Post 20 :Learner Diversity in Online Class Design

Learner Diversity Paper by Yvonne Ho

March 22, 2014

    In a face to face classroom, I can look out and see a diversity of faces in my classroom and I adjust my classroom to the diverse cultural needs of my face to face classroom. Assessing the cultural needs of my online students is much more difficult to do since I do not get to “look out and see a classroom of faces” in an online classroom. I must find other methods to acclimate my classroom design to serve the needs of online classroom. This paper will talk about how to assess the cultural needs of your online students by making your classroom design and your classroom lessons more culturally sensitive for international students. I will give teachers a simple questionnaire that you can give students about how comfortable they are in an American classroom and how familiar they are with the American way of Education.

     First a little background is needed. In most countries around the world, especially in Asia, the teaching model is teacher centered. Teachers are the sole authority on the subject and teachers are considered the experts of the subject field. In the meantime, students are expected to remain quiet, take notes, raise their hands to politely ask questions and then memorize these facts for a big exam that the teacher gives. Basically, the teacher views the students heads as empty slates for the teacher to fill with facts and figures and to be later assessed by an exam. Only the opinion of the teacher is the one that matters. The teacher is the one who has the ultimate right answer to all the questions. Students expect the teacher to provide all the right answers. Students expect extremely structured activities and logical lesson plans. Students have low tolerance for unstructured “go with the flow’ activities and will become confused and frustrated unless the teacher directs the student what to do or say.

     When foreign students enter the American classroom, this is the educational model they are accustomed to. “Numerous studies have examined the cultural differences between Western and Eastern Education and have provided a consistent picture that describes Eastern education as a group-based, teacher-dominated, centrally organized pedagogical culture with examinations as the essential way to define performance and compete for higher social status. Western education on the other hand, to challenge a teacher or tutor is seen as part of the self development process as dialogue and interaction are encouraged in the learning process. (Liu, 179).

     An American classroom, as mentioned above, is student centered, rather than teacher centered. Students learn facts by applying the facts they learn in the classroom to their own lives. Teachers provide students with group activities, projects, student trips, peer review for writing classes, so that students master the material through doing and through experience. Assessment of facts need not be based on an exam but on how well the student can apply this knowledge to his/her life, whether at home or at work. The student in an American classroom becomes an active participant in the learning process while the teacher facilitates the student learning and acts merely as a guide for student learning Students are allowed to participate in the learning process. Student creativity is valued over memorization. Students are allowed to disagree with the teacher and are encouraged to form their own opinions of the topic in order to learn how to think critically. Teacher lesson plans can be unstructured to allow for student creativity and unique classroom experiences.

     Why am I going over the differences between American classrooms and how classes are taught abroad? Well, when I teach students from Asia or Europe, they are used to a more structured environment and when they walk into an American student centered classroom, these students can become quite bewildered. How does this confusion in the foreign student’s inability to become familiar with the student centeredness of American education impact teaching? How does this impact classroom design? What should we as educators do to lessen this confusion? How can we design classrooms to suit the needs of international students without sacrificing the teaching, class and learning objectives of the class? Give your students this simple questionnaire to ask them about what educational model they are most comfortable with and adjust your lesson plans accordingly to fit the needs of your international students.In your country, what is the role of the teacher? Is the teacher the ultimate authority or expert on the subject?Does the teacher lecture during the entire class period?Does the teacher allow students to ask questions or challenge his authority by disagreeing with him?What is the role of the student? Are students expected to participate in the lesson or are students expected to remain quiet and take notes?How does the teacher assess mastery of the material? Does he give tests?Are students allowed to do group projects?Do students take an active role or a passive role in class?Is the teacher the one who always gives the right answer? Is there an ultimate “right answer” to every question? Or are students allowed to form their own opinions on the topic?Which classroom system do you prefer?

     A student centered classroom where students participate in the learning process? Or a teacher centered classroom where students listen quietly to the teacher?Is the American student centered classroom system the best learning environment for you? How can this class be improved to suit your learning needs?In conclusion, you do not need to completely overhaul your classroom to make a culturally sensitive classroom. After all, international students come to America to learn new experiences and experiencing an American student centered classroom will broaden their horizons. I think to help students make the adjustment from a teacher centered environment to a more American student centered environment, perhaps we as educators can tweak our student centered classroom designs to make it more user friendly for international students used to a more teacher centered environment.

     Perhaps, add some more teacher centered activities for students who are more used to that environment or you can also give more lectures and structured activities while gradually integrating more American student centered activities into the curriculum to help international students become acclimated to the student centered American education model. Always make sure your classroom has these multiple avenues of learning so that all students rather they be American or international can find the best learning style suited for each learner. Collis (1999) and Hendersen (1996) proposed the “flexible” approach” which suggests that courses should be flexible enough to cater to diverse cultural perspectives, rather than simply containing pre-determined content. The central notion of the flexible approach is that the key aspects of course design should be contingent ..and should be flexible enough to allow the students and the instructors to choose their own learning and teaching styles as the course progresses” (Liu, 179)Works CitedLiu, Xiaojung. Liu, Shijuan. Lee, Seung and Magjuka, Richard. J. Cultural Differences in Online Learning; International Student Perspective. Educational Technology & Society, 13 (3), 177-188. 2010. Print.Yvonne Ho is a full-time Associate Professor of English Composition/Literature at American Public University System (APUS).