COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION DONE GLOBALLY Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20,1993 122 COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION DONE GLOBALLY William A. Day, Dean College of Business Administration Richard G. Muter, Director of Honors Program, Department of Management Systems John E. Stinson, Director Learning Design Laboratory and Corporate Leadership Program ABSTRACT Utilizing the concepts of cognitive constructivism and global action learning, we have developed a learning platform using collaborative education enhanced by information technology. This electronic collaboration platform enables culturally diversified teams of students to work together to meet in an action learning format to develop a more realistic understanding of the global business community. The discussion will emphasize the combination of cognitive constructivism and information technology in action learning. INTRODUCTION Picture a group of three students working together to complete an assignment they have just received from their instructor in a course on business strategy. The assignment? “Review the present corporate strategy of Digital Equipment Corporation and propose a strategy for the first decade of the 21st Century” Not an unusual picture, right? It is if you consider the rest of the story, as it is developing in concept at Ohio University. THE REST OF THE STORY Each of these students is working in their electronic classroom at their university. One student is at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Another student is at Janus Pannonius University in Pecs, Hungary. A third student is at the University of Bangkok in Bangkok, Thailand. They will continue to work together intensively for the next ten days to complete the assignment. Their work will culminate in a multi-media presentation demonstrating their findings and recommendations. This presentation will be evaluated by faculty and business executives, including a representative from Digital. GLOBAL ACTION LEARNING For the last three years, we at Ohio University have utilized a global action learning format to provide our MBA students the learning experience of actually working collaboratively with people from other cultures. We have taken our MBAs to Pecs, Hungary and Bangkok, Thailand. In each location they worked in teams of six, equally comprised of students from each country. Each team was assigned a business to investigate during the next five days. They were charged with determining 1) what could be done to enhance the competitive potential of the firm, 2) how it could improve productivity, 3) how it could increase market penetration and 4) any other issues requested by the key manager, or owner, of the business. Examples of businesses investigated by the students included: a glove factory, a bakery, a mall development company, a tobacco company, a retail department store, a computer distributor, a fiber manufacturer, and a pharmaceutical firm. Students spent the week investigating and analyzing their target business with a goal of developing a formal presentation, which was made on Friday afternoon to a group of business owners and managers, faculty, and other students. Local press and television news professionals also attended the presentations and interviewed several of the participants. SUPPORT VIA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY This year we will enhance the learning experience by having the students continue their collaboration electronically after the trip is completed. The scenario described at the top is an example of the way we will complement the student teamwork on location. Part of the electronic collaboration will be a continuation of the industry/business analysis begun on site. Other collaborative work will involve students in action learning projects. The action learning projects are carefully developed, based upon a “cognitive constructivist” approach to learning, and enabled by the latest in information technology. SESSION SUMMARY In this session, the panel members will: • describe the learning platform that we have developed and used, • discuss the concept of cognitive constructivism and explain its use as a theoretical base for action learning, and • propose a vision of the future of business education, a future that includes a global action learning platform complete with technological links enabling boundary-less collaborative learning. This 60-minute panel discussion will allow the audience to share in the experiences of several faculty and administrators who have played integral roles in the development and implementation of this unique approach to learning during the past five years. REFERENCES Duffy, T. and Jonassen, D. (1991) Constructivism: New Implications for Instructional Technology? Educational Technology May 19, 7-11. Distance Education: Technology Expands the Classroom. (1992). Syllabus. Number 24, September/October. Stinson, John E. (1990) Integrated Contextual Learning: Situated Learning in the Business Profession. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting Table of Contents Volume 20, 1993 Dominant Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Shelf Wars: A Grocery Channel Simulation Shared Cultural Perspectives: An Experiential Exercise Utilizing International Students to Globalize the Classroom An Instrument for Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods in the Business Policy and Strategy Formulation Course Providing Better Trained Graduates for Accounting Employers The Ambition Gradient Approach to Evaluation of Computer Simulation Game Team Performance Alphatec: A Negotiation Exercise with Logrolling and Bridging Potential Using the Ideafisher Idea Generation System as a Decision Support System in Marketing Strategy Courses A Dynamic Market Share Allocation Model For Computerized Business Simulations Multi-Cultural Adaptability Using Experiential Learning in a Graduate Course Development of Experiential Applications in HRM: Practicing What Preach and Preaching for Practice Linking Students and Business Leaders Through Portfolios Debriefing International Experiential Learning Exercises: Road Signs for Effectiveness Sales Manager: A Simulation Modeling Interactive Effects in Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations: A Critique of Goosen's Interpolation Reducing the Complexity of Interactive Variable Modeling in Business Simulations Through Interpolation Antecedent Biases of Experiential Learners: Trainee Occupation and Subgroup Diversity Pax in Terra Sancta: Simulating the Middle East Peace Negotiations A Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changes in Ethnocentric/Geocentric Orientation by Business Students after Exposure to a One Summer Course in International Marketing's A Systematic Approach to the Development and Evaluation of Experiential Exercises Entrepreneurs Evaluate Experiential Education A Linear Programming Approach to Open System Total Enterprise Simulations Reflecting Leader Behavior from the Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation Linking Cognitive Styles, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives and Assessment: A Decision Tree Approach Restructuring Management Education in Post-Communist Countries: How Western Experts Can Help Managerial and Cultural Pre-Conditions for Superior Performance in a Global Setting: An Experimental Study with the Aid of Business Games Multiple Industries in Computerized Business Gaming Simulations Content or Process? - Content and Process! Some Observations and Reflections About Management Education in Central Europe Out-of-Class Experiences to Promote Volunteerism Enacting the Linguistic Consciousness of the Modern Managerial Mind: Post-Modernism and Experiential Learning Intergrating Experiential Exercises into the College Curriculum: The Case of Internationalizing the Business Curriculum Simulation Marketing Oversights Incorporating Advertising Creative Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations The Dynamics of a Partnership Between Business and Education Collaborative Education Done Globally Experiential Systems Analysis CADPLAN: A Simulation for Comparative Advertising A Doctoral Symposium: Preparing Students for Conference Behavior Comparing the Simulation with the Case Approach: Again! Total Quality Management: A Model for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Audit: An Experiential Exercise for Business Students Extending the Reach of Simulations: DECIDE Heads for the Inner City Lessons Learned from a Customized Management Development Simulation The Foreign Exchange Spot Trading Simulation Using Lotus 1-2-3 to complete a Triple Play in a Simulated Competition International Business Education: Is Enough Being Done? Matching of Student-Teacher Cognitive Style as a Factor in Student Success in an Introduction to Information Systems Course Breathing (More) Life into the Case Approach Lord of the Flies: A Live Case Approach to Leadership Cooperative Case Studies: Experiential Tools for Teaching Business Problem Solving Tools Strategy Simulations in Context: An Evaluation of Key Dimensions The Distribution Channel Game Evaluation of a Simulation Game as an Education Tool for Utility Professionals The Relationship Between Total Enterprise Simulation Performance and Learning Total Quality Management does not Happen by Magic, but it can be Taught Using a Pedagogical Methodology that Utilizes Magic Effectively Preparing Students for Careers in a Global Environment by Integrating Total Quality Management Thoughout the Business Curriculum An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive and Performance Consistency in a Marketing Simulation Game Environment Using MARSGAP with LAPTOP: (A Marketing Simulation Game Analysis Program) with LAPTOP: A Marketing Simulation Adapting TQM Implementation to Organizational Level An MBA Business Simulation: Executive Interaction Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the Classroom (and the Hotel Meeting Room) Closing the Gap between Corporate and National Culture The Dynamic Manufacturing Company The Use of Experiential Techniques in Corporate Training The State of Simulation Gaming in Easter European Countries- Principally Russia An Experiential Exercise in Cross-Cultural Training Valuing Differences: A Conceptual Framework Demonstration of an Experiential Exercise Effectively Using Experiential Learning to Impart TQM Concepts in a High Technology Environment The Older Worker Questionnaire: An Exercise Concerning Older Worker Stereotypes and Behaviors The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics Welcome to the Party! An Expression of Vocational Preference Experiential Exercise for Imparting Cross-Cultural Appreciation Six Swift Simulations on Globalization Overview of BASF Delegate Program