Multiculturalism in the Digital World; can this Utopia become Reality?

1. Multiculturalism in the Digital World; can this Utopia become Reality? Trevor Corner Abdulai Abukari Middlesex University, London UK

2. Contents • Review of Multiculturalism and Education • Multiple Identities and Global Citizenship • The Learning Process • Evidence on Effectiveness of eLearning • Challenges to Learning across Cultures

3. Multiculturalist / UniformistViewpoints Multiculturalist 1. Justice and equity in multiethnic/racial society 2. Diversity essential in modern progressive society Uniformist 1. Culture of the dominant group reflects the entire group 2. Minorities to be assimilated into the dominant culture

4. Factors in Multiculturalism • Race • Language • Minority • Culture

5. Critical Multiculturalism • ‘. . engaging critically with all ethnic and cultural backgrounds including ones own . .’ • Needs reflexive and critical skills • Multiple identities at local, national and global levels • Perceived across five interrelated dimensions – cultural, social, economic, environmental, political

6. Teaching as mediated learning • First and second order knowledge • Natural and unnatural environments • Precept and Percept • Learning = Precept --> Percept

7. Learning Technologies • Direct all students into standardised content and learning • Conspiracy by companies producing educational software and hardware • Develops the connection between technological progress and corporate consolidation

8. Memetics • Memes are ‘cultural artefacts’ . . . ‘global units of knowledge’ • Processes of ‘replication’ and ‘contation’ • Partially explains electronic communication and spread of global knowledge

9. Critical Multiculturalism as Global Citizenship • Cultural sampler • Cross-cultural Competency Approach • International Comparison • Global Citizenship ‘. . . . The importance of developing an awareness of a global connectedness and sense of responsibility . . .’

10. Challenges (1) • Global ciizenship only a part of multiple identities required • Internet make available information in non-contextualised form • Attempts at equalising global opportunities falling short of targets • ‘Theories of Education’ fall short of clarifying effectiveness of eLearning

11. Challenges (2) • Dominant groups taking over the global citizen concept • Sustainability of minority languages and cultures • Smart communities – accommodate diversity and contradictions • Critical multiculturalism removes filters of cultural communications