Culturally responsive technology use: developing an on‐line community of learners

In tertiary contexts, Web‐based instruction often appears to be tailored to the needs of a particular cultural group, recognising the specific learning needs, preferences and styles of a single, perhaps homogeneous, group of learners. However, in designing instruction, there is typically a tension between the need to ensure flexibility and access to learners of “multiple cultures”, while at the same time taking into account the need for localisation and a requirement to accommodate a particular set of learners' cognitive styles and preferences (Collis and Remmers, 1997; Damarin, 1998). Considering both the micro‐ and macro‐cultural levels of design is therefore essential if culturally appropriate design is to be achieved in Web‐based instruction. One of the limitations that has been recognised in striving towards culturally appropriate design is that current instructional design models do not fully contextualise the learning experience, and are themselves the product of a particular culture (Henderson, 1996). A proposed solution is the adoption of a multiple cultures model of design, which is not culturally exclusive. This paper traces the development of an on‐line unit for Indigenous Australian learners, and accounts for the cultural issues that impacted on the design of learning tasks and the associated avenues for communication provided to learners. In this context, culturally responsive design was ensured by the adoption of an epistemology and pedagogy based on Lave's (1991) community of practice model. Adapting the model to on‐line delivery required incorporation of culture specific values, styles of learning and cognitive preferences, and tasks that were designed to go beyond surface level comprehension to achieve deep learning. The micro cultural level of the virtual community is considered in relation to participatory structures, task design, goal orientation and development of communicative processes that were intended to support the learning needs of a much wider group of Indigenous Australian students.