Argumentative Knowledge Construction in Online Learning Environments in and across Different Cultures: A Collaboration Script Perspective

Abstract

In recent years, information and communication technology has established new opportunities to participate in online learning environments around the globe. These opportunities include the dissemination of specific online learning environments as well as opportunities for learners to connect to online learning environments in distant locations. These dissemination and distance learning scenarios create potential challenges, however, in terms of the cultural differences in the internal scripts that learners of different cultures bring to these environments. This article considers these issues and challenges specifically for online environments focusing on argumentative knowledge construction. It discusses the importance of cross-cultural research in this area and proposes that a collaboration script perspective may prove extremely valuable for this research.