SHARING CULTURES AND SOCIETY IN TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING MEDIATED ENVIRONMENTS

This paper considers some of the themes emerging from recent research in Learning Technologies in the first year of STEM undergraduate education. Culture and society within the discourse of Technology Enhanced Learning is an important consideration in the design of pedagogically sound learning programmes, however culture and society tend to become overwhelmed by the noise of technology. This exploration of culture and society within STEM is seeking to uncover the impediments to learning as well as the potential benefits. Technological aspects, such as infrastructure, digital literacy, and digital tools, dominate the focus of research on STEM education at undergraduate level. The nexus of Technology Enhanced Learning with Culture and Society is a broad amalgam of the interconnected tensions and values underpinning education. A global perspective on culture and society and the connection with Technology Enhanced Learning is too wide for a single paradigm; engineering mathematics was selected to provide boundaries for the research. The paradigm of Technology Enhanced Learning in the domain of engineering mathematics, during the first year of undergraduate study, provides a lens on the cultural and societal disconnects that may occur if such constructs are not considered within the design of a multi-national shared learning space. A phenomenological thematic analysis was conducted to provide a narrative on the perspectives of educators in Ireland and Romania. The educators’ perspectives offer an insight into the affordances of culture and society, the differences as well as the similarities. The analysis reveals hidden impediments to the sustained growth of shared learning within specific educational domains across different cultures and societies. Several implications for successful design of learning programmes supporting cultural diversity and inclusion using Technology Enhanced Learning are discussed.