Globalization, Culture, and Online Distance Learning

Globalization, the Internet, and access to telecommunication networks have increased the demand for education and educational quality across the globe. The reasons for this demand explains Carnoy (2005) are two-fold: The first is economic, the rising payoffs to higher education in a global, science-based, knowledge intensive economy make university training more of a “necessity” to get “good” jobs, which in turn, changes the stakes at lower levels of schooling and the demand for high-quality secondary schools. The second reason is socio-political: Demographics and democratic ideals increase pressure on universities to provide access to groups that traditionally have not attended university. In this context, online distance learning (ODL), which can transcend local, state, and national borders, has the potential to reach out internationally to enhance learning for diverse learners in varied geographical and socio-cultural contexts and increase inter-cultural awareness and communication. In addition, demand is propelled by rising awareness of the potential for online education to provide services to nearly any location on the planet

Reflections on Evaluating Online Learning and Teaching

In this chapter, I will discuss my decade of evaluation activities relating to online learning experiences, with a focus on methods. These online experiences range from setting up online networks for social interaction, facilitating collaborative learning experiences among graduate students in several universities, moderating worldwide online professional development activities, and teaching entirely online. Most of my online experiences relate to my role as a professor at the University of New Mexico where I teach graduate level courses in distance education and educational telecommunications. In this respect, I would like to acknowledge the valuable lessons I have learned from many students and colleagues who have collaborated with me and helped me develop my understanding of how learning occurs in online networks. For me the greatest value of online learning is in the concept of “networked learning,” the opportunity to engage in collaborative, reflective learning for an extended period of time with individuals who may be thousands of miles apart, in very different time zones. As I study online learning, I am more interested in discovering the “process” of learning rather than the “product,” that is, how did this specific online group share multiple perspectives, negotiate meaning, and come to new understandings? and how did individual participants in this group, change their own perceptions as a result of this group process? One of the difficulties I have experienced as a practitioner however, is assigning individual worth to collaborative group learning processes, when institutional policies often require assessment of individual learning

Social and Cultural Diversity in Distance Education

With the expansion of global telecommunication networks and the worldwide demand for higher education, distance education has the potential to reach out internationally to enhance learning for diverse learners and increase intercultural awareness and communication. By definition, distance education is borderless (Latchem, 2005), although differences in sociocultural contexts, values and expectations of diverse educational systems and learners may prove to be its greatest challenge (Hanna, 2000). While distance education programs proclaim an international focus with international content and learners, instructional design and methods frequently carry Eurocentric Western bias. Distance educators need to be sensitive to social, cultural and educational differences, cultural assumptions embedded in courses, and “the imposition of cultural values and practices” (Latchem, 2005, p. 189)

Online Course Design for Student Centered Learning

Agenda Why do we need a paradigm Shift to Student Centered Learning ? What is student centered learning (SCL)? What’s the theoretical basis for SCL? What are the design features of SCL? An example of SCL from the University of Kelaniya A framework for designing SC

How to Design Culturally Inclusive Online Learning Experiences

In this paper, we argue that adapting online courses for specific cultural groups takes time-intensive guesswork. Instead, instructional designers should employ the principles of universal design and social constructivism to build a course culture inclusive of all learners. Culture affects learners’ experiences in important, interconnected ways. Yet, it is equally difficult to predict culture’s effects on learning (Guild & Garger, 2016). These difficulties stem from the inherent complexity in human behavior. First, individuals may not reflect their cohort, especially when they belong to groups with conflicting values. Second, beliefs can influence one another in unforeseeable ways, and cultural values can be situational. Third, aligning with learners’ cultural preferences may not enhance learning outcomes. Building on the work of Mitchell and Joseph (2002), we propose a different approach, one in which instructional designers embrace culture without attempting to anticipate a given cohort’s unique needs. This can be done by reflecting on cultural values, designing with intention, communicating expectations, and giving control to learners. In the final portion of this article, we introduce the Wisdom Communities Instructional Design Model (WisCom)and describe why it is particularly well-suited for designing courses that account for the cultural experiences of all learners. WisCom emphasizes the formation of a dynamic learning community based on social-constructivist principles. In a WisCom-based online course, the community is at the heart of the learning experience. This emphasis on the group dynamics underscores the importance of culture by providing venues to explore preexisting values and negotiate new ones as a learning group

Designing Wise Communities that Engage in Creative Problem Solving: An Analysis of an Online Design Model

Addressing the conference theme of “design thinking,” this paper discusses an instructional design model, WisCom (Wisdom Communities) that we developed to build a wise learning community online, to solve open-ended, ill-structured problems such as solving a health crisis or an environmental disaster, which requires the exchange of multiple perspectives, inter-disciplinary thinking, creative problem solving, and social construction of knowledge. Based on socio-constructivist, sociocultural theories of learning and mediated cognition (Vygotsky, 1978), distributed cognition (Hutchins, 1995; Pea, 1993), group cognition (Stahl, 2006), research on how people learn (Bransford, Vye, Bateman, Brophy, & Roselli, 2004), and distance education design principles (Moore & Kearsley, 2011), WisCom specifies three components that must be designed to create a wise community online that engages in creative problem solving and transformational learning: (1) a cohesive learning community involved in negotiation of meaning and collaborative learning; (2) knowledge innovation – moving the learning community from data, information, and knowledge to wisdom, providing opportunities for reflection, sharing of perspectives, knowledge construction and preservation within the community, and (3) learner support and e-mentoring to achieve the communities’ learning goals

Distributed Co-Mentoring as a Means to Develop Culturally Inclusive Online Learning Communities

Transformative online pedagogies call for innovative ways of conceptualizing the online environment and the student, teacher, and peer relationships. In this paper, we focus on how distributed co-mentoring can scaffold both social and knowledge building processes to develop culturally inclusive online learning communities. We critique traditional mentoring relationships, which have often sustained a biased class structure exclusive of diverse populations. We conceptualize co-mentoring drawing from the perspectives of two alternative mentoring theories: (1) feminist postmodern values that bring women and minorities into educational networks, and (2) mentoring mosaic where a diverse range of individuals of different ranks, ages, genders, ethnicities, skills, and experience come together in a non-hierarchical community, blurring distinctions between mentor and mentee to support each other in collaboration. Based on these two perspectives, we define co-mentoring as offering developmental assistance at various points in the growth of a collaborative online group, moving away from the traditional two-person relationship where a more experienced person offers assistance and guides a less experienced person to grow and advance. The expert/novice relationship definition of mentoring is problematic not only from a culturally inclusive point of view, but also from the perspective of the online environment where networked relationships can emerge between persons not bound by power structures, or, local or national cultures. We discuss two case studies of distributed co-mentoring: one, a cross-cultural co-mentoring program between the United States and Sri Lanka in the context of an online faculty development program implemented in Sri Lanka, and the second, a crossborder faculty development program conducted in Sri Lanka between participants from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Mauritius with U.S. co-mentors. Data sources included analysis of transcripts, journal entries and interviews with participants and mentors. In the first case, we found through analysis of computer transcripts six types of co-mentoring roles (social, pedagogical, managerial, technical, collaborative, and inspirational), which facilitated the construction of knowledge and transformed perspectives. In the second case, despite the challenges of cross-border communication, participants learned from fellow co-mentors. In cross-cultural settings, we encourage co-mentors to be cognizant of: (1) mentee needs and characteristics; (2) linguistic difficulties; (3) expectation of direct guidance from mentors; and (4) the importance of providing timely feedback during the initial stages of building a mentoring relationship. We conclude that successful co-mentoring partnerships can be established across cultures if there is mutual respect and willingness to learn from each other

Analyzing Social Construction of Knowledge Online by Employing Interaction Analysis, Learning Analytics, and Social Network Analysis

This article examines research methods for analyzing social construction of knowledge in online discussion forums. We begin with an examination of the Interaction Analysis Model (Gunawardena, Lowe, & Anderson, 1997) and its applicability to analyzing social construction of knowledge. Next, employing a dataset from an online discussion, we demonstrate how interaction analysis can be supplemented by employing other research techniques such as learning analytics and Social Network Analysis that shed light on the social dynamics that support knowledge construction. Learning analytics is the application of quantitative techniques for analyzing large volumes of distributed data ( big data ) in order to discover the factors that contribute to learning (Long & Siemens, 2011, p. 34). Social Network Analysis characterizes the information infrastructure that supports the construction of knowledge in social contexts (Scott, 2012). By combining interaction analysis with learning analytics and Social Network Analysis, we were able to conceptualize the process by which knowledge construction takes place in online platforms

Predictors of Learner Satisfaction and Transfer of Learning in a Corporate Online Education Program

This study explores factors that predict learner satisfaction and transfer of learning in an online educational program at a multinational corporation, established to improve organizational learning through providing training in technical skills. A mixed-methods design was employed, selecting both quantitative methods utilizing survey research and qualitative methods employing open-ended questionnaire items, face-to-face and phone interviews, gathering the perspective of students, instructors, and instructional designers. The online courses were designed using a problem-centered and case-based approach to learning, and utilized technologies including Learning Management Systems such as Blackboard, Sharepoint, as well as instructional design tools such as Breeze, Captivate and PowerPoint. Online self-efficacy emerged as the strongest predictor of learner satisfaction; collegial support was the strongest predictor of transfer of learning. Qualitative analysis provided additional insight on these findings and the elements that impacted the operation of an online education program in a corporate setting

Cross-Cultural E-Mentor Roles in Facilitating Inquiry-Based Online Learning

This paper discusses how cross-cultural e-mentoring facilitated inquiry-based learning through community and knowledge building and the multiple roles e-mentors played in fostering transformative learning in protégées. A series of professional development programmes on “online tutoring and mentoring” were conducted by the Distance Education Modernization Project (DEMP) implemented by the Ministry of Higher Education in Sri Lanka. These programmes were conducted in the form of a blended online course using the MOODLE learning management system. The main aim of these programmes was to develop the capacity of faculty and other professionals who would be responsible for designing and delivering online programmes. One of the online activities in this course was to develop the capacity of the participants to facilitate inquiry-based learning using cross-cultural e-mentors. In each round of training, participants were divided into three groups (about 8-11 participants in each) to solve a social problem, using three inquiry-based learning formats: problem solving, role-play and case-based reasoning. The e-mentors were graduate students at the University of New Mexico, in the United States. Their goals were to facilitate the interactive activity and help the Sri Lanakan protégées solve the problem through negotiation of meaning in an online environment. The transcripts of participants in 3 rounds of training and their interactions with e-mentors were analysed. Results showed that the cross-cultural e-mentors demonstrated different strategies to help protégés to find solutions, help them build the online community and to construct knowledge by building on each other’s posts. Their contributions range from 15% - 41% of the total posts. They exhibited multiple-roles; pedagogical, managerial, technical, social, collaborative and inspirational. Protégés acknowledged that e-mentors transformed their perspectives on the social problems they dealt with, and methods of online learning