Skip to main content
University of Florida

Japanese Culture Through Virtual Exchange


UF Faculty: Matthieu Felt
Department: Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
College: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Partner Faculty: Carmella Lieske
Department: Center for Foreign Language Education
Partner Institution: Shimane University, Japan 

Partner Faculty: Scott Menking
Department: Law & Literature
Partner Institution: Shimane University, Japan
Title: Japanese Culture Through Virtual Exchange
Project Description: The purpose of this virtual exchange project was to provide a venue for students from UF and Shimane University (Japan) to discuss campus and daily life with each other.
Learning Outcomes:
  1. Identify similarities and differences between campus life in Japan versus the US.
  2. Identify similarities and differences between food culture in Japan versus the US.
  3. Identify similarities and differences between media culture in Japan versus the US.
  4. Gain comfort working with students from a different cultural background.
  5. Consider the origins and rationale of everyday cultural practices.
  6. Assess the validity of existing beliefs about foreign cultures. 
  7. Articulate issues with cross-cultural perspective.
Participating Countries: Japan
Number of Participants: 76 UF students and 35 students from Shimane University
Discipline: World Languages
UF Course Code & Name: JPT3500 - Japanese Culture
Project Duration: 5 Weeks
Activity Type(s): Student-to-Student Dialogue
Time allotted to each activity:
  • Synchronous Activities: 1 hour per week
  • Asynchronous Activities: 1 hour per week
  • Individual Work: 1 hour per week
Technology Tools: Padlet
Sequence of Activities:
  • Icebreaker Activity: Students from both universities introduced themselves and posted a picture or video. 

  • Engagement Activity: Students wrote their opinions and perceptions of campus life, food culture, and media culture in the other country. Students asked questions of the VE partners.

  • Collaboration Activity: Students used videos to answer the questions asked by their VE partners.

  • Reflection Acitivity: At the end of the course, students met online for a virtual synchronous session to discuss what they learned through the asynchronous activities.