The Development of Intercultural Competences in Online Environments

Inés Gil-Jaurena
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
Spanish Distance Education University
Madrid, Spain

Intercultural competences, as skills for interacting in diverse environments, are relevant for any lifelong learner. This paper defines intercultural competences and their components, and provides a set of methodological guidelines, resources and technological tools that can be used for their development, specifically in online educational environments. These proposals are exemplified with different practical cases from undergraduate and master’s degree courses delivered in an e-learning mode at the Spanish Distance Education University (UNED). These same contents have been used in two teacher education experiences at UNED (an online internal course and a MOOC). The paper ends by identifying some challenges for future work.