Adegbite, OD and McLain, M (2024) Exploring Education in Cultural Heterogeneity of Experiences and Practices in Relation to Working and Communicating with Technology: An International Perspective. In: BERA Conference 2024 and WERA Focal Meeting, 8th Sept - 12th Sept 2024, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK..

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Abstract

Education is a socializing agent which initiates children and young people into global society through teaching of norms and values. Education is a vehicle that carries culture and as such, culture is being renewed, modified, and proliferated through education. Education is seen as an important aspect of culture because it influences the shape of culture, which embodies society and technology. The advancement of technology in society and specifically, its infusion in the school curriculum gives shape to education. According to Tayyba, Nosheen, and Muhammad, (2020), information and communication technology at the workplace is designed to help workers and enhance their work productivity as well as increase collaboration among workers. Maximizing cultural heterogeneity in the workplace has become an important issue today to every education stakeholder for educational growth. However, low level of insight in technology slows down work, unsmooth communication and makes anyone in the advanced countries a novice. Increasing globalization requires more interactions among people from diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. According to Ugochinyere (2020), industrial attachments, study abroad, exchange programs, summer schools, conferences, and group projects have been incorporated into the diverse school curriculums. However, inability to communicate with colleagues at work, using technology could be frustrating and jeopardizing smooth technological interaction. Cabero (2005), Prendes (2010), Romero (2011), and Salinas (2008) pointed to factors like, political, economic, ideological, training, cultural, and psychological are responsible for the technological inadequacies at workplace. Pew, (2003), found that a large percentage of people choose not to go online, because they find the technology to be too frustrating and overwhelming.

This poster will examine the international perspectives of education in heterogeneous society. Specifically, it will focus on exploring education in cultural heterogeneity of experiences and practices in relation to working and communicating with technology. This is with the view to enhancing unity in diversity, moving education forward globally in the 21st Century. Policy formulation and research activities are to meet demands of changing workplaces and to suggest solutions to the challenges posed by new technologies and ways of working. These challenges may be found among the professionals in many different fields, as well as more broadly in local and global communities, and solutions are sought to respond to the challenges presented. The importance attached to research as a tool for sustainable development necessitates that findings are objective and consider cultural differences. Presently, the push towards increased globalization requires more interaction between people from diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds and the effects of this call for adequate preparation of learners to fit into the interdependent world; this includes the differences between technological infrastructures in difference countries. This is necessary so that learners will understand and benefit from the increasing interconnectedness of the world and its sub-systems.

Unguided and unmanaged cultural differences in the workplace may generate an obstacle for achieving organizational goals and disempower individuals. Murrell and Sprinkle (1993), said that frustration with technology can lead to wasted time, changed mood, and affected interaction with colleagues. Cultural issues are vital and are projected to become more important in the future due to increasing differences in the population of the countries of the world, alongside the increasing drive towards globalization. From observations and personal experience, reveal that it could be hard moving at the same pace with colleagues who are vast in technological adaptation, when it comes to online engagements, due to lack of knowledge in machine operation, sending rights information to wrong platform as a result of lack of technical-know-how, - meaning inability to know the appropriate buttons to press on a laptop, spending hours on a laptop on a single issue which couldn’t have taken longer time, and the likes. These experiences give set back to school activities and eventually downspin morale/emotion in communication. Thus, some people cannot use computers to reach their goal, hesitate to use computers, or avoid computers altogether. The unfortunate scenario in which one cannot flow with colleagues on the high speed of technology creates an inferiority complex, feeling ‘not belong’ and this technological backwardness could be borne out of ‘cultural differences. It is therefore necessary to explore education in cultural heterogeneity of experiences and practices in relation to working and communicating with technology.

The conclusions and recommendations will reflect a changing world and marketplace, with respect to cultural differences. The expected benefits in the workplace include enhancing competitive edge, embracing unity in diversity, and increasing work productivity in the global education market.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Communication; Cultural Heterogeneity; Education; Globalization; International; Technology
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) T Technology > T Technology (General)
Divisions:	Education
Publisher:	LJMU
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	05 Nov 2024 14:39
Last Modified:	05 Nov 2024 14:39
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/24664

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