The asynchronous online class environment offers students extended time for reflection on messages sent and received. The purpose of this study of a computer mediated graduate course on inclusive community building was to explore how students talked about sensitive cultural topics, and how the online nature of the course influenced reflection. Transformative learning, which seeks to change those deeply held beliefs which often frustrate multicultural inclusion, provided the analytical frame. Four reflective orientations emerged, as students struggled with emotional reactions to discussion topics, searched for the conceptual labels that helped explain experience, connected with past values, or reflected on assumptions underlying their worldviews.
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