Quick Chat: Keeping in Touch

Used to be, when a student spent a semester abroad, it meant than there would be limited connection to home. The student and his or her family would have to contend with reliability of the mail systems to share news from home and abroad, and phone calls were often prohibitively expensive. 

Today, when a student travels, their options for international communication are much better.   Email has replaced snail mail, and for sharing their news with a larger audience, a Facebook post of a cell phone video is often just a click and a few seconds away.

But while using social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram are great for sharing those immediate and fun moments that make up a large part of the international cultural exchange, are they the best method of sharing  professional or educational experiences? 

Roswita Dressler and Janet Wong don’t think so.

Dressler, an instructor and the Director of the Teaching Across Borders (TAB) Program in the Werklund School of Education, and Wong, a Werklund undergraduate student who recently returned from an international experience in Viet Nam both say that having access to social media is crucial to the exchange.  And they agree that while some types of communication are great for simply keeping in touch with family and friends, sharing professional experiences requires a more professional platform.   

Join the recently returned TAB students at an on-campus showcase January 14th.

Read the TAB students’ blog.

Audio:

• Quick Chat (7:16)