use of social media, which do not constitute a picture of female empowerment. This research underlines the importance of promoting a respectful and equitable environment in relation to gender equality within digital spaces. Thus, this study provides support for the need to develop and implement edu-communicative initiatives to foster critical thinking around the influence of social media in this context and the evaluation of the impact of such initiatives in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of media and digital competences among the new generations is a requirement for their democratic participation in today's technological society. This article takes an approach to young people's perception of their own media competence, based on their comments on the use and sense of consumption of social media. The results of 14 focus groups (N= 83) of young people from three Spanish regions between 12 and 18 years of age are presented. Based on two theoretical models, a content analysis considering gender and age was carried out using Atlas.Ti software. The results indicate a greater presence of the Interaction dimension among girls and of Production and Dissemination among boys, and in general a familiarisation with preventive measures on safety on the networks and a review of the media diet, up to the age of 12-13. The adolescents themselves identify how, from this age onwards, the use of social networks is amplified and point out difficulties in self-management well into the university stage (18 years old). Although the participants show a high level of knowledge of social media marketing strategies and influencers' "authenticity" tactics, they recognise that they are driven by the search for entertainment and a need for approval from their peers in the digital space. Based on the results, we identify the need for further research in the period between 12-13 and 14-16 years of age in relation to the paradox between adolescents' conviction of their expertise in certain dimensions of media competence and their poorly reflective and critical consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of media and digital competences among the new generations is a requirement for their democratic participation in today's technological society. This article takes an approach to young people's perception of their own media competence, based on their comments on the use and sense of consumption of social media. The results of 14 focus groups (N= 83) of young people from three Spanish regions between 12 and 18 years of age are presented. Based on two theoretical models, a content analysis considering gender and age was carried out using Atlas.Ti software. The results indicate a greater presence of the Interaction dimension among girls and of Production and Dissemination among boys, and in general a familiarisation with preventive measures on safety on the networks and a review of the media diet, up to the age of 12-13. The adolescents themselves identify how, from this age onwards, the use of social networks is amplified and point out difficulties in self-management well into the university stage (18 years old). Although the participants show a high level of knowledge of social media marketing strategies and influencers' "authenticity" tactics, they recognise that they are driven by the search for entertainment and a need for approval from their peers in the digital space. Based on the results, we identify the need for further research in the period between 12-13 and 14-16 years of age in relation to the paradox between adolescents' conviction of their expertise in certain dimensions of media competence and their poorly reflective and critical consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the abundance of the literature reflecting peer facilitators' short-term gains, the long-term merits of once acting as a peer facilitator still represent a blank space in the academic literature. This retrospective qualitative case study employs Personal Meaning Maps and semi-structured interviews to explore five former peer facilitators' narratives to elicit any long-term perceived value of once acting as a peer facilitator in a peer-led multicultural self-study group. Utilizing the content dimension of learning framework, the study concludes that the former peer facilitators perceive a wide range of long-term benefits such as the consolidation of knowledge, the development of skills and competencies, and a positive impact on their personal growth and professional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, youtubers have become role models, especially for young people. This article examines the interactions of the followers of successful Spanish youtubers in terms of comment and topic, identification, and reasons for liking them. For this purpose, audience comments on the videos of 10 successful Spanish youtubers were analysed, selected from an exploratory study based on the following criteria: influencers active on YouTube and Instagram, age (18-30 years), sexual orientation, notoriety (between 200,000 and 34 million on the YouTube channel) and thematic variety of their channel. Through content analysis of 1000 comments, the arguments and common elements provided by the followers have been identified. The results show, on one hand, that a relevant category is identification with youtubers, expressly, aspirational identification and similarity with influencers, and, on the other hand, that followers value, especially, the humour and personality of the youtuber, followed by the physical attractiveness, and, to a lesser extent, the intelligence and wealth/success. The interest in further research into the impact of influencers on the education of young people is underlined, both through the analysis of the messages and representations transmitted, as well as their reception and interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]