The Hidden Curriculum of Online Learning

Book excerpt: Challenging the current understandings of equity and social justice in the field of online education, The Hidden Curriculum of Online Learning analyses how cultural hegemony creates unfair learning experiences through cultural differences. It argues that such inequitable learning experiences are not random acts but rather represent the existing inequities in society at large through cultural reproduction. Based on an ethnographic work, the book discusses the concept of social absence (in relation to social presence) to discuss how individuals perform their identities within group contexts and to create awareness of social justice issues in online education. It draws upon critical pedagogy and cultural studies to show that while online learning spaces are frequently promoted by local or federal governments and higher education institutions as overwhelmingly inclusive and democratic, these premises do not operate with uniformity across all student cohorts. The Hidden Curriculum of Online Learning It will be of great interest to academics, post-graduate students, and researchers in the fields of digital learning and inclusion, education research, and cultural studies.