One of the most important considerations when designing eLearning content for global audiences is determining how the content will resonate with the cultures of the audiences you\u2019re targeting. You can create the greatest content, but if it doesn\u2019t take culture into account, both in the way it\u2019s delivered and the content itself, it won\u2019t be successful.<\/p>\n
As a translation company providing comprehensive\u00a0localization and translation services<\/a> for eLearning and training courses, we know that if a customer comes to us, they understand that we\u2019ll prepare their eLearning courses for distribution in other cultures. However, we highly encourage our customers to also take advantage of our cultural auditing service, where we provide recommended modifications based on the targeted languages. This service goes beyond translation and image localization, it looks at how the eLearning content is delivered and other cultural considerations. Let\u2019s take a look at how culture comes into play with learning styles and eLearning materials.<\/p>\n Research studies, such as those conducted by Geert Hofstede<\/a>, have led to the creation of national cultural dimensions<\/a>. These cultural dimensions are categories<\/em> of cultural characteristics we can use to compare differences, at a national level, across cultural groups.<\/p>\n Hofstede identified six categories of cultural differences:<\/p>\n His theory is that these dimensions affect our perceptions of other cultures and our willingness to accept their differences. Below, we will address the cultural dimensions that could have an impact on eLearning content.<\/p>\n Hofstede\u2019s dimension of individualism vs collectivism<\/em>\u00a0describes the degree to which members of a culture focus on themselves (I, me) or on groups (we, us). In his research, he assigned each country an index score on different dimensions to help us understand how similar or different we are to other cultures. On the dimension of individualism, the United States scored the highest among 50 countries.\u00a0What this indicates is that Americans perceive cultural values to be the same as others and so we can be blind to cultural differences.\u00a0Thus, we inherently tend to negate the value of addressing the cultural needs of other groups.<\/p>\n This concept can come into play when our customers design eLearning courses, as they may not take cultural differences into account. We try to put our customers \u201cin the shoes\u201d of their targeted learners to help them understand and accept our recommendations on cultural adaptations for eLearning.\u00a0This often helps them to appreciate the value of our recommended changes, and subsequently, increase their willingness to invest in those changes.<\/p>\nCultural Dimensions: A Way to Compare and Contrast Across Cultures<\/h2>\n
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Individualism vs. Collectivism<\/h2>\n
Power Distance<\/h2>\n