Friday, October 16, 2009

OGoBiblios 67

Ezer, J. (2006). Gandhi's third assassination: Information and communications technology education in India. Information Technology for Development (12)3, 201-212.

Summary

In “Gandhi's third assassination: Information and communications technology education in India,” Ezer (2006) interviews faculty and students in India to get an impression of the attitudes towards ICT and ICT education in India. He concludes that students and faculty show optimism about ICT and seem to have whole heartedly adopted the Western model of individualistic, rational and imperialistic success. He uses his conclusion to claim that this model does not follow Ghandian philosophy. Ezer’s findings indicate that although faculty members and students in India see ICT as a means for overcoming the myriad of development challenges in India, this aspect of ICT seems to be overshadowed by their focus on ICT as the pathway to success for Indian individuals and to global economic power for India.

Relevance to Cultural Studies in Instructional Technology

Ezer’s focus relies heavily on the cultural context of ICT and ICT education in India. He lays the groundwork for his findings about attitudes towards ICT and ICT education by discussing the authority dependent roots of the educational system in India. Ezer explores what Indian faculty and students believe to be the purpose of ICT. In particular, he poses the question of whether ICT and ICT education should work towards the benefit of individuals or society. His findings provide some empirical evidence to refute commonly held assumptions about Indian collectivist tendencies.

Reflection

This article has been particularly helpful to me in providing an empirical study on the attitudes of the Indian academic community towards ICT and the future of India in general. I have observed for myself that there seems to be an almost giddy love for IT in the people I know in and from India. I expected to find more skepticism as I began to research about the topic in academia, but, as Ezer’s findings suggest, skepticism towards ICT is not as prevalent in the Indian academic community as in other parts of the world. In my research, I find Marxist type critiques and other skeptics coming mostly from writers outside of India, though many are Non-resident Indians. As I reflect back on my last article review, ending with a hurrah for embracing ICT, I am glad to be reminded to keep healthy skepticism alive.

What I was most pleased to find in this article, however, was some confirmation of my own suspicions that the old model of Indians as collectivist needs to be modified and modernized. In my own experience with my in-law Indian cousins and peers, I find a great push towards individualism and independence in my generation. As this shift is an important characteristic to consider in the dynamics of workforce development in India, I have been looking for empirical studies to back up my own hunches. Ezer does a thorough job of providing examples that show college students and recent college graduates in India are not displaying collectivist ideology. They choose highly successful IT entrepreneurs as their heroes and model their life plans towards this type of success.

Another important finding in this article to me is that of the “reverence for rational thought and management metrics.” I am particularly interested in this need for clear data in India, and its impact on instructional design and development towards innovation. Innovation is the primary drive for workforce development in India, yet innovation is notoriously difficult to measure.

OGoBiblios 66

Petrina, S. (1998). Multidisciplinary Technology Education. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 8, 103-138.

Petrina, S. (2004). The politics of curriculum and instructional design/theory/form: Critical problems, projects, units and modules. Interchange 35(1), 81-126.

Though I don’t agree fully with the multidisciplinary technology education curriculum Petrina (1998) lays out, I do feel the same intense desire to fundamentally change the curricular structure of our educational system. However, in a defeatist mindset, as I read the article I thought only of how he was pipe-dreaming because it would be impossible to make sure large scale changes. It’s truly impressive to see such a large scale initiative moving forward.

I will focus on the major reservations I had about Petrina’s (1998) multidisciplinary technology education curriculum as it started to dissolve into his own view of the world. This was surprising to me as I had also read Petrina (2004) and knew him to hold suspect those who wish to force singular worldviews on others. Though I appreciate and actually agree with Petrina’s final vision of personal responsibility, I think his approach is a better model for a class on being a “simple,” “frugal,” “modest,” “socially-active” “Marxist” than as an underlying curriculum for all multidisciplinary technology education. I have had to reconcile my leftist leaning self with the reality that those who see the world as an essentially competitive environment are not necessarily wrong, nor are they non-reflective thinkers. What if training an entire generation of children to be nurturers only left them completely vulnerable to those who act with force? Does it seem feasible that the competition, greed and violence tied to some survival instincts can be trained away with the right curriculum?

Petrina’s (1998) article reminded me of my days as a 20 year old Freshman Composition teacher at Auburn University: new to the exhilarating feelings of liberation that come from a paradigm shift, like a feminist evangelist, I filled my English 101 curriculum with lessons designed to have students encounter the other, question assumptions, and, eventually, reveal the gender inequities of the current system. Later, I questioned my right to bring my personal political point of view into the classroom. As an instructional designer, Petrina (2004) seems to think I might skip straight to the process and delivery of the course and ignore the political implications of curriculum and content. In his own outline for process and delivery, Petrina (1998) clearly leans toward not only considering political implications but forcefully pushing a particular agenda.

I very much appreciated the education in curriculum theory history Petrina (2004) provided and believe the type of critical thinking and engaged learning that Petrina (1998) proposes in his curriculum is a great start towards an improved educational system. I would just like to see that model opened up to value individual differences and the complexity of human nature.

OGoBiblios 65

Kho, E.C. (2001). An evaluation study of the effectiveness of a U.S.-based global leadershipdevelopment program. Dissertation Abstracts International 62 (03), 1120. (UMI No. 3009228)

Summary

Kho’s (2001) dissertation, “An evaluation study of the effectiveness of a U.S.-based global leadership development program,” offers a case study in corporate management training for the needs of a globalized economy. The primary goal of the dissertation is to evaluate the effectiveness of a global leadership development program in developing literature-identified global leadership competencies. Kho seeks to achieve this goal by identifying what the participants learned in the program through self-reports and surveys, comparing what participants learned with the global leadership competencies identified in the literature, and identifying the process used to develop the participants in the program.

In the literature review, Kho discusses some of the culture differences that must be resolved as a result of globalization; highlights the difference between the global and expatriate manager; discusses briefly the difference between the leader and the manager; summarizes the literature-identified global leadership competencies and developmental strategies; and outlines the current research on the effectiveness of leadership development program in developing global leadership competencies.

Kho identifies a gap in the literature of empirical research evaluating the merit of global leadership development practices and seeks to fill that gap by conducting an evaluation study of a Partner Exchange Program undertaken by Gap, Inc.. Kho chose Gap because it represents problems and challenges faced by other US companies trying to develop global leadership competencies. In this program, twelve traveling partners and twelve home partners were selected by Gap to spend six months as store manager in another country.

Kho gathered data about the Partner Exchange Program by conducting interviews with the traveling partners and analyzing their journals and field reports. In analyzing the data, Kho identified the following themes: inquisitiveness, calmness, self-confidence, global thinking, work-personal balance, and repatriation. Her findings strongly supported the conclusion that the Partner Exchange Program (PEP) did develop the global leadership qualities identified in the literature: cultural empathy and adaptability; global mindset; individual development; relational skills and support systems; and professional competence.

Kho acknowledged the following limitations of the study: relies on self-reports; only investigates short-term effects of the program; does not distinguish between how what was learned may have differed in each country; only focuses on the development of global leadership competencies for US managers and leaders; and does not consider component influences of parts in the process.

Critique

Kho is effective in synthesizing the results by matching up anecdotes from the interviews with points from the literature review. For example, Kho’s identified themes from the interviews coincide with the literature-identified competencies, and Kho provides both excerpts to illustrate points and aggregate data about the number of participants who express points relevant to a similar theme.

If one were to apply a check-off list to this dissertation, Kho’s dissertation would fulfill all requirements. All of the elements of conceptual framework, precise definitions, literature review, methodology, limitations, results, discussion and conclusion are present and well-developed. Yet, in substance there seemed to be something lacking. I would call it a sort of “well duh” factor- nothing really groundbreaking here. Kho calls this an evaluation study, but those who split hairs about this sort of thing might instead call it a validation study: does this program do what it set out to do? Yes. So? As Kho acknowledges in her limitations section, the more interesting question might be: are the competency goals achieved in this program the appropriate global leadership competencies for the goals of the organization?

Also, there are sections where this dissertation reads almost like a laundry list of nods to each comment made by a reviewer. These tangential points can be distracting and do not fit into the overall structure of the dissertation. For example, she adds on a research question about the process of the program, but does not fully develop the literature review for this section or the results.

Finally, there was an overt flaw in the execution of the research design. She intended to include a survey of managers to check for behavioral changes in the managers; however, organizational changes made it difficult for her to complete this component as intended. Instead of removing this part of the research design from the disstertation, she includes it as if it will be part of the research throughout until acknowledging that she was unable to obtain this data in the results section. This gaping hole in the research project damaged its credibility, in my opinion.

Statement Regarding its Personal Value

I was glad to find a dissertation on a topic related to corporate training for a multinational company as this is my particular research focus. What I found most useful in Kho’s dissertation was the section suggesting areas for further research. She suggests that future research: empirically consider whether literature-identified global leadership competencies are correct; focus on the identification and development of appropriate global leadership qualifications for managers and leaders from countries other than the US; track long-term behavior changes of the participants to examine enduring effects of such a program; provide more in-depth analysis of what was learned by participants with a country-specific lens; and focus on distinguishing the global manager from the global leader. Though leadership training is not currently a research interest of mine, these ideas could also be applied to my interest in training for innovation.

OGoBiblios 63

Leiberman, A. E. (2003). Taking ownership: Strengthening Indigenous Cultures and Languages through the Use of ICTs. Retrieved February 11, 2008 from Learnlink website: <http://learnlink.aed.org/Publications/Concept_Papers/taking_ownership.pdf>.

Summary

In “Taking Ownership: Strengthening Indigenous Cultures and Languages Through the Use of ICTs” Lieberman (2003) considers the dynamics of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for the benefit of indigenous cultural causes. He develops this overview by starting from the broad perspective of the impact of globalization on indigenous cultures then narrowing his focus to the impact of ICTs. Though he acknowledges both actual and potentially negative consequences of ICTs on indigenous cultures, his aim in this article is to identify examples of positive initiatives and explore the potential for further use and benefits. He highlights indigenous culture ICT initiatives for community building, language revitalization, education, commerce and environmental protection and considers these initiatives with attention to policy, capacity building, usage and implementation. Throughout the article, Lieberman emphasizes the imperative of indigenous empowerment, self-determination and ideological sustainability in order to reach positive ends through ICTs.

Relevance to Cultural Studies in Instructional Technology

Though he does not only focus on the use of ICTs in education, his examples of political and economic uses still lie in a form of education- the dissemination of information.
By grounding his examples in the broader discussion of the impact of globalization and ICTs on indigenous cultures, Lieberman (2003) highlights some of the central questions about the socio-cultural implications of educational technology. Does widespread use of ICTs: Encourage homogenization of cultures? Replace indigenous forms of learning or the wisdom of tradition and elders? Reinforce detrimental economic hegemonies?

His answer to these questions seems to be, “Possibly”; however, he states, “it is preferable to take a pro-active and culturally sensitive approach to technology introduction.” The argument he makes in this article is that 1) the use of ICTs is already widespread and inevitable, and 2) policies towards productive and positive uses of ICTs may mediate the potential for negative consequences.

Reflection

I found this article to be personally valuable because of my research interest in instructional technology solutions for cross-border collaboration between the US (big, bad Western influencer) and India (home of approx. 84.33 million members of “scheduled tribes”) and because of my sappy passion for the betterment of all people. Lieberman takes the optimistic view that ICTs are an empowering force if access continues to spread and if the technology is used towards the end of purposeful cultural engagement. I am inclined towards Lieberman’s view because the presence and spread of ICT is not a choice, but a reality.

At the Education for Innovation in India, China & America conference in 2007, one of the attendees raised the question: “How do we take advantage of the educational opportunities of mobile learning? I’ve been to villages in India where there are certainly more cell phones than latrines.” In this question about the number of latrines as compared to the number of cell phones, one of the central questions of the dynamics of ICTs and cultural impact is highlighted. As Damarin (1998) points out, when the basic needs of a population are lacking, ICT initiatives often become lower priorities. However, in this conference attendee’s question, he did not rely on the “either/or” fallacy of framing the question as “Why would we take advantage of the educational opportunities of mobile learning when there are villages in India where there are certainly more cell phones than latrines?” This argument has all too often been framed as an either/or proposition, when in fact there are compelling reasons why technology, especially in the arena of education, should be a top priority. Lieberman’s article provided several examples of positive uses of technology by indigenous cultures that may allow them access to more resources and, therefore, possibly more capability to take care of basic needs.
I appreciated not only the optimism, but the pragmatism of Lieberman’s article. It provides clear examples of how technological literacy may well be as empowering as language literacy. As in this course, now we can take up the questions of impact, cultural sensitivity, etc. just as is necessary in language policy. This equality of importance may help place the T in the old 3R’s (readin’, ‘ritin’, and rithmetic) educational paradigm, so that the question of “if” ICT should be embraced as an educational tool for all cultures of the upcoming generation, may be replaced with “how”?

OGoBiblios 62

Paulus, T. M., Bichelmeyer, B., Malopinsky, M.P. & Rastogi, P. (2005). Power distance and group dynamics of an international project team: a case. Teaching in Higher Education 10(1), 43-55.

Paulus, Bichelmeyer, Malopinsky, Pereira & Rastogi (2005) clearly state that they intend to address the challenges of teams of international students working on project-based learning activities. The purpose of this study was to explore these challenges in the context of a graduate design team and “determine whether or how one component of culture, power distance, could provide insight into group dynamics.”

Paulus et al. (2005) take a case study approach and collect data through observation, interview and questionnaire data, and analyzed using an affinity diagram technique to organize. There seems to be sufficient data collected for their narrow focus because these teams are small and these methods would likely elicit insight into power distance stances in their interactions.

The participants are members of an elective course in graduate design at a large Midwestern university in the US, including both US and international students. They do not discuss the sampling procedure because it seems to be a convenience sample (the researcher’s own class).

Paulus et al. (2005) discuss the results in relation to two levels of power distance: low and high. The described the activities of the groups and cross-referenced with low or high power distance indicators to show where groups fell in different group dynamic topics, e.g. roles, decision-making, etc. They found that low power distance was revealed within group interactions of international students and high power distance was revealed in inter-group conflict between international students and US students.

Do I think the conclusions are valid? They apply the power distance construct consistently and provide descriptive examples to arrive at the conclusions, so it seems to be a valid interpretation.

I do not think this study makes a very important contribution to advancing knowledge in Instructional Design & Technology, but it is not without value. It is interesting to see the power distance construct applied in this context, but I am pretty familiar with the literature on power distance and this case study doesn’t reveal anything new about how the dynamics are at work in this context- it just shows them at work here. I see studies like this as interesting, even useful for reflection or maybe as a teaching aid, but not necessarily an important contribution.

What I did not like about this study: This type of study, the application of a widely used and well-studied construct to a new context, is just not my favorite kind of study. It reminds me of assigning literature students to apply a particular critical approach to a text of their choice- It’s fun, it’s interesting, but it’s often just rehashing- In some cases, the authors then do something interesting with it in the context, show some new complexity, contradiction or show how applying that construct led to the design of a new solution or alternative paradigms. But when the study simply says “Look! Here it is again! Boy, that construct sure does show up a lot and it’s ‘informative’ to see it here, too.” then it seems to be a case study in another sense than as a research methodology; this seems more like a case study as an example that could be very useful in teaching the concept of power distance.

This study does seem trustworthy. They triangulated their methods.

This study related to my research project directly because I am interested in international teams. It helped clarify for me that I am not interested in the specifics of team dynamics; I want to stay focused on design process, but I recognize team dynamics may be an important part of what happens.

OGoBiblios 61

Britz, J.J., Lorc, P.J., Coetzee, I.E.M., & Bestere, B.C. (2006). Africa as a knowledge society: A reality check. The International Information & Library Review 38, 25-40.

Britz et al.’s (2005) article provides a practical picture of the goals and structure of a knowledge society by analyzing this construct in relation to Africa. Britz et al., on the other hand, offer concrete examples that reveal the challenges of Africa and allow me to cross-reference with my experiences here in the US and in India. Britz et al. chose to use four pillars of a knowledge society to frame their discussion of Africa’s current status. I would like to learn the origins of this four pillar construction because it seemed to hit the presses simultaneously in several different articles in 2005. I read it in Dahlman & Utz’s (2005) Worldbank publication, India and the knowledge economy: Leveraging strengths and opportunities, where they used about 10 words to 1 to express the same pillars:
· An economic and institutional regime that provides incentives for the efficient creation, dissemination, and use of existing knowledge.
· An educated and skilled population that can create and use knowledge.
· An efficient innovation system of firms, research centers, universities, consultants, and other organizations that can tap into the growing stock of global knowledge and assimilate and adapt it to local needs, as well as to create relevant new knowledge.
· Dynamic information infrastructure that can facilitate the effective communication, dissemination, and processing of information.
In this report, Dahlman and Utz (2005) take on a similar task as Britz et al.; however, their approach was more of a plan for the future than an assessment of current status.

The most compelling part of the Britz et al. article to me was that of access to scholarship and, in many ways, access to prestige, or ability to build a reputation for knowledge. I heard a plea from an Australian scholar at a conference last year reminding US scholars to search outside of US published journals and cite more foreign authors. He actually proposed a quota of trying to include at least 30% foreign articles in our research. With the metrics of citation now so readily available through Google scholar searches, this plea makes sense and supports the concern Britz et al. have for African output making it into the “mainstream of science and scholarship.”

Mostly, this article took me back to one of the most incredible teaching experiences of my life. In 2001, I was given the sole responsibility of hosting ten students from Rwanda to Michigan State University as their two month intensive academic English instructor. They had come through a grant program seeking to repopulate the faculty of Rwandan universities with agriculture Professors. I am still in touch with several of these students, and, to date, none of them have returned to Rwanda, yet many have graduated. This example highlights the basic premise of the Britz et al. article: without improvements in safety and infrastructure, other efforts towards scholarship and knowledge society building may never take hold, as those who gain access to the power knowledge provides can’t be blamed for using that power to seek out more comfortable and convenient places to live.

It is difficult to overcome the reality of “relative deprivation.” My Indian family members and friends lament all the time of wishing to be in India but appreciating too much the relative ease of American life. It is interesting to consider whether or not distance learning solutions might help alleviate this problem. If these Rwandan students had been able to access the MSU curriculum from Rwanda in an online learning program, might they now be faculty members of Rwandan universities?

Monday, October 12, 2009

OGoBiblios 60

Arias, S., & Clark, K.A. (2004). Instructional technologies in developing countries: A contextual analysis approach. TechTrends, 48(4), 453-55, 470.

Arias & Clark apply contextual analysis to the question of IT&D in developing countries and “propose further emphasis on the contextual issues related to developing countries” (p.53).

OGoBiblios 59

Selby, D. (2006, July) The firm and shaky ground of education for sustainable development. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 30(2), 351-365.

Selby provides a critical evaluation of sustainability-related education framed by a narrative about choosing paths. Maintaining a skeptical hesitance to the widespread embrace of the term sustainable development, he examines the stakeholders in the “environmental lobby” and the “developmental lobby” (p.353). He also points out criticism of education as advocacy, the idea of educating “for” anything.

OGoBiblios 58

Dick, W. (1996) The Dick and Carey model: Will it survive the decade? Educational Technology Research & Development, 44(3), 55–63.

Dick examines his popular and widely –used instructional design model for future viability by reviewing its evolution and competitors. He pinpoints the first public introduction of the model to a presentation in 1968, “New Directions in Learning.” He attributes changes in the most recent edition of the model (1996) to influences from: performance technology, context analysis, multi-level evaluation models, and total quality management. Includes a statement that may sum up the basis for much of the criticism of the lack of empirical basis for prescriptive models in instructional design: “There were almost no practitioners when the model was developed, therefore, it was never intended to be a reflection of what practitioners actually do” (p.58).

OGoBiblios 57

Wang, CM. & Reeves, TC (2007). The Meaning of Culture in Online Education: Implications for teaching, learning, and design. In A. Edmundson (Ed.) Globalizing e-learning cultural challenges(pp. 2-17). Hershey, PA: Information Science.

Wang & Reeves provide this chapter to review literature on the impact of culture in online education and consider implications for design and research. They assume most designers recognize the importance of cultural factors but emphasize the relatively small body of research in this area. They trace interdisciplinary definitions of culture back to the original provided by British anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor in 1871. They also provide a review of Hofstede’s oft-cited cultural dimensions, including criticism of his choice of nations as units for studying culture. They identify four threads of research on culture in online education: “(1) the interactions in an online course which involved culturally-diverse adult learners; (2) the access to the Internet among different groups; (3) the assessment criteria applied in online education; and (4) the design of virtual learning environments to accommodate the needs of culturally diverse learners. Finally, they advocate for future studies to include thick descriptions of culture: “Without profound narratives to make the cultural context of online education represented in these studies more concrete to both the researchers and practitioners, the applications of the studies in other situations are inevitably limited” (p.13).

OGoBiblios 56

Young, PA (2008). The Culture Based Model: A framework for designers and visual ID languages. In L.Botturi & T. Stubbs (Eds.), Handbook of visual languages for instructional design: Theories and practices (pp.52-75). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Young reiterates her culture based model (OGoBiblios 47) and provides some guidance for its application in the Visual ID languages context. In this article, she more specifically articulates how her historical and linguistic analysis of instructional design products designed by and for African-Americans provided an empirical basis for her culture based model: “a treasure of themes and concepts related to culture were found in these materials and classified as cultural remnants… The cultural remnants found in these instructional products were generalized to meet the design needs of cross cultural audiences and this translation resulted in [the culture based model] (p.59). As part of the ID-TABLET framework, she lists 25 elements that “can be used to understand, define or evaluate the target audience” in three categories: anthropology of culture, psychology of culture and science of culture (p.64).

Anthropology of culture: aesthetics, artifacts, capital, classification, communications, demographics, environment, history, knowledge, language, physiology, relations, resources

Psychology of culture: beliefs & values, experiences, ideas, identity, interests, misconceptions, ways

Science of culture: anomalies, cultures, futures, infinites, nature

OGoBiblios 55

Visser, J. (2007). Learning in a global society. In M. G. Moore (Ed.), Handbook of distance education (Second Edition ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Visser characterizes cognition as a complex “ecological phenomenon” (p.641). He explores implications of global diversity on learning networks and discusses implications for interinstitutional collaboration.

OGoBiblios 54

Tessmer, M. & R.C. Richey (1997). The Role of Context in Learning and Instructional Design. Journal of Educational Technology, Research & Development, 45(2), 85-115.

Tessmer & Richey (1997) provide a thorough exploration of context with attention to definition, history, levels and factors, process and data-gathering tools. They counter minimalist views of the design context, advocating an “instrumentalist position in which context is seen as an instrument for promoting the achievement of cognitive or behavioral goals” (p.86). In relation to learning and instructional design, they define context as “a multilevel body of factors in which learning and performance are embedded” (p.87). They offer an interdisciplinary theoretical rationale for context pulling from general systems theory, communications theory and psychological theory. They then propose a model of three contextual factors (learner, immediate environment and organizational) that operate within three contexts (orienting, instructional and transfer). They refer to culture as one of the “emerging contextual considerations” and focus on a “content culture” to characterize teacher’s instructional beliefs (p.98).

OGoBiblios 53

Henderson, L. & Cook, J. (2007). Theorizing a multiple cultures instructional design model for e-learning and e-teaching. In A. Edmundson (Ed.) Globalized e-learning cultural challenges (pp. 130-153). Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Primarily a summary and repeat of 1996 article (OGoBiblios 46) with more thorough attention to the drawbacks and limitations of current attempts to address culture in instructional design. She explores standpoint epistemology as an alternative to stereotypes and tokenism, but she may not adequately distinguish how generalizing about worldview is different from generalizing about learning styles or preferences. Includes a critique of similar practices in academic dialogue and scholarship.

OGoBiblios 52

Kinuthia, W. (2007). African Education Perspectives on Culture and E-learning Convergence. In A. Edmundson (Ed.) Globalized e-learning cultural challenges (pp. 130-153). Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Kinuthia uses this chapter to highlight the complexities of encountering culture in e-learning environments while stressing its importance as a factor in design decisions. Resistant to prescriptive models, she proposes acknowledgement of the multiple perspectives involved for “jointly-negotiated advances” in e-learning.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

OGoBiblios 51

Rogers, C. P., Graham, C. R., & Mayes, C. T. (2007). Cultural competence and instructional design: Exploration research into the delivery of online instructoin cross-culturally. Educational Technology Research & Development, 55(2), 197-217.

Interviews 12 instructional designers about their experiences creating online instruction for people of other cultures. Research questions: “1) Are they aware of the differences between themselves and the cultural group for whom they are designing instruction? 2) If so: a) How did they become aware of these differences? b) What importance do these differences assume in their thinking? c) How does understanding cultural difference affect instructional design practice?” (p.199) Results for the first question about awareness of cultural differences were categorized into these themes: general cultural and social expectations, teaching and learning expectations, differences in the use of language and symbols, and technological infrastructure and familiarity. Results for the first part of the second question about how they became aware of differences revealed unique experiences from formal and intentional to informal and unintentional; in response to the second part of the question about importance placed on cultural differences, these barriers emerged: “a) an over-emphasis on content development as the center of practice and under emphasis on context and learner experience, b) a relative lack of evaluation in real-world practice, and c) the creation of less than ideal roles that instructional designers assume in the larger organizational structures involved” (p. 207). To describe the results from the third part of the second question about the impact of cultural awareness on instructional design, the authors use a metaphor of “building bridges” to “[stimulate] a) separating deeper principles from particular application, b) identifying gaps where bridges are needed, c) allowing for more flexibility in the design process, and d) educating other stakeholders so they are invested in bridge building too” (p. 210). As part of “identifying gaps,” these three practices are mentioned: “a) immersing oneself in the culture, b) integrating learner feedback in up-front analysis, and c) integrating learner feedback through formative evaluation” (p.211).

OGoBiblios 50

McLoughlin, C (1999) Culturally responsive technology use: developing an on-line community of learners, British Journal of Educational Technology, 30(3), 231–243.

Uses Henderson’s (1996) multiple cultural model to “design instructional that conceived of multiple zones of development for Indigenous learners in terms of content, perspectives and pedagogies” (p. 236).

OGoBiblios 49

Chen, A., Mashadi, A., Ang, D. & Harkrider, N. (1999). Cultural issues in the design of technology-enhanced learning systems. British Journal of Educational Technology, 30(3), 217-230.

Focusing on the design of three student-centered learning systems in Singapore, finds they “illustrate that an effective learning environment involves more than the use of technology- culturally mediated social interaction and perseverance towards a shared vision is an essential part of the learning process” (p. 228).

OGoBiblios 48

Young, PA (2008b). Integrating culture in the design of ICTs. British Journal of Educational Technology,39 (1), 6-17.

Finds that methods of integrating culture in design are limited in scope; “design has not caught up with technology and that to create for diverse audiences the process must be deliberate” (abstract). “The integration of culture in the design of ICTs will require novel ways of engaging the design process” (p.14).

OGoBiblios 47

Young, PA (2008). The Culture Based Model: Constructing a model of culture. Journal of Educational,Technology & Society, 11 (2), 107-118.

Posits that a model of culture “evolved from the data” that “technologies carry a history and that these histories can be revealed through analysis. Further, historical artifacts can aid in the design of contemporary instructional products.” (p.111) Offers a framework of the Culture-Based Model (CBM) with acronym ID_TABLET: inquiry, development, team, assessments, brainstorming, learners, elements, and training with 70 design factors tied to these features. Further categorizes brainstorming, team, development, learners, assessments and training as project management, and inquiry and elements as project design.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

OGo Biblios 46

Henderson, L. (1996). Instructional design of interactive multimedia: a cultural critique. Educational Technology Research & Development, 44(4), 85-104.

Henderson “theoriz[es] cultural contextuality as a variable of consequence in IMM instructional design” (p.85). First, she develops her argument that instructional design paradigms are influenced by “a) world view; b) values, ideologies, culture, class, and gender; and c) commitment to a particular design paradigm" (p. 86). Then she reviews paradigms found to inform instructional design: objectivism, constructivism, and eclectic; she follows this with an exploration of deracialization in instructional design before introducing and showing gaps in instructional design paradigms that approach issues of culture: inclusive or perspectives paradigm and the inverted curriculum approach. Finally, she proposes her own “multiple cultural model” to address the gaps and weaknesses in the examined paradigms. Modifying Reeves (1992) pedagogic dimensions of interactive learning, she lays multiple cultural contextuality across all dimensions of the continuum to emphasize its pervasive presence.