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Cross-cultural Comparison of Online Learning Delivery Approaches Used in Western and Thai Online Learning Programs- Vichuda Rattanapian, Chulalongkorn University Introduction Given the vast number of innovations
over the millennia, only a very few can claim to have affected the lives
of people around the world—the Internet is one such innovation. The global market for online learning
currently is estimated at over $300 billion (USD) annually with a
projected growth to $365 billion (USD) in 2003 (Web-Based Education
Commission, 2001). However
considering how rapidly online expenditures have grown throughout
countries around the world, there is comparatively little literature
addressing effective online pedagogical strategies for delivering
instruction across cultures. In
fact, the entire research domain of cultural interactions with online
learning is still very young (Cagiltay, 2000; Wild, 1999).
Of the literature that is available, the majority is produced in
western, English-speaking countries with extremely little research
addressing Asian and Thai online programs in particular.
This shortage of cultural-specific literature and research
presents a challenging problem for organizations wishing to employ
online learning programs. Many
times its not possible or appropriate to simply transfer instructional
programs across borders or cultures (World Bank, 1999). Recent estimates place the number of
publications released between 1998 – 2001 at 250 documents, not
counting white papers and other positional papers (Waight, Wilging,
& Wentling, in press). However,
follow-up research has shown that the overwhelming majority of these
reports are produced in western countries.
Comparatively little literature is available for non-western or
cross-cultural e-Learning programs.
In fact, the entire research domain of cultural interactions with
online learning is still very young (Cagiltay, 2000; Wild, 1999). This lack of cross-cultural literature
and online learning guidelines presents a risky problem for non-western
and Thai organizations in particular wishing to employ online learning
activities in their educational and training operations.
Many times it is not possible or appropriate to simply transfer
instructional programs across borders or cultures. “Attempts to deliver courses and
programs across national boundaries have assumed that materials and
delivery methods can be transferred from one place to another. But
experience has shown that this is not necessarily so, even in subjects
often assumed to be culturally neutral, such as technology and
mathematics. Thus distance educators have been faced with a need to
adapt materials for overseas use or to develop materials specific to
receiving countries” (World Bank, 1999). Looking specifically at the Asian realm
of education, an excellent example of Asian versus western educational
differences comes in Jin and Cortazzi’s (1998) study assessing “what
is a good teacher” as measured by 129 Chinese students and 205 British
students. The Chinese
students were significantly more likely to describe a good teacher as
someone with deep knowledge and who sets a good example.
Whereas, the British students were significantly more likely to
describe a good teacher as someone arouses students’ interests and is
sympathetic to individual learners. When dealing with technology-based
instruction, these cultural issues are compounded because culture can
affect individuals’ responses to computer-related systems (Collis,
1999). Collis goes on to note that Watson, Ho, and Raman (1994)
illustrate how the design of software—for example
software/environments intended to group activities—are often based
upon the social customs of a particular society and require redesigning
before being used by a different culture that with differing social
customs and practices. Consequently,
one of the keys to the successful implementation of online learning in
the Thai culture, or in any culture, lies in the design and utilization
of appropriate online educational environments (Harasim, 1995;
Henderson, 1996). Research
Questions The purpose of this study is to
generate instructional delivery combinations that are effective,
feasible, and appropriate for Thai online programs and learners.
To that end, the following research questions were developed to
fulfill this purpose: 1.
What
are the prominent instructional delivery methods and media used by: 2.
What online instructional delivery methods are best for Thai
learners based upon: cultural
appropriateness, potential effectiveness, and feasibility of execution? Design To answer these questions, a multi-stage study was conceived and executed. The target population for the study was researchers and practitioners involved with online learning programs in Thailand. However, it is recognized that other individuals outside of this population, e.g., individuals involved with online programs outside of Thailand, might also find the conclusions and insights provided by this study beneficial to their own programs. Representing
this population were online learning experts and publications from
around the world. More
specifically the sample included three (3) Thai online learning experts,
six (6) non-Thai Asian online learning experts, two (2) online learning
experts from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the
University of Illinois and, lastly, hundreds of publications authored by
researchers and practitioners from Asia, Europe, North American,
Australia, and Africa addressing instructional delivery strategies,
online learning. This
study’s design utilized a mixed methods approach with a strong
reliance upon qualitative data collection and analysis techniques.
Among the techniques used were inductive document analyses, email
surveys, focus group discussions, and expert rating/review forms.
The combined use of these techniques was necessary to ensure
adequate triangulation of data collection and validation of results
given the immature and relatively unexplored nature of Asian-oriented
(and Thai specific) online learning research and instructional delivery
practices. The study,
itself, was designed with five (5) stages.
These five stages are: 1.
Multi-reader
review of literature and online web sites. 2.
Interpretive
content analysis of documents and web sites. 3.
Email-based
surveys with online experts from six (6) different Asian countries. 4.
Thai
experts reviews of findings – both from Stage 2 (literature) and from
Stage 3 (Non-Thai, Asian expert interviews). 5.
Identification
of appropriate, effective, and feasible instructional delivery methods
and media combinations for Thai online programs. Stage
1: Multi-reader review of literature and online web sites Methodical
searches were conducted western, Asian, and Thai literature using
print-based and Internet-based resources.
Including among the resources searched were large education- and
technology-specific databases such as the Educational Resource
Information Clearinghouse (ERIC), ERIC – Information Technology (ERICit),
and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications’ elVIAS
e-Learning repository. These
three sources alone possess over one million records.
In addition to these sources, more general database resources,
such as Dissertation Abstracts International, and Internet-based
resources, i.e., Google, Metacrawler, and Yahoo, also were utilized to
augment the searches of education and technology-oriented archives.
In the end, over 200 documents were retrieved for reviewed and
analysis. To find the most
relevant and appropriate publications from those retrieved during the
search and to guard against potential bias, a multi-reader document
analysis strategy was employed. The
document reviewers selected for this study represented Thai and western
(American) cultures. Stage
2: Interpretive content analysis of documents and web sites Documents were analyzed utilizing the
inductive analysis procedures defined by Michael Patton in his seminal
work, Qualitative Evaluation and
Research Methods (Patton, 1990, pp. 391-393).
Inductive Content Analysis is where the researcher allows the
data to emerge and define the findings/results without the use of
predefined parameters or categorization of themes.
The emergent trends are based upon the text of the documents and
the web sites. The results of the content analysis were organized into
related areas and then summarized through the use of frequency counts.
These summaries were then used in Stage 3 to formulate the
interview questions used in the Asian e-Learning expert online
interviews and in Stage 4 in the creation of Thai expert review forms. Stage
3: Email-based surveys with Asian online experts Experts
were purposefully selected from (five/six) Asian countries for
participation in asynchronous, email-based, interviews.
Experts were selected due to their experience with and knowledge
of e-Learning programs globally and within their own countries. The questions addressed the
qualifications of experts (e.g., their current and previous
responsibilities pertaining to e-Learning delivery in their countries),
the types of technologies/media used by their programs, the
instructional strategies employed in their programs, and the primary
barriers encountered in delivering online instruction in their
respective e-learning programs. The
data collection procedures followed the general process outlined for
survey research methods as defined by Fowler (1993).
Experts received an initial email contact introducing the
researcher, the nature of the study and the actual interview instrument.
Five days following the initial contact, experts who had not
responded received a follow-up email.
A 100% response rate was achieved from the selected experts. Stage 4: Thai
expert review of findings In addition to reviews conducted by the
researcher, three Thai online learning experts were selected to conduct
a final review of the findings. These
experts were selected based upon Thai heritage, their experiences with
long running e-learning programs, and their established knowledge of
e-learning programs and practices as a whole. The Thai expert reviews were done
through two methods. First,
the individual experts were asked to analyze and complete expert
review/rating forms. The
forms were developed using the results of the Stage 2 literature review
and the Stage 3 Asian expert interviews.
As with the email interview forms, validity of this instrument
was checked by online learning experts at the University of Illinois’
National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
Where recommended, revisions were made to the instrument and the
final copy was approved for use in this stage of the study. The review/ratings forms, themselves,
served three functions: (a) identification of common media/technologies
used in delivering instruction in e-Learning programs, (b)
identification of common instructional strategies used to deliver
instruction to learners, and (c) assess the combined utilization of the
identified strategies and media for the delivery of instruction to Thai
learners in e-Learning environments.
The assessment of these combined factors was measure using three
factors: appropriateness,
potential effectiveness, and feasibility (see the sample in Figure 1).
Figure
1.
Excerpt from Thai Expert
Rating/Review Forms
Scores were generated for each of these three measures and the total
score for each combined instructional strategy and media were calculated
and ranked. In turn, these
rankings were used in generating the final product of these
research—the establishment of recommended instructional delivery
strategies for Thai online programs.
These scores also were used to calculate inter-expert reliability
values to guard against bias and skewed results. The second method of soliciting information from the Thai experts was through the use of an interactive focus group discussion. The discussion was an open structure format with primary focus of the discussion revolving around the experts providing supporting for their respective ratings. For example, should one expert rate a given instructional strategy as being very feasible for a specific media while the other two experts rated the same strategy as being unfeasible, a short discussion would be held to resolve possible differences and reach a consensus among the three experts. By
analyzing the data gathered during these five stages and by using the
above samples, findings were generated.
The following section discusses the prominent findings associated
with each of the research questions. Findings Given
the exploratory nature of this study and in keeping with the argument
that there can be significant items which lack statistical significance
(Lockee & Burton, 1999; Minium & Clarke, 1982), identification
of significant quantitative items of analysis is based primarily upon
their meaningfulness of these item in their contribution to effective,
culturally-appropriate forms on online instruction. In addition to
quantitative analysis, many of the items in this study feature
qualitative data which were analyzed using a combination of theme and
pattern analyses. The
results presented in portion of the study are organized in the following
manner: (a) identification of common instructional strategies, (b)
summary of interviews with Asian experts, and (c) presentation of Thai
expert ratings. This order
was selected due to the cumulative and filtering nature of the data from
Stages 1 through 5 of this study. Identification
of Common Instructional Strategies In
Stage 2 of this study, numerous instructional strategies from online and
face-to-face environments were identified.
These strategies, in turn, were presented to Thai online learning
experts who ranked their viability with used in conjunction with
commonly available Internet-deliverable technologies and media.
Due to the central role these identified instructional strategies
play in this study and to instructional delivery as a whole, special
attention is given to them here. The most common instructional strategies were found
by conducting theme analyses of targeted publications and articles
addressing online learning and also by analyzing the content of
textbooks used in teaching instructional methods courses.
The results of these analyses are presented in Table 1.
The list also is reproduced in Appendix A along with short
descriptors for each instructional strategy type. Table 1:
Common Instructional Strategies Brain Storming Modeling Case
Studies
Paper, 5-Minute Class
Debates
Paper, Term Demonstration
Peer Teaching Discussion,
Large (class)
Practice, Guided Discussion,
Small
Practice, Independent Drill
& Practice
Questioning Field
Trips
Role Playing Games
Simulations Inquiry
Learning
Student Presentations Jigsaw
Team Projects Journaling
Vignettes Lectures The above summation of instructional strategies
recaps the instructional strategies most commonly found through out the
literature. It is these
forms of instructional delivery that are combined with common forms of
Internet-based technologies and media to form the basis for most online
instructional delivery activities.
Bearing that in mind, and realizing that not all cultures conduct
and/or prefer instruction in the same form, Asian and Thai online
learning experts were solicited for their experiences and insights into
online learning pedagogy. Email
Surveys with Asian Experts As a group, the six Asian experts began their online
learning experiences in either 1997 (1 expert) or 1998 (4 experts); one
experts began slightly earlier, in 1994.
Working in five different countries (India, Indonesia, Malaysia
[2 experts], Singapore, and Thailand), these experts stated possessing
the greatest deal of expertise in the design and development of online
learning instruction. Only two experts cited Program Evaluation as an area of
significant experience. Similarly,
only two experts cited Faculty Training as an area of meaningful
experience. With
regard to their areas of greatest expertise (design and development),
the experts were asked about their usage of 24 specific technologies.
These 24 technologies were selected based upon their usage levels
(past, present, and projected) in online instruction.
Collectively, these 24 technologies form a comprehensive toolbox
of online instructional media. Table
2 provides a summary of the experts’ responses to the question, what
types of instructional media/tools are being used in the online program
with which you are involved? Table
2:
Technology/Media Usage in Six (6) Asian Online Programs Media/Technology
# of Programs Using E-mail
6 HTML
(Web Pages)
5 Bulletin
Boards
5 PowerPoint
& MS Office Applications 4 Animation
4 Document
Sharing
4 Adobe
PDFs
3 Text
Chat Rooms
3 Email
Lists
2 Scripts
(ASPs, JS)
2 Web-Databases
2 Newsgroups
2 Java
Applets
1 Instant
Messaging
1 XML
1 Audio
Conferencing
1 Video
(QT, AVIs, etc.)
1
As
Table 2 shows, E-mail, HTML, and bulletin boards serve as the most
common forms of online instructional media.
They were selected based upon their stability, relatively
inexpensive costs, and ability to delivery content to learner connected
through extremely low bandwidth. This ability to deliver to content using low bandwidth, in
particular, is a key factor for selecting technologies in countries with
developing infrastructures. Forming the second level of
technology/media usage are the multimedia related items.
These include using packages like PowerPoint and other Microsoft
Office applications, along with Flash or Shockwave animation to deliver
more interactive and engaging environments.
Also, prominent in many of these programs is the practice of
document sharing—e.g., uploading files to a central location
(typically through a bulletin board) so others can download and view the
documents at their convenience. This
type of instructional practice has several useful
applications—dissemination of lessons/instructions by the instructor,
sharing of resources by students, collaboration on team projects, etc.
In many of these cases, the documents being shared are stored as
Adobe PDFs. Using Adobe Acrobat, individuals are able to capture their
documents exactly as they appear on their computers and then share these
precisely formatted documents with other individuals using the free
Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and view the files. The last technology/media being
commonly used by these experts is text chat rooms.
Commonly these synchronous environments are used for delivering
technical support, providing question and answer sessions between the
instructor and the students, and for building interaction for
community/team projects. Like
many programs around the world, these experts also encountered various
problems while delivering their online programs.
Some of the more common and meaningful problems encountered by
these experts are identified in Table 3. Table
3:
Common Problems Encountered by Asian Online Learning Programs
Problem
Experts Citing Problem Low
Bandwidth/Slow Connections
4 Access
to Network Connections
3 Need
for Instructor Training
3 Hardware
& Software Compatibility
2 Longer
Content Development Time
2 Personal
Attitudes Toward Technology
2 Users’
Poor Technical Skills
2 Users/Learners
Not Participating in Discussions
2 Learners
Not Good at Self Paced Instruction
1 Learners
Prefer Textbooks vs. Online Readings
1 Time
Zone Differences for Synchronous Sessions
1
As the above table shows, bandwidth and hardware
related issues are the more commonly encountered problems.
This comes as no surprise as they are among the more commonly
cited problems by programs around the world—see Limitation
of Online Learning in the literature review portion of this study.
The more insightful and meaningful comments by the experts come
lower in this summary table as they address issues of faculty training,
users attitudes towards technology (both from the learners and the
instructors), users’ poor technical skills (again, for both the
learners and instructors), and lastly some individual citations
regarding the preferences and/or abilities of students enrolled in
online programs. In each of
these cases, they support the argument that online programs are not
simply hardware and technology-driven endeavors, they are highly
humanistic problems and humans—and their characteristics—are key
parts of successful online programs. Presentation
of Thai Expert Ratings Complimenting
the responses of the Asian online learning experts, above, are the
combined ratings of instructional strategies with common technologies.
The ratings forms used in this stage of the study were built
using the instructional strategies identified in the literature review
and common technologies/media used in Asian online programs. For each combination of instructional strategy and
technology/media (338 combinations total), experts were asked to rate
the union of the two factors in terms of cultural appropriateness,
probability of effectiveness, and feasibility of delivery/execution. All three scores were combined and an overall score was
generated for all 388 combinations.
These overall scores were averaged across experts to offset for
potential biases among experts. The
averaged scores were then ranked from highest to lowest.
Table 4 shows the results for the 20 highest ranking online
instructional approaches. Table
4:
Highest Ranking Instructional Approaches
NOTE:
15 = Highest Possible Score. As Table 4 illustrates, the experts agree that the
best possibility of success in delivering online instructions to Thai
learners is to provide interactive, engaging strategies intermixed with
more traditional lectures and group discussions.
It also can be seen that the experts believe that a greater
degree of synchronous delivery should be integrated into Thai online
learning programs through the use of text chat room and, when possible,
desktop conferencing environments.
Conclusions Three
readily apparent and meaningful conclusions emerged from this study. They are: (i)
the barriers to online instruction in Asian countries are very similar
to those encountered in other parts of the world; (ii) older, more
stable, and low bandwidth-compatible media are the more appropriate for
online programs faced with developing infrastructures; and (iii) active,
engaging instructional approaches are believed to hold the greatest
potential for online instructional effectiveness.
The following paragraphs describe these conclusions in greater
detail. Similar barriers across cultures.
The literature of this study found four (4) common barriers
encountered by western online learning programs.
At that time, it was uncertain if—and to what degree—these
same barriers would occur in Asian online learning programs.
It was found that many of these same limitations also were
encountered by a majority of the Asian online learning experts
interviewed—under-developed infrastructures, lack of support for
learners, and a need for training instructors in effective techniques
for developing and delivering online instruction.
To that end, there seems to be no culturally unique limitations
to online learning. Stable,
low-bandwidth media best. Older,
stable, and low bandwidth-compatible media—such as email, email lists,
Web pages, chat rooms, and bulletin boards—are the best starting media
for online programs. They
serve as solid technological foundations upon which more advanced media
can be built, as bandwidth and instructor and learner technology skills
improve. Given their easy-to-use, stable, and low-bandwidth nature
these technologies are ideal for budding online programs. Later, as a program (and its participants) mature, additional
multimedia and bandwidth intensive media can be added to facilitate
enhanced engagement of learners. Active,
engaging instruction preferred.
The Thai online learning experts were quite definitive in their
ranking of active, engaging instructional approaches as the best chances
for success. These include
the use of games, small group discussions, student presentations, team
projects, and streaming media lectures.
By utilizing these forms of instructional approaches, learners
become more engaged in the learning process, they feel less isolated,
and they see their learning as more meaningful. Recommendations To make use of the above conclusions, a
series of recommendations has been generated.
These recommendations include:
(i) retraining of faculty, (ii) exploration of streaming
technologies, and (iii) call for investigation of innovation
instructional approaches using traditional low-bandwidth media. Retraining of faculty.
Begin training of faculty one semester prior to the beginning of
their online instructional design efforts.
Doing so gives them ample time to identify and minimize the use
of isolating, unengaging, instructional delivery activities—such as
requiring students to read web pages, employing solo learning
projects/assignments, etc. Ideally,
this retraining process would be carried out with the assistance and/or
mentoring of an instructor with prior online experience.
Accompanying this process should be a piloting phase in which the
retrained instructor produces a module of instruction for review by
his/her peers of experiences online instructors to ensure high quality,
engaging and socially integrated instruction. Explore streaming media.
Although not currently in wide use by Asian online programs,
streaming media—such as MP3, RealVideo, RealAudio, Windows Media
Files, and QuickTime—holds great potential delivering multimedia over
limited bandwidth connections. While
capable of producing high-end multimedia files, streaming media uses
better data compression than traditional multimedia files (suchs as AVIs,
MPGs, and WAVs) and are capable for delivering instruction over very
slow bandwidth connections. Investigation of innovative
instructional activities.
While numerous combinations of instructional media and
strategies are provided in Appendix A, additional examinations of
media/strategy combinations needs to be done to assure the utilizing of
a side variety of low-bandwidth, engaging instructional strategies.
By providing fresh, appealing, and meaningful learning
activities, instructors and program managers alike can best serve their
users and in the process generate highly effective, well respected
programs of instruction. While still currently emerging, online
learning programs in Asia are encountering many of the same obstacles
and utilizing many of the same technologies of western programs in their
formative stages. Bearing
this in mind and realizing the learners in Asian cultures are different
from those in western cultures, managers of Asian online programs can
learn from the lessons of western managers and adapt their online
programs to best fit their culture’s unique needs and characteristics.
The findings and recommendations presented in this study describe
how some of these customizations can be carried out.
In particular, valuable information is provided to program
managers with regard to possible combinations of instructional
strategies and media. These
findings along with the more generic recommendations provide a sound,
foundation upon which long-standing, effective, online programs can be
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Appendix
A: Instructional Strategies
with Brief Descriptions Instructional Strategy
Description Case
Studies
In-depth analysis of real life, projects/events and their
application to the topic of instruction Class
Debates
Learners are sorted into teams and then make supporting arguments
for their assigned position or viewpoint Demonstration
The instructor illustrates the correct technique or process for
carrying out a particular task Discussion,
Large (class) Open
discussion in which the instructor serves as facilitator and the
students ask and answer questions related to a given topic Discussion,
Small
Students are separated into teams of 3-6 and carry out
unmoderated discussions much like they would in the class-wide
discussion Drill
& Practice
Learners repeatedly complete a series of steps over and over in
order to increase accuracy and speed of their performance Field
Trips
Students are transported on-site to a location of significant
importance in order to study the site and the items/events on that
location in greater detail Games
Students use games to build knowledge and skills—such as
keyboarding games to improve student typing skills Inquiry
Learning
Student investigate topics of interest by probing content related
to the topic in order to answer pertinent questions, often written the
students Jigsaw
Students split into teams with one person serving as presenter.
The teams study one aspect of a topic in detail and then as a
class piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle Journaling
Reflective learning exercise in which learners ponder their
thoughts and insights and then write them into a journal/log Lectures
Instructor presents information to learners in a class
setting—most common form of traditional instruction Modeling
Models of complex systems are created by and/or shown to students
to illustrate how these systems work Paper,
5-Minute
Students reflect upon and quickly write their thoughts/knowledge
about a given topic. These short essays can be shared with their peers or their
instructor for further learning opportunities Paper,
Term
Long, in-depth papers in which learns expose their knowledge and
insights into selected topic Peer
Teaching
Students teach other students and in the process reinforce their
own knowledge about a given topic or domain Practice,
Guided
The instructor assists a student in completion of a task,
providing coaching tips and guidance in the process Practice,
Independent
Students work on a task on their own.
Home work is a common form of independent practice Questioning
The instructor asks a series of questions of the student in order
to get them thinking about how they would explain, support, analyze,
and/or evaluation a given topic Role
Playing
Individuals act out different scenarios and events illustrating
their understanding or perceptions about pre-selected topic Simulations
Replicate real-world systems and events that otherwise would be
too costly or dangerous to present in real life—flight simulators,
etc. Student
Presentations
Student conduct formal, oral, presentations in order to display
their understanding about a topic Team
Projects
Student work together to complete tasks, such as presentations,
term papers, etc. Vignettes
Short case studies used to gain quick understanding when more
in-depth case studies are not available or appropriate IJET Homepage | Article Submissions | Editors | Issues Copyright © 2002. All rights reserved. |
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