Intercultural education through an online field course during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many traditional field-courses for intercultural education were suspended. In response, we developed and implemented an innovative online field course that leveraged live online field experiences. Drawing from Cognitive Load Theory and Four Components Instructional Design, our aim was to create an engaging online intercultural course that addressed the challenges of remote instruction. The course focused on introducing students to field challenges in rural India, equipping them with the necessary skills for conducting online field research. Throughout the course, we employed Action Research methodologies to study and refine our approach while monitoring student's progress towards achieving the course objectives. While physical presence in the field is valuable for certain aspects of intercultural education, we found that online field courses, supported by live virtual field visits and online fieldwork, can provide students with a meaningful intercultural experience. To manage the cognitive load experienced by students, we emphasised carefully designed and flexible course content, as well as providing close supervision and feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]