By Rob Gibson and Hind Aati
Increasingly, higher education institutions are expanding their catalog to include more online and hybrid course options for students. For international students studying in the United States, these options often tied to certain conditions. For example, access to fully online formats is normally limited to one course or three credit hours per student visa requirements; however, they are normally allowed to enroll in an unlimited number of hybrid courses (Study International, 2021). These are normally students who are located domestically and who are completing their degree through a residential campus. Other students may be located in-country and enrolled through any number of international partnership programs. Regardless of their situation, there is an increasing likelihood that these students will be completing their U.S.-based degree program using significant digital resources and content.
However, many faculty who teach in the programs that attract large numbers of international students – including business, science, technology, engineering, and music - do not necessarily include essential Universal Design for Learning (UDL) elements in their courses. When auditing some of these courses using the Quality Matters review process, we found that digital content is primarily oriented toward native English-speaking students – sometimes with little regard for non-native speakers. Moreover, smaller colleges and universities – particularly those that are rural - may lack the necessary resources to adequately support an international student population (Kbayashi, 2015). Therefore, course content may not always include adequate diversity and inclusivity elements. The selection of colors, images, and iconography in a course can mean very different things to different student audiences – depending on their country of origin. Also, the choice of learning tools can impact the students’ ability to successfully complete the course.
International students have indicated that they struggle with a variety of digital course design elements, including:
- Consistent LMS Navigation and Course Design Structure. Many of the courses and programs within often do not employ consistent and logical content organization and flow. For many international students, this is their first experience with a domestic learning management system. Faculty often insist on designing their courses with little consideration as to how the structure and the content is organized and presented, or how it affects the usability for the student learner. In Quality Matters this is often referred to as course Readability. This can lead to an inconsistent and uneven course presentation – sometimes across courses from the same faculty, the same department, or within the same curricular discipline (Scutelnicu, Tekula & Gordon, 2019). Universal Design for Learning standards that promote ease of access, consistency in presentation, logical content arrangement, and multiple means of representation are sometimes overlooked. This may force the international student to seek additional administrative support in order to successfully navigate the course environment.
- Inclusive and Diverse Course Images. Images, graphics, and photos, and other visual representation are commonly included in a learning environment. We often use imagery and iconography to describe our physical world. However, these images – particularly those that include people – often are not selected with a diverse audience in mind (Jones, Scott, McSpadden & Pitts, n.d.). They may be very locale-centric, race or ethnicity-centric, religion-centric, sexual orientation-centric, or even age- and gender-centric. International students often feel that the selection of images may not represent their personal experiences and conditions. A good example might be a university course that uses images and photos of people who are basically homogeneous and from the immediate vicinity.
- Multiple Means of Iconography Representation. We think of icons as navigation arrows, LMS tool icons, and so forth. While domestic students may understand these icons and their meaning given that they are pervasive across technology products and platforms, international students may not understand what these represent – particularly in a learning product. For example, what does a compass icon indicate? Or a bullseye icon? Or a flag icon? Or a rocket icon? Moreover, are the course icons in a consistent, predictable location in the course environment? Does the LMS or learning technology present these icons in a manner that provides students with alternative descriptions? Does the iconography represent contemporary technologies? Think of a video product that is represented by what looks like a movie camera, or a photographic product that is represented with what appears to be a camera icon, or a recording product with what appears to be a cassette icon. Yet, when is the last time we actually used a movie or a still camera to shoot images and videos? Increasingly, students use their smartphones for all this and more. As technology changes, does the iconography reflect contemporary technologies and the users' expectations (Walsh, 2016)?
- Accurate/Selectable Closed Captions. Increasingly, video is used in nearly every course delivery format. However, little attention is often extended to Closed Captions for international students. English-captions are wonderful and inclusive for students with disabilities. Just as importantly, studies have shown that non-native English-speaking students rely on English captions to follow the context and nuances of the didactic presentation (Jae, 2019). Are selectable captions available in other languages, such as Arabic and Mandarin? Can the video be slowed down or sped up? Is there the ability to fast-forward or rewind the video incrementally? Sometimes international students need to listen to a video segment multiple times to understand the content and context. They have indicated that the speed of domestic conversations and video is often too fast to comprehend as they are learning to acclimate. Providing these students with contemporary, adaptable video tools is critical.
- Transcript Availability. Transcripts are often another oversight. If video transcripts are made available, international students can leverage their own technologies and tools to covert the script to the language of their choosing. Transcripts also have the advantage of serving as study guides. Several products now provide automatic, downloadable transcripts that originate from the video. These resources need to be made visible and available for international students whenever possible.
- Multiple/Selectable Language Text Options. Aside from a few enterprise products, such as an LMS, text and text content are often only available in a few major languages: primarily English and Spanish. Many other world languages are not supported. This makes reading and understanding course content – particularly course that use jargon or terms – becomes very difficult. Added to this complexity is slang and regionally specific English dialect that may not translate correctly. For example, “howdy” or “y’all” may make little sense to an international student.
- Culturally Sensitive Color Selection. Colors should be used judiciously in any course design. Many students are colorblind across multiple spectrums, for example. But color can also mean something completely different for international students. For example, while red can mean warning or stop in western cultures, it denotes purity in Indian cultures. Blue denotes safety in western cultures, whereas it signifies immortality in Eastern cultures. Green often means go or proceed in western cultures but is a forbidden color in certain Micronesian countries. White is a color of mourning in some Asian cultures. The selection and use of color need to be mindful of cultural sensitivity (Erickson, 2020).
- Culturally Sensitive Synchronous Webinars. Often, this is their first experience with live webinar technologies, and since English is the primary language used, international students can sometimes feel lost (Fischer, 2020). Muslim women have expressed concerns regarding showing their person in synchronous and recorded videos. Certain cultural and religious norms dictate that they need to be covered in public areas, but what about their home when engaged in a live meeting? Does the instructor require that they leave their video on? If so, is that violating their religious expression and personal privacy? These are some of the Universal Design considerations that must be considered when developing courses that include various elements of student-facing video.
- Alternative Assignment Options. International students taking online courses in certain parts of the world may encounter problems with certain types of assignments that may trip the firewall. Therefore, options may need to be created that allow for alternatives and workarounds to prevent these occurrences. Additionally, assignments that are linked to group activities been shown to increase student motivation and collaboration across cultural boundaries. Something as simple as designing assignments to be more inclusive among students in a course can improve the sense of a safe learning environment (Central European University, n.d.).
- Asking Questions. Many international students found the most frustrating element to learning in a digital environment was the ability to ask questions of their instructor quickly and easily (Lane, 2021). Including elements and tools in the course design that promote faculty presence and improved communication – such as chat boxes – reduces learning barriers for the international student audience.
- Alternative Forms of Student Engagement. Traditional online discussion boards and video conversations can be intimidating for many students, but for international students who often feel uncomfortable presenting, writing, or recording themselves this can be especially off-putting. By incorporating multiple forms of course participation, some of these barriers can be reduced or eliminated (Oxner & Bandy, 2020). An example might include using an annotation or text markup tool in lieu of a traditional online discussion. Or, allowing students to work in teams or groups to satisfy an assignment.
Designing courses universally for the international student population is an important consideration as domestic programs begin to expand into international markets. Although the US international student population is waning as of this writing, it is expected to rebound in the near future. It is clear that most courses – regardless of the delivery format – will continue to include increasingly more digital elements. Consideration needs to be granted to the resources, tools, and course design components available for this diverse student audience.
Central European University (n.d.) Addressing student needs through inclusive course design. Retrieved September 2021 from https://ctl.ceu.edu/addressing-student-needs-through-inclusive-course-design
Erickson Translations (2020). How translating colors across cultures can help you make a positive impact. Retrieved September 2021 from https://eriksen.com/marketing/color_culture/
Jones, T., Scott, C., McSpadden, S., & Pitts, A. (n.d.) Best practices for inclusive and diverse photography in higher education. Retrieved September 2021 from https://upaa.org/sites/default/files/Inclusive_and_diverse_photography-final.pdf
Oxner, A. & Bandy, J. (2020). Teaching International Students. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved September 2021 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-international-students/
Scutelnicu, G., Tekula, R. & Gordon, B. (2019). Consistency is key in online learning: Evaluating student and instructor perceptions of a collaborative online curse template. Retrieved September, 2021 from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0144739419852759
Study International (2021). What US-bound students should know about F-1 visas, online learning. Retrieved September 2021 from https://www.studyinternational.com/news/us-online-learning-f1/
