Collaborative online learning in the cultural context of South East Asia: A systematic review

Abstract

Collaborative online learning in higher education through such as discussion boards, blogs and social network technologies can increase knowledge exchange across large student cohorts, independent of time, across borders and at lower cost. With a surge of internationalization of education, the question arises whether and how collaborative online learning should be adapted to cultural contexts students and instructors operate in. With the help of a systematic literature review, this paper aims to shed light on the role of culture in designing collaborative online learning pedagogies and its tools in the context of South East Asia, a region that grows in online education and shows significantly different value orientations as compared to Western contexts. Out of 1,786 initially identified publications, 21 articles were included for final synthesis based on explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria. Themes that emerged across studies showed the influence of cultural values for interdependence and social harmony on critical discussions as well as on ingroup orientation when choosing whom to exchange knowledge with. Studies highlighted the importance of maintaining social harmony and increasing community building through indirect online communication as well as scaffolding through peer tutoring and lecturer support to increase self-responsible collaborative learning and open exchange.