Collaborative learning between the University of Namibia and William Paterson University in New Jersey, United States of America, on a Facebook Page

Abstract

In ensuring that students achieve 21^st century skills, institutions of higher education are required to broaden their curricula to equip students with global competency skills through internationalisation. This study focused on hybrid academic collaboration projects between postgraduate students from the University of Namibia (UNAM) and those from William Paterson University in New Jersey (WPU) within the Educational Technology programme. These postgraduate students used Facebook web pages to collaborate on their academic activities and focus on promoting global competencies. This qualitative study is anchored in a multiple case design. Purposive and convenience sampling methods were used to select participants from both universities. Nine (9) participants were chosen from UNAM, and five (5) participants were from WPU. Interview guides and field notes were used to collect data from the University of Namibia and William Paterson University participants. The data that were collected using different instruments were transcribed verbatim and analysed using iterated reliability to identify labels, which led to themes and codes. The audio-recorded data were transcribed to create the transcripts, identifying elements using the TPACK framework as the lens. Documents and communications of students from the Facebook web page, consisting of direct text and images, were downloaded and examined without the researcher’s intervention. The results showed that well-structured international learning experiences significantly boosted students’ confidence in navigating global issues. Based on these findings, the study recommends that higher education institutions place greater emphasis on integrating hybrid international collaboration into their curriculum development efforts.