As we all read through the incoming messages on ITForum, we see a culture being constructed. We develop acceptable ways of interacting--from the mechanical processes to the etiquette. A need is to understand the limitations, naivetŽ, etc., of some who are entering the culture. At the same time, people new to the culture have to make the effort to learn the culture and not become dependent on others to compensate for their lack of cultural awareness.
In terms of culture (in the more usual use of that word), Americans and others might offend people in Turkey because the Americans wear their shoes into Turkish homes, taking dirt onto prized rugs. Turks would be too polite to point out this faux pas. But Americans ought to learn to do better.
In the culture of distance education, one misunderstanding was barely averted when two seemingly similar uses of computer-mediated communication were shown to represent different cultures. Thrust into a computer conference to discuss the value of using technology in a science curriculum, an eager pre-service teacher posted the first message to the conference with a flippant challenge to his professor: "She'll never read this message; she leaves that to her graduate assistant." This introduction to a computer conference might have had serious implications for the 20 other pre-service teachers and the two teacher-mentors.
However, the savvy graduate assistant, who was experienced with the genres of both Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and academic computer conferences, recognized the pre-service teacher's style of writing as culturally acceptable for a BBS but not for an academic computer conference. The graduate assistant privately communicated to the professors her belief that the inappropriateness was a matter of not knowing culturally appropriate behavior rather than of trying to cause trouble. The professors made the decision to delete the inappropriate message and communicated individually with the student.
These actions provided the student, the other conference members, the other two moderators, and the professors with an atmosphere more appropriate for scholarly discussion. Without the constructivist perspective on the creation of culture, teachers may react negatively, believing that learners are not taking seriously the learning goals of the encounter. They may even be personally offended by the actions of some learners.
This example shows what some of you have mentioned: There are many cultures in distance education. In the paper we said that different media may require different cultural approaches. You have pointed out that it isn't just the medium that creates differences. The particular people--such as the teachers--may choose to develop different climates/cultures.
We want to comment on the question of whether protocols (we read "culture") should be determined by the teacher. Probably there is no single answer suitable for all situations. Some of you have talked about specific situations and obviously have thought about them in evolving cultures. As Merle Vogel [21 Jan 95] said, norms develop best when they facilitate the goals of the group. If our top-down decisions meet continued resistance, that may be a good time to recall that cultures are jointly constructed and that we may have to adjust our expectations of students as they operate in distance education cultures.