The Inclusion and Design of Cultural Differences in Interactive Multimedia Environments

Abstract

A concern for social justice and the inclusion of cultural differences as a requirement of social justice in all learning materials, whether they are in the form of conventional materials or Interactive Multimedia Environments (IMEs), is the moral responsibility of all educators who want to contribute to humanity as well as long-lasting peace in our world. Such a responsibility requires a wide range of philosophical, political, and sociological discourses, informing multiple debates and their implications in the field of education. As a requirement of this, in this chapter, the inclusion and design of cultural differences in IMEs are focused on. The design and development stages of IMEs are categorized into six separate stages: (1) feasibility, (2) setting up a team of experts, (3) designing, (4) programming, (5) testing, and (6) evaluating (Turel & McKenna, 2013, pp. 188-190). Each stage is vital to the design and development process for cost effective and socially just IMEs. To be able to achieve cost effective and genuinely socially inclusive IMEs, a wide range of principles and guidelines need to be borne in mind at each stage. Here, the inclusion and design in IMEs of the cultural differences that need to be considered while designing and developing such environments (i.e. at stage 3 as well as 4) are focused on. Some examples of thought out and customized computerised cultural differences from an IME as well as some concrete examples from the Turkish context are given.