The rapid growth of diverse learners in online learning has made it imperative for online instructors to incorporate multicultural resource curricula and instructional activities. This research aimed ...to explore online instructors' perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy in online education; examine how instructors integrate culturally responsive pedagogy strategies in the online learning environment; and explore the challenges in facilitating cross‐cultural collaborative learning for students from different cultural backgrounds. Data were collected following a qualitative multi‐site case study method with five academic disciplines (Education, Social Sciences, Engineering, Physical Sciences and Health Sciences) in 12 colleges and universities in the United States of America. In all, 60 in‐depth and semi‐structured interviews with instructors (26 females and 34 males) were obtained and analysed following a constant comparative analysis approach. Results reflected that the instructors used cross‐cultural interactions to facilitate students' engagement and incorporated culturally responsive teaching. Besides, the findings revealed that most of the instructors integrated diverse and internationalized learning content to support diverse students and addressed the impact of multicultural education in online learning. It was, however, noted, that instructors in the physical science disciplines struggled to incorporate culturally diverse contents in their online classes. The findings of this study foster discourse on how best instructors could be aided to engage diverse students online more meaningfully.
Practitioner notes
What is already known about this topic
Since studies of this nature are mostly undertaken in teaching and learning environments that are diverse in terms of student populations, both students and instructors are exposed to cultural differences in teaching and learning in multicultural/diverse online learning environments.
Studies on multicultural/diverse online learning environments abound and have been undertaken for several years but the emphasis has mainly been to explore issues from the perspectives of students.
Most online instructors assume that online learning provides equal opportunities to all students regardless of their cultural backgrounds and cultural differences; hence, instructors have mostly not been able to recognize cultural implications for students' learning to design inclusive instructional strategies to meet the learning needs of diverse students in online education.
What this paper adds
This study, unlike earlier ones with a similar focus, explored online instructors' perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), specifically with regards to the design, preparation and integration of multicultural learning contents and resources in online education.
This study employed Scott et al.'s (2015) culturally responsive computing theory as a lens to connect students' prior learning experiences, knowledge, interests, strengths and weaknesses as a way to draw instructors' attention to how best diverse students can be aided to be innovative and succeed in the face of cross‐cultural challenges they face studying online.
The study also contributes to the instructors' understanding of culturally responsive pedagogical principles in online spaces that recognize global identities and cultural experiences to meet the needs of diverse students in an online learning environment.
Implications for practice and/or policy
Instructors must develop online courses with the focus to bridge students' geographical and cultural backgrounds so that students will have the opportunity to share and connect with peers in online classrooms for effective collaboration and communication.
Institutions that offer online education must make concerted efforts to provide continuous professional development opportunities for instructors of online courses on impacts of culture/diversity in the online classroom, and strategies for creating conducive online learning environments that value cultural differences, and social/educational experiences in ways that support students' learning.
Institutions and stakeholders, through policy initiatives, should make frantic efforts to afford instructors with comprehensive knowledge and understanding of CRP in online learning to avoid the assumption that students in online courses share similar learning characteristics and bring to the online learning the same experiences and cultural backgrounds.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of higher educational institutions (HEIs) and affected the teaching learning processes in educational institutions of all levels. The pandemic increased the ...digital gap of the existing minimal Internet connectivity and access to digital technology. As a result of the impact of the pandemic on education, HEIs in Ghana moved from traditional face-to-face classes to remote education or hybrid learning. Therefore, it is important to understand how digital technologies and digital divide influenced teaching and learning in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, the purpose of this research was to investigate the strategies universities in Ghana used to overcome the digital divide during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also aimed to explore the challenges and experiences of dealing with the digital divide during the pandemic. Data were collected following a qualitative research design. Thirty-five in-depth and semi-structured interviews (25 teaching faculty and 10 administrators) from two private and three public universities were obtained and analysed via thematic analysis approach. Findings were thematized by challenges of dealing with digital divide during the COVID-19 pandemic, provision of affordable Internet connectivity for students, faculty and staff, use of digital technologies and resources for hybrid and remote courses, creation of information communication and technology platforms for students, faculty and administrators, and provision of professional development workshops/trainings on digital skills and knowledge. These results were discussed with the three-level model of the digital divide framework (school, classroom and student) and the development history of digital infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. By analysing the Ghana HEIs' experiences, this study contributes to a balanced understanding of the digital divide issue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rapid increase and use of educational technologies have a significant impact on students' privacy, personal information and metadata in higher education. The past two decades have also witnessed ...the process where information about students is stored and handled outside premises and control of learning institutions. The personal information about students and their activity while they interact with learning management systems (LMS) and online learning tools is increasing and is stored in cloud computing platforms, software-as-a-service providers and other vendors. There are reported cases where students' personal data and information have been leaked, with possible privacy violations. Although this issue affects all students, it is important to understand the perspectives of culturally diverse students on the balancing of personal data/information and the use of technology integration in higher education. The purpose of this research was to investigate diverse students' perspectives on privacy, control of personal information, confidentiality and technology integration. The study also aimed to examine the challenges and experiences of loss of control over personal data and metadata encroachment, and protection of privacy in online education. Data were collected following a qualitative research design. Forty in-depth and semi-structured focus-group interviews (26 female and 24 male students) from four academic disciplines (Education, Social Sciences, Business, and Health Sciences) in a public university in the United States were obtained and analysed following a constant comparative analysis approach. Findings show evidence of fear and anxiety about data encroachment, challenges from bureaucratic procedures and lack of educational awareness, privacy concerns about LMS and social media. These results contribute to a new understanding regarding diverse students' knowledge, challenges and experiences on how to balance privacy, confidentiality and technology integration in higher education.
Immigrant students in U.S. educational system experience challenges learning to adapt and integrate into new educational environments. Little is known, however, about factors that facilitate ...acculturation strategies of immigrant youth from West Africa and how they affect their academic success and challenges faced. Considering the current political discourse over the influence of immigration in U.S. schools, 20 immigrant youth from Ghana and Nigeria were recruited and interviewed in the metropolitan area of New York City. Analyses of semi-structured interviews revealed that teacher, parent, and peer support; social and electronic media; and extracurricular activities emerged as the factors that helped acculturation strategies and academic success. Challenging factors were dealing with sociocultural differences; discrimination, stress, and social integration; and language differences. The article discusses the implications of these findings for teachers to understand acculturation strategies to help West African immigrant youth to adapt, acculturate, and integrate into new school environments.
The rapid growth of online education at the K-12 level in recent years presents the need to explore issues that influence the academic experiences of students choosing this method of learning. In ...this study, we examined factors that promote/hinder the learning experiences and academic self-concept of minority students attending an online high school. Qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty-four African American, and sixteen Hispanic high school students. The results showed that collaborative learning activities, access to resources, time convenience, student-teacher interactions, student-student interactions, improved academic behavior, and parental support helped to enhance online learning experiences and academic self-concept of the minority students. On the contrary, the lack of social presence, and the lack of cultural inclusion in course content constrain online learning experiences and academic self-concept of the students. The findings revealed some similarities between factors that influence minority students learning experiences online, and in face-to-face setting. The study also highlighted the need for teachers of online courses to understand the cultural backgrounds of minority students, and to use their knowledge to improve the learning experiences and academic self-concept of these students. Implications for teaching minority high school students in an online environment, as well as suggestions for future research are provided. (Keywords: minority students, K-12 online school, factors, online learning, self-concept)
This study examines teachers’ cultural awareness of Black immigrants and the pedagogical strategies they implemented that aided in the academic success of Black immigrant youth attending public urban ...schools. A related goal was to examine Black immigrant youths’ relationships with teachers and peers, the challenges they faced in navigating a new educational system, and how it influenced their academic performance. Drawing on culturally responsive teaching, we examined teachers’ cultural knowledge and understanding of the life experiences of Black immigrant students. Participants were 25 teachers and 20 Black immigrant youth. Qualitative research, including semi-structured and focus group interviews were used to collect data. Three major themes emerged from the study. These include (a) Black immigrant youth perspectives and experiences attending United States public urban schools comprising the following subthemes: (1) challenges attending urban schools, (2) students’ resilience to achieve success in school, (3) supportive parents and high expectations; and (4) navigating through school with bi-cultural identity. The second theme is (b) the multiple cultures Black immigrant youth bring to the urban classroom, and the third theme, (c) strategies of teaching Black immigrant youth in public urban schools. Findings demonstrate the need for teachers to understand the rich cultural diversity that Black immigrant students bring to the classroom to be able to connect with their life experiences inside and outside of school.
Educational resilience is often linked to educational success of various immigrant youth including Black immigrants despite the challenges they face. However, few studies have explored the factors ...that promote and/or constrain educational resilience and academic achievement of Black immigrants. To address this gap, the current article focuses on the educational resilience and academic achievement of Ghanaian-born immigrants (N = 60) attending urban high schools in the United States. Results indicate that self-regulation, technology, religious faith, past experiences, parental support, resources, and safety issues played an important role. Implications and recommendations for educators and policymakers are discussed.
This article investigates the transformative learning experiences of international graduate students from Asian countries. Data collection consisted of quantitative and qualitative methods. ...Participants included international graduate students from Asia, in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Engineering. Overall, 82.3% of the participants reported having experienced transformative learning, while 17.7% reported no transformative experiences. Among participants who experienced transformative learning, 31.8% of the transformative experiences were associated with education only, 33.3% were by both education and noneducation, while 17.2% were noneducational. Ten participants were randomly selected to ensure representations across gender, age-group, and college for follow-up interviews. Majority of the participants experienced transformative learning as a result of both educational and noneducational activities. Major life changes such as student and faculty support, classroom discussions, new life experiences, and learning a new language emerged from the follow-up interviews.
