Universities are seeking techniques that encourage students to become more globalised in their perspectives. One method of fostering globalisation is to incorporate cross-national asynchronous online discussions with students from different countries within courses. The purpose of this study was to explore if participation by American and Chinese graduate students in cross-national online discussions facilitated construction of new knowledge regarding western and eastern cultures and provided effective international learning experiences. Data sources include students' transcripts and responses to open-ended survey questions on their perceptions regarding the online discussions. Results indicate that cross-national online discussions facilitated new knowledge regarding very different cultures. Further, this research offers a model that provides authentic international learning experiences where students explore meaningful concepts and relationships to address relevant problems in education.