Online learning and its cultural issues

Differences in learning behaviour can be attributed in part to the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the learners. In an online learning environment, there are issues surrounding cultural disconnection between the intended and the actual experiences of the learners. This interpretive study explores the characteristics of this disconnection and investigates the differences in learning and communication exhibited by students in an intercultural learning group following an MSc course in educational research supported by an asynchronous online discussion forum. Participant observation, questionnaire and semi-structured interview were used to collect data. The study provided rich information that could be used to help online educators understand more clearly the learning behaviours of learners with diverse backgrounds. The findings of the study challenge some of the existing and most well-established cultural frameworks and a model is presented to explain this complex phenomenon. On the basis of this understanding, the design of online learning environments and the material incorporated within them can be reconsidered. It is suggested that an online learning programme should be designed to take account of the mutual transformation of both learner and environment in educational processes. The study suggests some practical recommendations that may lead to online learning becoming mutually adaptive. However, it is emphasised that inclusively will depend upon an adaptive dynamic that is essentially social.