ABSTRACT Telecollaboration involving children around the world allows them to develop international understanding (IU). This paper reports on the design and implementation of a telecollaboration project between Japanese and Australian primary school students. The main purpose of the project, which integrates the contents of Social Studies and foreign language (FL) education, is to promote student interest in learning their own and a foreign language, as well as a foreign culture, using an educational social network site (SNS), in this case Edmodo. This study focused on Japanese students in particular. The exchange of cultural information online became a meaningful and authentic activity for communication in FL. Additionally, the evaluation showed that the Japanese students became more motivated to learn English and initiate IU. A curriculum-based telecollaboration project involving a long-term plan – instead of a one-off activity – is recommended in order to develop young students’ IU in FL education.

中文翻译：

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激发跨文化理解的小学生远程协作项目的设计与实施

摘要 涉及世界各地儿童的远程协作使他们能够发展国际理解 (IU)。本文报告了日本和澳大利亚小学生之间远程协作项目的设计和实施。该项目整合了社会研究和外语 (FL) 教育的内容，其主要目的是通过教育社交网站 ( SNS），在这种情况下是 Edmodo。这项研究特别关注日本学生。在线文化信息交流成为佛罗里达州一项有意义且真实的交流活动。此外，评估显示日本学生变得更有动力学习英语和发起 IU。