Culture, Ethics of Care, Community, and Language in Online Learning Environments: Supporting Adult Educators in a Digital Era

Abstract

AbstractConsidering the increase in the number of online courses and programs across the globe, preparing educators for creating inclusive online environments for learners to thrive is imperative. The worldwide pandemic of 2020, in a sense, only accelerated the already rising trends of online course offerings in higher education and further expanded it to other sections of education and geographical locations. Reviewing the existing literature and building on the authors’ experiences, this chapter uses a cultural and ethical lens to examine issues related to community and language to contribute to the design of equitable and inclusive online learning environments. Although these issues impact all segments of the educational enterprise, given the authors’ experiences with adult learning, the focus in this chapter will be on adults as learners.