The world is a much smaller place than it was when I was going to high school. I could have never imagined that I would be enrolled in a program where I never have to sit in a physical classroom, and where all learning is conducted over a computer. Neither could I have imagined that I would collaborate and work with students who are across the oceans.

While it is easy to ask educational institutions to cater their courses to a global audience, it is likely far more difficult in practice. Challenges such as simulating cultural differences in learning must be effectively overcome. This includes recognizing the fact that learners from different cultures interpret and react to stimuli and inquiry in a variety of ways  (Blancharde & Frasson, 2005).  I believe that these differences should be acknowledged. However, one commonality with a majority of students is that they have goals, aspirations and recognize an end-state. Therefore, courses should be built with the aim of helping the student reach that end-state vice focussing on catering to cultures.

From my perspective, as a Canadian enrolled in a program in a Canadian educational institution, I do not believe that the courses that I have taken so far have had a Canadian bias in the seed content. However, with over 70% of the students being Canadian residents, the forum posts, which ultimately become the course content, will have a heavy Canadian bias. While this does not impact me negatively, I can imagine the frustration someone who resides outside North America would feel. 

References:

Blancharde, E., & Frasson, C. (2005). Makingi intelligent tutoring systems culturally aware: The use of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. International Conference in Artificial Intelligence. Las Vegas, NV. Retrieved Nov 21, 2015, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.127.9052&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Morris, A. A., & Miller, M. T. (2014). Adult Learners Online: Cultural Capacity Assessment and Application. In J. Keengwe, G. Schnellert, & K. Kungu, Cross-Cultural Online Learning in Higher Education and Corporate Training (pp. 134-148). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-5023-7