Documentation:Cultural Issues in Teaching Online/Emerging Themes

Emerging Themes

By examining hundred of discussion forum messages, these authors identified nine main (somewhat overlapping) arenas in which they frequently observed miscommunications, or 'mismatches' between communicator expectations. These themes are summarized in the Table below. A key finding was the discovery of the creation of an online culture within the course.

Online Culture

There is an "online culture", and the courses under study have a sub-culture all their own. There is evidence that the course culture reflects the values of its developers, that this culture is overtly maintained by guideline creation, and covertly maintained by facilitators and participants. Features of the observed cyberculture include 'etiquette', rules of formality/informality, flexibility, interaction style (including greetings/farewells, use of apology), expectations of response speed, and work ethic (tensions between relationship building communications and 'on-task' communications).

Format and Participation

Distinct communication pattern differences are apparent when comparing e-mail-based and Web-based exchanges. Success rate of some communicators may be inferred from the frequency with which they elicit responses from the group.

Face-to-Face versus Online Issues

Individual discomfort with the 'anonymity' of online discourse is represented by different commentary from individuals.

Identity Creation

Significant cultural differences become apparent in the ways in which participants write about their own identity in online postings. This includes the nature of their short introductions (content, length, style), the degree of 'self-revelation' they display. Other features of identity sub-cultures (age/generation, and gender) also emerge.

Learning Styles

Some cultures are accustomed to rote learning and memorization, while others have been encouraged to learn through questioning of facts and understanding concepts (Lanham & Zhou, 2003). Some students are taught to listen to instructions, while others are encouraged to put forth their own opinions. These differences can be characterized as instructor-centered and student-centered approaches, respectively, and they can affect the way that students encounter online classrooms.

Technical Issues

Technical and formatting issues clearly influence effective communications in these online arenas. There are correlations between frustrations or expertise with the technology and various cultural or sub-cultural themes (age, gender, professional culture). Expectations regarding the role of facilitators in resolving technical problems emerge, and are reflected in a variety of 'housekeeping' messages.

Participant Expectations

Participant expectations of the course, online facilitators/moderators and the medium vary, and may be connected to differing cultural expectations of educational environments.

Facilitator Expectations

Similarly, facilitators from different cultural backgrounds have varying expectations of participants, and express these expectations in various ways.

'Academic Discourse' versus 'Stories' . The authors observe communication differences that might be related to different participant experiences with academic discourse. In contrast, other participants and facilitators incorporate narrative and 'stories' to teach ideas or share experiences. There is variation in participant tolerance of critical debate.

Time

Explicit and implicit assumptions about 'time' and punctuality emerge, and cultural attitudes towards these become apparent from the ways in which participants and facilitators account (or not) for lateness.