Culturally Significant Signs, Symbols, and Philosophical Belief Systems within E-Learning Environments

The contextual backdrop of the problem and goal of the study are based within the framework that the researchers wanted to be sure that the courses were unique in their appropriateness to their respective cultures; but they also wanted to see if the course adaptations provided cultural values and perspectives that were fairly consistent and appropriate across cultures and nations. The methodology is qualitative in nature, specifically focused upon development design research and narrative inquiry. The findings suggest that there were several levels of concern: learner concerns; instructional design or teaching concerns; management and organizational concerns; and, technology concerns. This study has addressed the question “what lessons could be learned from semiotic and philosophical instructional imperatives inclusion within e-learning environments?” As such, the interpretation of the findings of the study shed light on the importance of simple mediation tools, such as signs, symbols, and stories. The implications of the findings indicate that more research could shed light on how to help students feel comfortable enough to follow through and complete their e-learning courses. In viewing best practices for e-learning, students’ existent knowledge can be bridged with what they need to know by using a variety of the semiotic tools discussed in this study.

Cultural Adaptation of E-Learning Courseware

Web-based and self-paced learning modules have become a common-and sometimes primary-tool used by the Ethics & Compliance departments of global organizations to educate employees worldwide. These e-learning modules provide guidance around such topics as the company’s Code of Conduct, specific policies or laws, globally applicable corporate standards, and how best to manage ethical dilemmas in a corporate environment. In this case, the authors describe the instructional design process that were used on various ethics and compliance courses to achieve a more global, regional, or country-specific applicability, including an overview of changes made to content and methodology that was originally perceived as “very American.”

Developing an E-Learning Course for a Global Legal Firm

This case study describes the considerations, challenges, and lessons learned in developing this online course, which is the foundation of an overall risk management training program for the Firm. Risk management is a very broad, deep, and complex topic which impacts the practice of law in many different ways. Recognizing that it is in meaningful discussions where learning most likely takes place, the project team’s challenge was to design an e-learning course that allows sufficient interactivity to engage the learner and stimulate thinking around issues they encounter in whatever legal area, and at whatever level they practice.

Learning in Cross-Cultural Online MBA Courses

The rapid improvement in online communication technologies and the globalization of the economy have made offering transnational courses in online learning programs a popular trend. This chapter reports the findings of a case study that investigated the perceptions of international students regarding cultural challenges in their learning experiences during an online MBA program. The study revealed that international students faced cultural barriers, including time management, transition to different instruction styles, time zone differences, case-based learning, and academic integrity, which affected their engagement in online MBA courses. Recommendations are made at the end of the chapter on how to improve the quality of the international students’ learning experiences in cross-cultural learning environments.

Chinese Postgraduate Students Learning Online in New Zealand

Findings presented explore the Chinese cultural influence, aspects of instructional design that supported learning and achievement, and the influence of the culture in which they were learning. Lessons for the teaching staff, learning design staff and others involved in online learning for students of other cultures are outlined.

International Collaboration in Distance Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

This chapter examines international collaboration in distance education in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), focusing on efforts aimed at utilizing technology. It identifies a number of significant collaborative endeavors. The collaborative efforts observed have a similar goal of pooling together ICT resources and expertise towards improving educational outcomes. The prevalence of teacher education and training across the initiatives, in the context of the Millennium Development Goals, is noted. Institutions outside Africa are actively involved in the funding and provision of expertise. Also, the AVU consortium model seems to be a viable approach to collaboration, with notable results seen. With the challenges facing technology-focused collaboration, such as a lack of enabling policies and the digital divide, the chapter suggests that African countries and institutions should pursue a culture of change and be more flexible. More formal training in distance education, utilizing Africans in the Diaspora and promoting dialogue across international spectrums are also recommended.

ORIENT

4. Presents and discusses results of preliminary evaluation studies based on an early prototype.

Blended Learning Internationalization from the Commonwealth

This case depiction addresses the contentious issue of providing culturally and globally accessible teaching and learning to international students in universities in the Commonwealth nations of Australia and Canada. The chapter describes the university systems and cultures, the barriers to authentic higher education internationalization, and the problems frequently experienced by international students. Two university cases are presented and analysed to depict and detail blended learning approaches (face-to-face combined with e-learning) as exemplars of culturally and globally accessible higher education and thereby ideologically grounded internationalization. Lessons learned are presented at the systems level and as teaching and learning solutions designed to address pedagogical problems frequently experienced by international students in the areas of communication, academic skills, teaching and learning conceptualization, and moving from rote learning to critical thinking. The blended learning solutions are analysed through the lens of critical theory.

Cultural Implications of E-Learning Access (and Divides)

This chapter presents a case study of developing and teaching an intercultural communication (IC) course online, within the context of a department in a large research University in the U.S. In so doing, we discuss a broadened and recursive model of cultural access and divides in E-learning. Expanding on Van Dijk’s (2005) framework, the authors present several ways in which their IC course attempts to address multiple pathways of E-learning access, including motivational, material, skills and usage access. They describe both the successes and challenges of meeting the goals of e-learning access with specific examples of the content, activities, assignments, pedagogical strategies, and student assessment in this online course. Finally, they identify challenges of this e-learning at the micro and macro level context—in the course, university writ large and in the communication discipline.

Collabor8

The rapid advancement of online communication technologies is reconfiguring the creative industries through globally networked and interdisciplinary modalities of practice. These inescapable shifts are challenging most of our assumptions about the nature of creative processes. Consequently art and design educators are impelled to teach students in ways that mirror contemporary creative processes. This inevitably includes collaboration in online environments. Instigated in 2003, The Collabor8 Project (C8) responds to these conditions by challenging design students from universities and colleges in Australia and China to collaborate online. Recently, C8 has evolved to integrate blended pedagogical strategies that enable stronger collaborative relationships to develop. This chapter provides a comparative analysis of two project iterations conducted during 2008 and 2009. Using data collected through observation, interviews, questionnaires, discussions, and specific research tasks within creative briefs, it identifies, discusses, and offers insights relating to a range of issues encountered in collaborative interactions between very different groups of undergraduate and postgraduate art and design students.