Presentation at the QM conference 2018 about issues of culture and diversity in course design for online learning. Related to this paper on QM site: https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/cultural-awareness-in-online-instruction

1. Culture and Diversity
Matter
Dr. Stella C.S. Porto
Inter-American
Development Bank
Carolina
SuarezMiriam
Campos

2. Agenda
š The link between culture and online
learning
š Our assumptions and our biases
š Best design practices
š Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
š Looking ahead

3. Before we
start…
š Our context
š The circumstance of our work
š The circumstance of the research on this
topic

4. Context
Development challenges:
social inclusion &
inequality, productivity &
innovation, and economic
integration
Cross-cutting issues: gender
equality & diversity, climate
change & environmental
sustainability, and
institutional capacity and
the rule of law.

5. Our experience
How our audience shaped our decisions in terms of design and delivery

6. The audience and the context
š Learners are from IDB’s member countries (Latin America and
the Caribbean)
š Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, English and French
š Countries with same language not identical. There are
cultural variations.
š Mostly with at least a BS degree.
š Mostly working in the public sector.*
š Even split between men and women.
š Instructors are from the LAC region.
š Familiarity with online learning is a given, although this is
changing
š We don’t offer cyclical programs in the same model as IHEThis Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

7. Administration
and
management
š Schedule
š Consideration for holidays and events (Ex: full week
for Easter, World Cup, Carnival, vacations, etc.).
š Seasons do not match the ones of IDB HQ.
š Cost: subsidized (prices need to be considered
differently).
š Early-bird discounts
š Tuition free offering for specific cases and countries
š Payment methods (transition to digital methods)
š Frequent need for paper certificate (pdfs are
always available). The idea of badges is just
starting.

8. Instructional design aspects
š Issues of language
š Masculine/feminine in words (Spanish, Portuguese & French)
š Plurals often adopt masculine (this creates a gender inclusion issue)
š Guide for GDI
š Variations within the same language
š Spain vs LAC
š Tu & Vos
š Specific terms with different contextual meaning
š Example: tutor vs instructor
š Underestimated by those working in English

9. Pedagogical aspects
Courses created and
delivered by experts in the
region: authenticity
Academic standards and
policies
Example: plagiarism and
academic integrity
Need for extra clarification and
supporting resources
The sense of time and
deadlines
More orientation about time
management
More explicit dialogue about
commitment and deadlines – “this
is not a MOOC!”
Importance of orientation
towards readiness

10. From practice to theory
What are some takeaways from the literature?

11. Sources of thought & behavior
Personality
CULTURE
Patterns of
thought
and
behavior
Human
Nature
Adapted from Parrish
et al (2010)

12. Sources of thought and behavior
š Human nature: commonalities all humans share
(INHERITED)
š Culture: those ways of thinking and behaving that are
taught by social groups (LEARNED)
š Personality: reflection of the natural variability within
human nature and cuts across cultures (LEARNED &
INHERITED)
š Directly influence of culture and human nature

13. The
meaning of
culture
“A description of any culture is merely a
snapshot of a continually evolving matrix of
beliefs, values, and behaviors developed
through the creative interactions of its
constituents as well as through interactions
and clashes with other cultures.” (Parrish et al,
2010)
“While culture is reflected in arts and
technologies, it is also influenced by them”

14. The context is king
š Conclusions by Miike (2002) should be considered:
š Communication takes place in ‘contexts of various relationships
š The communicator is both active and passive in multiple contexts
š Mutual adaptation is of central importance as adaptation is the key to harmonious
communication and relationships

15. Link between culture and online learning
š “Culture is communication and communication is culture” (Gunawardena & Jung, 2014,
from Hall, 1959)
š “culture can be negotiated online through a communication process mediated by technology
interfaces that themselves are culturally produced”
š “Culture impacts every facet of online learning, from course and interface design, to
communication in a socio-cultural space, and to the negotiation of meaning and social
construction of knowledge”
š Culture as negotiated in online discussions
š “the identities of participants become part of the knowledge constructed as well as the means of
construction”

16. Why the issue of cross cultural interactions in
instruction is important?
š “the respect for preservation of culture is an important value
for instructors and instructional designers to hold because they
are clearly in the position of social agents having substantial
influence on their learners” (Parrish et al, 2010)
š It is an ethical concern
š “when we teach, we are passing along not only what we
know, but how we know it as well as the basis for accepting it
as useful knowledge, and the values these represent”
š “educators must take responsibility to both acculturate
students and in the process avoid cultural bias that could
impede instructional goals”

17. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions framework (1980)
Mostly used in
online education
www.Hofstede-insights.com

18. Dimensions of national culture
š Power Distance
š High: accept hierarchical order
š Low: equalizing forces in society
š Individualism (vs Collectivism)
š High: loosely-knit social framework
š Low: tightly-knit
š “I” vs “we”
š Masculinity (vs Femininity)
š High: achievement, heroism & assertiveness
are valued
š Low: cooperation, modesty, quality of life are
valued
š Uncertainty avoidance (controlling the
future)
š High: Rigid codes of belief and behavior
š Low: more relaxed attitude
š Long term orientation (vs short term)
š High: pragmatic approach – efforts in
modernization to prepare for the future
š Low: maintain time-honored traditions and
norms
š Indulgence (vs restraint)
š High: free gratification of human drives
š Low: suppresses gratification of needs (strict
social norms)

19. Comparisons
šPower distance: Low US / Very high Mexico & China
šIndividualism: US highest score / China lowest
šMasculinity: Lowest in Chile!
šUncertainty avoidance: Lowest in China!
šLong term orientation: Highest in China
šIndulgence: Mexico vs China
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/

20. Comparisons
šCanada lowest power distance
šSouth Korea lowest in Individualism,
Masculinity and Indulgence
šSouth Korea highest in uncertainty
avoidance and long term orientation
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/

21. Models provide dimensions of analysis…
But have limitations
Hofstede’s model has its limitations,
but it can serve as a starting point,
instead of an absolute/rigid
categorization of sorts
It is recommended to be used WITH culture-
specific approaches, enhancing the
contextual understanding.
Is this model useful to understand
culture within the online
environment?
The online environment worked as a way to
compensate for certain characteristics of
certain cultures
The online environment opens windows or
cracks into some of the settled aspects from
various cultures?
Such discrepancies create a larger
question: are such models create in
the West useful to understand
culture in global e-learning
environments?

22. A framework
for cultural
differences
š CDLF (Parrish & Linder-VanBerschot, 2010) is an
adaptation of the work of Hofstede.
š It Is useful to understand the spectrum of cultural
differences impacting teaching and learning
š Gender roles and differences in non-verbal
communications are treated only indirectly (in
our case this is an important topic)

23. Social
Relationships
šEquality vs Authority
šTeachers are equals or
unchallenged authorities?
šDialogue and discussion OR
teachers are disseminators of
information?
šIndividualism vs Collectivism
šStudents speak up?
šLearning how to learn or how to
do?
šIndividual gain or greater
good?
šNurture vs Challenge
šCollaboration or competition?
šFailure is growth or disastrous?
šModesty vs assertiveness

24. Epistemological
Beliefs
šStability seeking vs uncertainty
acceptance
šStructured vs open ended
šRight answers vs process and
reasoning
šOne belief vs ambiguity
šLogic argumentation vs being
reasonable
šFinding truth vs acceptable
outcomes
šDebate vs consensus
šBeing right vs being virtuous
šCausality vs complex systems
šGoal oriented vs situational
constraints
šCause-effect vs systems &
situations

25. Temporal
perceptions
šClock time vs event time
šDelimited time vs unlimited
time
šStrict schedules vs time is
fluid
šStrict deadlines vs loose
deadlines
šLinear time vs cyclical time
šlinear path vs increasing
perfection
šAchievement vs
observation/reflection
šImmediate relevance vs
discover relevance

26. Your experience
What are you challenges and what strategies work best?

27. Considerations
How diverse is your
audience?
Are there clear national
divides?
Your culture and its
impact on instructional
decisions
How have you dealt
with gender inclusion
and diversity in the
design of your course?

28. A situation/scenario
Your situation
š Consider diversity within your courses or
programs
š How are the different needs associated
to culture?
š Have you observed incidents
(misunderstandings, frustrations, etc.) that
originated from lack of cultural
understanding or alignment?
š What can be done during design and/or
delivery?
Possible scenarios
š Two distinct institutions from different
countries have a partnership within a
given program
š An institution offering courses in another
country
š Providing professional development in a
globalized corporate environment
š Providing learning opportunities for clients
of a global organization

29. Your turn
š Establish the critical elements born out
of cultural diversity in your online
learning environment
š Can you now better categorize the
aspects of cultural diversity within this
setting?
š How can the situation be mitigated or
best planned for
š In case of existing problems, what are
some of the possible solutions?

30. Looking ahead
Developed Guides for gender
inclusion and diversity
For design process
For checking existing courses
How can we integrate these guides into our own QM4Design
process?

31. Thank you!
stellap@iadb.org
@stellacsporto
IN: stellaporto
http://indes.iadb.org