Culturally Informed Design of Online Courses for Democratizing Learners' Experiences

• In Event: 61.069 - MTCC Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: 61.069-8 - Culture in Online Learning and Teaching

Abstract

Online learning options are growing exponentially, bringing with them greater opportunity for students from more diverse cultural traditions. Culture affects every aspect of online learning, including course design. Democratizing online learners’ experiences rests heavily on the ability to provide learning environments that are culturally informed rather than producing barriers to the learning process. Two examples of international organizations working to improve their online courses by attending to cultural implications are described. One is using a set of validated quality standards and review processes to facilitate their work with the complexity of multiple languages that hold cultural assumptions of students living within Inter-American cultures, while the other is exploring the suitability and adaptability within a Chinese culture of quality standards.

Authors

• Kay Shattuck, Quality Matters

• Stella Porto, Inter-American Development Bank