Crossing Borders Digitally : A Minor Field Study on Online Challenge Driven Education

Abstract: With advancements in educational digitalisation, new opportunities for international collaboration on education have been created. Through the KTH Global Development Hub collaboration, students from universities in Botswana, Kenya, Sweden and Tanzania participate in modules with Challenge Driven Education (CDE). These modules allows students to gain intercultural and interdisciplinary experiences while working with real societal challenges. In this master’s degree project, Batswana, Swedish and Kenyan students’ and teachers’ experiences with CDE in blended campus-based and remote international education have been investigated. This was done through qualitative interviews, and through observations of a CDE module at Botho University in Botswana. The data was then analysed using thematic analysis with an inductive approach and discussed through the lens of previous research on CDE, e-learning and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), as well as contextualised through discussion of a student project on hydroponics. Based on the data and analysis, guidelines for working with Online-CDE were created. The guidelines are intended to aid teachers to bridge the gap between their previous knowledge and experience in CDE and the difficulties prevalent when planning an Online-CDE module. The modules allowed students to develop core competencies. The intercultural exchange of Online-CDE is appreciated by students and inspires them to work harder, although it may sometimes lead to conflicts. Issues with internet access and a limited knowledge of how to use digital tools provided created difficulties for both students and teachers. Although teachers aimed for students to work interdisciplinarily, project groups often divided work internally, therefore only achieving multi-disciplinarity.