Abstract
The provision of online learning experiences has been implemented by many universities worldwide to overcome several challenges, including inequality in education. However, this experience is still not a common approach in public universities in the Arab region. Furthermore, several research studies have pointed out that a country’s culture should be considered in order to enhance online learning, as students may behave differently based on their cultural backgrounds. Nevertheless, little is known about how a given culture may affect the learning behavioral patterns of students. Therefore, to better understand the cultural phenomenon and to enhance the adoption of online learning in the Arab region, this study aims to understand how an Arab culture may affect the online learning behaviors of students. Specifically, this study applies a lag sequential analysis (LSA) approach to understand the behavioral patterns of 116 students from Tunisia in a six-week online course. The study then further discusses the different learning behavior patterns based on the theoretical framework of Hofstede’s national cultural dimensions. The findings highlight that culture can affect how students engage in online learning discussions and how they maintain their learning performance online. The findings further indicate that online learning experiences may be beneficial for female students who experience social pressures in Arab cultures.
Highlights
Culture is a multi-dimensional and multi-layered concept, yet the current study focuses on the first perspective, which is understanding how a specific culture can affect the adoption and behaviors of students, by investigating how the Arab culture can affect the learning behaviors of Tunisian students in an online learning experience for six weeks
To facilitate online learning adoption in the Arab region generally, and in Tunisia —by identifying the online learning variables and behaviors that Tunisian students perceive to be most important based on their Arab culture—this study explores how Tunisian students would behave and learn in an online learning process based on Hofstede’s national cultural dimensions
To the best of our knowledge, no evidence was found in the literature that could explain how the Arab culture may impact the behavioral patterns of Tunisian students in an online course
Summary
With the rapid adoption of online and open education worldwide, several universities have started providing online learning experiences to students. Learning is a socially and culturally mediated phenomenon [18] In line with this view, previous studies have shown that students’ geographical regions, their cultural backgrounds, may affect their online learning behaviors. This may be due to the culture and habits of that specific region. Venter [20] and Anakwe, Kessler, and Christensenet [21] stated that culture can affect the tendency of students to adopt online education. Anakwe et al [21] highlighted that students from individualistic cultures are more prone to adopt online education than collectivistic cultures. On the other hand, expressed that isolation limits their opportunities for discussion and debate
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