Cultural Differences in Online Learning

Learning times production- the green room by Susan Manning and Dan Ballsure

International issues related to learning.

Highlights of the discussion

  • How much do you have to know about the culture of the students within your classroom with diverse cultures- eastern vs western thinking
  • Styles of teaching- more route vs dialogue approach.
  • The role of the instructor- facilitating instruction and discussion vs delivering information.
  • How different cultures view the teacher- expectations and role
  • Look at the diverse cultures as an important learning environmental factor that will influence the learning.- is this a common way to interact with the students in the context with where the students are coming from.
  • What are the students experiences? need to develop the relationships that support time and trust.
  • How do you make a generalization about the students and culture without stereotyping?
  • There is no one way to do something. when you want a certain behaviour you need to ensure that the expectations are clearly stated.
  • The usage of audio is to create engagement, visual is also a way to support engagement.
  • many countries use different course management systems, but moodle is very popular.

If we have a diversity of learners we need to select the terms that everyone would understand. Learners are logging in from all over the world.