Personal factors supporting intercultural communication in e-learning of information sciences

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the personal factors for both the students and the lecturers that support intercultural communication in library and information science (LIS) e-learning. Research was conducted to explore the factors supporting intercultural communication in LIS e-learning.

Using case study, the opinion of students of two LIS curricula about the factors that support intercultural communication in e-learning has been determined. The data have been collected using e-interviews and document analysis. Document analysis and constant comparative analysis method were used for analysing collected data.

Intercultural communication in the e-learning of LIS curriculum was supported by pedagogical, personal, cultural and technological factors. In this paper, the personal factors are emphasised. These factors are the supporting characteristics of the students and lecturers, their motivation, similarities between co-students and the competence of the students.

Results of the research project are necessary to improve the curricula and to plan and conduct learning process. The results explain possibilities for supporting the students in international e-learning.

The results of the present study concerning the personal factors and their respective support differed – when compared to previous studies – in the following aspects: LIS students brought forward the characteristics that support intercultural communication in e-learning, were willing to gain extra knowledge and skills and considered information literacy and knowledge about written communication important but, at the same time, less-often mentioned the problems emerging from lags.