According to Siemens (2010), there is a growing acceptance of distance learning in the fields of education and business. Global diversity is one facet of distance education that has tremendously evolved over the past few years. Its development has helped create a myriad of learning environments for students and teachers alike by inviting student and teacher perspectives to be shared among the participants. In my opinion, global diversity means interpersonal interactions, exchange of ideas and opinions, shared decision making and an understanding for how people of other cultures think and respond to academics and worldly events. Of course this may be difficult to achieve when conversations occur between participants of varying languages. However, much can be gained by developing an understanding of different cultures.
In the first blog I researched about global diversity: http://blog.kathyschrock.net/. The author, Kathy Schrock, visited Nice, France to participate in the European Council of International Schools. Schrock (2010) shared her personal experiences of immersing herself into the French culture while trying to feel comfortable communicating with French people. From this experience, she felt a strong urge to support students to globally communicate both synchronously and asynchronously with the aid of technology.
There are many online tools available to help give students and teachers the opportunities to add a global dimension to their learning experiences. Skypes, blogs, wikispaces, chatrooms, discussions, videos and collaborative tasks are some of the technologies that will enable communication and understanding of diverse populations.
In a second blog: http://www.ablsc.com/distance-education/topic-global-diversity/ the administrator comments about the lack of true global diversity within the Laureate Group. He notes that although Walden University offers online programs for diverse Americans and the availability of international sites in Amsterdam, Asia, Mexico, Central America, South America and Europe, he argues that none of the these programs address true global diversity. He doesn’t feel that distance education is the best forum to really see or hear another person speak. He thinks that the best way to create a relationship with another person or group of people is to have face-to-face interactions where you can see body language and facial expressions while conversing.
Perhaps distance education and the element of global diversity will continue to evolve as technology continues to provide us with the tools and opportunities to transition away from traditional classroom learning into a richer deeper understanding of worldly developments. Although some may argue that this can not be enhanced with distance education it is fair to say that it does provide a unique opportunity for learners to begin to engage in discussions with people that they would not typically interact with.
References:
Schrock, K., (2010, November 17). My global education: What I learned this week. [Web
log post]. Retrieved from http://blog.kathyschrock.net/
Siemens, G. (2008). The future of distance education. (Vodcast). Principles of
Distance Education DVD produced by Laureate Education, Inc., Baltimore.
Topic: Global Diversity. (2009, Dececember 31). Retrieved from: http://www.ablsc.com/distance-education/topic-global-diversity/
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ReplyDeleteKaren
ReplyDeleteI can see the concern with global diversity in a distance learning environment. After all distance learning is the most global. The problem of everyone being on the "same page" regarding learning environments can be a problem no only in distance learning but in the growing numbers of cultural diversity in all learning environments.
For example, my daughter took a teaching position in Spain. Her job was to help students learn the English language. However, most Europeans learn Queen's English, big difference. She had some problems with this.
Nancy Parker in chapter 13 of Anderson (2008) stated the need to foster common goals (p.308). It would be impossible to plan instructional design around every need, but instructional design can be based on a common goal, then each learning community can base their instruction on these common goals. Distance learning environments will have the hardest job and the most responsibility for doing this because of the large global diversity.
Cheers
Linda H
Reference: Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. (2nd. ed). Edmonton AB: Athabasca University Press.
Karen,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I feel that global diversity is something that is very much in demand, and I am glad that technology is affording learners with the chance to be "global students". I see this as being of special importance in the community that I work in. As an African American student growing up in Long Beach, California, I had a good "global experience". The schools that I went to were very diverse, and we had clubs to support all ethnic groups and yearly multicultural fairs. I always had a passion for literature - which is why I became a literature teacher, but it wasn't really until late high school and early college years that I was exposed to literature that celebrated me as a Black woman, or that exposed me to other cultures.
As a teacher in Los Angeles Unified School district, I strove to not only give my students access to the classics, but also to literature that they could relate to and see themselves in. Now as a teacher in Atlanta, GA. I sometimes find that the students are over-exposed to their own culture, and are resistant to reading anything else. This lack of global diversity affects their beliefs, stereotypes, and their perceptions of others. It also affects their ability to be able to communicate with or understand other cultures. How do you think I can use technology in this situation to build my students cultural diversity and awareness?
- Margaret Neal
Excellent post! The two blogs you researched were awesomely contrasting in their perspectives on global diversity. I agree with your final statement that although distance learning does not directly foster certain types of relationships in diversity, the distance learning environment does allow a forum in which conversations are opened up that would not have existed previously.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, though, what would you suggest as a solution to create a gore globally diverse environment in the distance education forum?
Karen: Good overview of diversity. What it points out is that one size does not fit all in distance education. We need to consider the wide range of students that can potentially reach and appreciate and design for their differences. For example, Chinese students do not challenge authority and therefore it makes it difficult to have them critique and provide constructive criticism of other authors. Indian students are very oral and prefer to learn from expert presenters. Each culture and ethnicity is different. We must not assume that the Western approach to distance education will fit all students. We must plan for and provide a variety of different delivery strategies based on the diversity of the audience we are trying to reach.
ReplyDelete