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Cited by 93Online and Blended LearningLearning Styles and Cognitive DifferencesTechnology-Enhanced Education Studies

Designing Cross-Cultural Collaborative Online Learning Framework for Online Instructors

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Kumi-Yeboah, Alex·2019·Online Learning
DOI 10.24059/olj.v22i4.1520
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Abstract

Online education has now become an integral part of the educational landscape in the United States and around the world, where it serves as the primary source of enrollment growth in higher education. The rising student population in online learning mandates instructors and instructional designers to be aware of the importance of cultural factors that influence students’ learning experiences and academic performance in the online environments. However, few empirical studies have examined instructors’ perspectives on instructional strategies that promote cross-cultural collaboration in online classrooms, specifically, instructional strategies that instructors use to promote educational success of diverse learners in online environments. Drawing on collaborative online learning theory, this study analyzed qualitative interview data and online activities of 40 online instructors from two universities. Results showed the following themes; (a) instructional strategies that facilitate cross-cultural collaborative online learning, (b) challenges of teaching diverse learners in online learning, and (c) designing cross-cultural collaborative online framework for instructors. Findings suggested that most instructors lacked the knowledge and skills in addressing the needs of diverse learners in the online learning environments regarding their ability to recognize students’ cultural differences and incorporate multicultural reading resources in course contents to meet the needs of diverse students. Thus, the need to design a framework will broaden instructors’ understanding and promote cross-cultural collaboration in online teaching to help meet the needs of diverse students in online learning environments.KEYWORDS: Cross-cultural collaborative learning, culturally diverse learners, collaborative learning activities, instructional strategies, Collaboration in online learning

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  • Intentional design requires an understanding of the country context students operate in.

    “An intentional design thus further requires an understanding of the country context students operate in (Kumi-Yeboah, 2018), which gains importance with an increasing internationalization of education.”

    From Collaborative Online Learning across Cultures: the Role of Teaching and Social Presence (2022) · cites this paper as Kumi-Yeboah, 2018

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Authors
Kumi-Yeboah, A.
Venue
Online Learning
Publisher
The Online Learning Consortium
Published
2019-01-25
Volume
22
Issue
4
ISSN
  • 1092-8235 (ISSN-L)
  • 2472-5730
  • 2472-5749
DOI
10.24059/olj.v22i4.1520
OpenAlex
W2902173366
Cited by
93
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 1
FWCI
18.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Online Learning (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Online and Blended Learning
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Learning Styles and Cognitive Differences
  • Social Sciences › Education › Technology-Enhanced Education Studies
Keywords
online instructors, culturally diverse students, teaching methods, teacher perceptions, collaborative learning activities, online teaching challenges, instructional design framework

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