Here is an excellent opportunity for students and faculty alike…

Call for Chapters: Cultivating Diverse Online Classrooms through Effective Instructional Design
Editor
Karen L. Milheim, EdD 
Walden University 
E-mail: [log in to unmask] 
Call for Chapters
Proposals Submission Deadline: November 15, 2016
Full Chapters Due: March 15, 2017
Submission Date: July 30, 2017
Introduction
As education programs continue to expand globally in higher education, students enrolled in online courses can reside nearly anywhere in the world. With over 5.5 million students enrolled in some form of post-secondary distance learning (U.S. Department of Education, 2014), it is critical that faculty and institutions understand how to adapt to this growing population of learners. Along these lines, current research focused on challenges of online learning environments points to factors such as student readiness (Yu, 2014), engagement (Butler and Evans, 2014), and other influences that can impact a student's experience and success in the classroom. It is already known that the cultural backgrounds of students have a significant impact on areas such as learning, communication, and motivation in the classroom. Yet, the research in this area focused specifically on course design and the online classroom in light of cultural differences is still in its infancy stages compared to similar literature focused in traditional, classroom environments. 

Instructional design strategies that recognize cultural differences among students is critical to acknowledging factors such as preferences for interaction in a course, how culture manifests itself in the classroom, and viewpoints towards the purpose of education (Milheim, 2014). As Gunawardena (2015) notes, understanding learners from a cultural perspective enables the maximization of diversity, particularly towards building online environments that are conductive to learning. 

Implications of further research that explores the instructional design process in light of cultural differences in the online classroom is critical. By expanding the body of knowledge in this area, course designers, instructors, and educational professionals will continue to progress their understanding of the how culture can influence the online classroom. Through this book, specifically, these individuals will learn strategies towards designing online courses that recognize cultural differences among students to benefit their educational experience, overall. 

Objective
This publication will cover a range of topics related to the instructional design process, with focus on strategies to recognize and address cultural differences among students in the online classroom. In this book, the term cultural differences will encompass topics related to "variances in written expression, country of origin, and cultural norms", which ultimately affect "levels of participation, motivation, and other factors in the course" (Milheim & Fraenza, 2014, p. 301). The scope of this definition will open the potential for a wide range of chapters focused on areas related to the design of instructional tools, forums, classroom aesthetics, resources, and other elements of the online classroom. 

Specifically, this book will be focused on strategies towards the successful design of online courses in light of the cultural differences among students. As a result, instructional designers, instructors, and others will learn useful ways to maximize the potential of student communication, learning, success, and other areas in a culturally diverse classroom. 



For more information, see the full Call for Proposals at
http://www.igi-global.com/publish/call-for-papers/call-details/2351
Dr. Robert Wright


Robert Wright, PhD
Lecturer
Learning Technologies Department
College of Information
University of North Texas

https://unt.academia.edu/RobertWright

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