Abstract
As educational systems emphasize and experiment with forms of online and remote learning, it is increasingly important to investigate the cultural competence of instructional designers. This chapter addresses the experiences of instructional designers in a 3D virtual learning environment designed for development of cultural competence. Design-based research (DBR) and user experience (UX) methodologies were employed to explore experience of six instructional designers in 3D virtual environment. A taxonomy of experience (ToE) established by Coxon guided qualitative data collection and analysis. Through examples and data, the chapter emphasizes the necessity for instructional designers to keep in mind the challenge of cultural diversity in the backgrounds of students and their own, and bring guidelines and principles into culturally sensitive and responsive instructional design processes. The authors recommend four future research directions, including cross-cultural instructional designer competencies along with research into cultural personas, avatars, and guest-host relations.
TopBackground
This section presents a review of the literature regarding cultural considerations for instructional designers in VLEs. Culture shapes not only how people feel, value, think, and behave, but also how people learn. “Multiculturalism,” “cultural diversity,” and “cultural pluralism” have been researched for decades. Cultural differences in increasingly global learning environments are also a well recognized fact (Au & Kawakami, 1994; Biggs, 1990; Edwards, 2000; Mahbubani, 2002; Young, 2008). The premise of instructional design for student or user variation is that “different continents, nations, regions, and communities hold different cultural, mental and cognitive models— customs, manners and behaviours— that provide kaleidoscopic perspectives in the way people see, feel, understand, and connect with the world” (Cabrero, 2014, p. 247).
Key Terms in this Chapter
User Experience: Methodology to account for “perceptions and responses that result from the use and/or anticipated use of a product, system or service” (International Standards Organisation, 2019).
Intercultural Competence: The “inter” prefix added to “cultural competence” indicates a two-way exchange of development and the give and take nature of individuals from two different cultures in interaction.
Cultural Competence: Ability to design and respond for “diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, including tailoring delivery to meet [students’] social, cultural, and linguistic needs” (Betancourt, Green, & Carillo, 2002, p. 5).
Instructional Design: Analysis and development or design of learning objects, products, and systems.