Culture and Online Learning : Global Perspectives and Research

Culture plays an overarching role that impacts online education. Unfortunately, there are few research based publications that examine culture and even fewer that offer guidance on how to achieve balance between traditional culture and innovative approaches to maximise online learning practice. This title is based on empirical research, practice and theory, and provides a unique and comprehensive analysis of culture in online education from a global perspective. Culture and Online Learning provides an overview of the influences that culture has on teaching, online learning and technology; culture-sensitive instructional design strategies and teaching guidelines for online instructors and trainers; facilitation and support strategies for online learners from different cultures; an in-depth overview on issues that relate to design, development, communication and support from a cross-cultural perspective; and an overview of how online education is perceived, planned, implemented and evaluated differently in various cultural contexts. Written by international experts in the field of online learning, this text provides readers with a full comparative and comprehensive analysis of cultural issues in online education. It offers essential guidance for practitioners, researchers, instructors and anyone working with online students from around the world.