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Designing for Differences: Cultural Issues in the Design of WWW‐Based Course‐Support Sites
Author(s) -
Collis Betty
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8535.00110
Subject(s) - flexibility (engineering) , scope (computer science) , set (abstract data type) , instructional design , resource (disambiguation) , affect (linguistics) , computer science , psychology , knowledge management , sociology , mathematics education , management , computer network , communication , economics , programming language
Culture is a critical influence on the acceptance, use of, and impact of learning resources. WWW‐based course‐support sites are becoming an increasingly familiar type of learning resource in higher education. How might different aspects of culture be predicted to affect the institution's, instructor's, and student's reactions to WWW‐based course‐support sites? How can such sites be designed to adapt to different expectations and learner preferences, especially those related to culture? This article analyses various of these cultural aspects, and argues that WWW‐based course‐support sites should be designed to be adaptable to different types of cultural differences through the application of a set of ten design guidelines. An example illustrating the design guidelines, the TeleTOP Method from the University of Twente, is described and evaluated relative to the design guidelines. Important considerations related to feasibility as well as to conceptual and strategic choices are included in the scope of the guidelines; the instructor's cultural ecology requires particular attention. But WWW sites and guidelines in themselves are not enough for cultural flexibility; sensitivity and appropriate responsiveness remain human activities.