Cross-Cultural Issues in Online Learning

The rapid pace of technological change and development in the world has given those working in the field of online and distance education great opportunities to extend the reach of their programs across national boarders and cultural boundaries (Albritton, 2006; Rogers, 2006). Examples of educational initiatives that aim globally include projects such as MIT’s Open- CourseWare project (ocw.mit.edu); corporate initiatives like Cisco, already delivering academic curriculum to hundreds of thousands of students in 150 countries (Dennis, Bichelmeyer, Henry, Cakir, Korkmaz, Watson, Bunnage, 2005); and even private universities such as Global University, based in Springfield Missouri, offering courses to students in over a hundred different countries and languages (Rogers and Howell, 2004). And the size and scope of cross-cultural online learning is growing.