Pre-learning report

To prepare for this intercultural networked project, please respond to the prompts below. Please be
sure to enter your name and write your entries in non-bold type face on the work you submit. The
purpose of this report is for group members to better understand each other and each other’s
expectations.

Name: Jelena Kovačević

I. Intercultural and networked communication

Create a personal map outlining your relationship with social media: list which platforms and
applications you use most and cluster them according to how you use them (e.g. reference,
entertainment, communication, etc.).

Instagram (entertainment, communication)

Whatsapp (communication)

Gmail (communication)

Facebook (entertainment, communication)

Viber (communication)

What are 2/3 of the drawbacks of platforms and applications? Advantages?

● Personal information made easily available

● Spending and wasting too much time on them

Do you ever think about issues of privacy? Explain.

I recently started thinking about it lot having read about the way the personal information is being used
and spread around different social networks and apps. Especially with the recent, strange thing that
happened to me. Namely, I was chatting with my cousin about a movie that I've never watched and that
he loved only to have an ad appear on a completely different app showing a poster of the said movie
with a sentence “There are some who had never it” written across the picture. It was really odd and it
made me wonder about the amount of access they have to our personal information and our private
messages.
List regions/countries you are familiar with. Jot down how you gained familiarity (e.g. firsthand
experience, accounts from family members, language acquisition, etc.).

● Spain ( language acquisition, visited as a tourist)

● United Kingdom and United States of America (language acquisition)
● France, Italy, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Bosnia (visited as a tourist)

Do you evaluate the authority of your ‘sources’ of cultural knowledge?

Yes.

Is there such a thing as an ‘authoritative’ source of cultural knowledge? Give 2/3 examples, including
of sources defining Serbian/American culture, if you have any.

Well I think that most would say that the most “authoritative” source of cultural knowledge would be
libraries. I agree to some extent, but I feel that with the amount and availability of information we have
access to today via the internet, libraries have become neglected and overlooked.

How do cultural perspectives differ from a historical perspective?

While historical perspective gives us better understanding of the social, cultural, intellectual and
emotional settings which led to a particular event in a certain period of time, cultural perspective offers
us an insight into the way individuals are shaped by their environment, social and cultural factors and
those are their nationality, race and gender.

Do you ever question the accuracy of your view of other cultures? Of your own? (Optional.)

I have always questioned the accuracy of my view of other cultures. Up to a certain point of age, I have
been fed various infromation from various sources. Some that information was based on typical
stereotypes, some from personal experience of the person who told it to me, some from media. But as
time progressed I learnt not to base my opinions on things someone told me or things I heard, but to
from my own.

What are some of the difficulties of intercultural communication (e.g. language barriers, cultural
differences, etc.)? What are some advantages?
Given the amount of dictionaries we have access to on the Internet, I don't think that language would
present a difficulty, and as for culutural differences, I think that they are an advantage rather than a
difficulty. We are given an opportunity to learn about how different we all are and how that fact doesn't
necessarily have to divide us, but rather unite us.

Do you consider applications and platforms to present an array of views or a more uniform way of
knowing the world? Explain, briefly.

For me they present an array of views, because through them you can reach people living million miles
away from you, learn about them, their culture, language, tradition, etc.

II. Networked collaboration

Have you ever used platforms/applications as a means to get work done? If yes, give brief description.

My colleagues and I very often use WhatsApp and Messenger for sharing learning materials and
arranging the plans for some of the group projects we have.

What do you think some of the challenges of collaboration will be (contacting group members,
misunderstandings, personality traits, cultural differences, etc.)?

I think that maybe the hardest challenge will be contacting group members given the time difference.
Also maybe starting the conversation with them, because I consider it to be much more easier to meet a
person face to face and then start conversing with them. This way we are confined to talking via email or
some social network where there could easily come to a misunderstanding due to wrongly interpreted
messages.

What are some of the obstructions to getting things done online (distractions, poor internet
connections, etc.)?

The first obstruction would definitely be distraction and staying on course during the project.
Internet is a black hole of information and entertainment which can very easily lead to
procrastination.

III. Networked learning: outcomes

What do you expect to learn from this collaboration (language use, cultural differences/similarities,
communication skills [cf. the list of soft skills introduced last semester], etc.)?

I feel as if we've not had that many opportunities to converse in English and I think that having been
given the opportunity to talk to native speakers will better my language use and my communication
skills.
Do you think intercultural networked learning will reinforce or challenge stereotypes?

I am certain that it will challenge them.

How important do you think having a perspective of the world offered by another culture is to your
understanding of the world and your own culture/self?

It is very important because there is nothing worse than being trapped in a cocoon with no knowledge
of other cultures and no diversity. You can't say you know the world and know about the world if you
stick to just one culture, one country and one people. If you want to understant the world then you'll
have to get familiar with all the nooks and crannies of the different cultures, people, traditions, etc. So
getting a perspective of the world offered by another culture will only broaden my horizons and offer
me the chance to gain more knowledge.

IV. Misc – please make any other relevant notes.