Social&cultural time

Dra. Margarida RomeroTime factor Thematic Research Seminar The time factor perspectives collaborative conceptual map

Llorens, F., Perez, A., Franco, M., Hettiarachchi, E. (virtual) Esposito, A.

Social & Cultural TimeSocial & Cultural TimeFrancesc Llorens. UOC. 2011Francesc Llorens. UOC. 2011



What is Social & Cultural Time?

– Time acts as a kind of paradigm that derives its components from science, religion and collective imagery.

– Literature about Social and Cultural Time comes mainly from ethnology and antropology1, philosophy2 and even the arts3.

– Except for western cultures, there is no significant historical influence of technology in the organization and representation of the Time.

[1] Levy-Strauss, C. (1975). El pensamiento salvaje. México: FCE.[2] Kermode, F. (2003). El sentido de un final. Barcelona: Gedisa. See also Toboso Martín (2003): Tiempo y sujeto. PhD Thesis. Retrieved Mai 26, 2011 from http://forteza.hst.ucm.es/profes/juanfran/crono/tiempo_sujeto.htm [3] Sora i Domenjó, Carles (2010). "Fenomenología del tiempo en la representación visual interactiva". Hipertext.net, 8, http://www.upf.edu/hipertextnet/numero-8/tiempo_interaccion.html

• Refers to the way in which a society (or community) represents the notion of Time and considers its acts, facts and values as shaped by this representation.



Why is important to know about Social & Cultural Time? An exemple …

– Individuals of different cultures have different ways to organize, plan and schedule themselves.

– Japanese distance learners have a cognitive style quite different from their Europeans counterparts.

– They prefer to work in concrete and reflexive learning sequences rather than in abstract and active ones (slow time).

• Some studies1 show that japanese distance learners has particular attitudes when joining virtual activities

[1] Aoki, K. & Bray, E. (2006) Learning Styles of Distance Learners in Japan: Cultural Considerations. Retrieved Mai 26, 2011 from http://bit.ly/l7PFh1



When should we pay special attention to Social & Cultural Time when designing learning experiences?

– Multicultural presence in virtual classrooms. This implies to identify the possible differences in the management of the students time.

– Social relationships in the students communities, outside the classrooms.

– Teamwork participation and collaborative working1.

• When we design learning experiences with ICT, we should recognize the cultural differences among learners, and take into account at least three possible scenarios (not exclusives) in which they could appear:

[1] Kirchner, F., Pass, F. & Kirchner, P.A. (2009). A cognitive load approach to collaborative learning: united brain for complex tasks. Education & Psychology. 21. 31-42.



THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

The EndThe End