Has the Internet Changed Self-Directed
Learning?
Roger Hiemstra, Senior Research Associate
American Distance Education Consortium,
Paper Presented at the 20th International
Self-Directed Learning Symposium
[NOTE: This
paper may not be duplicated or cited from without permission of the author]
Introduction
The Internet’s growth in the past few years has been rapid.
For example, the World Wide Web grew from 130 sites in 1993 to almost 71 million
as of August, 2005 (Zakon, 2005). Today, the United States has nearly 1.5
billion Internet userids owned by more than 200 million people; there are at
least 215 million European Union users and China has more than 87 million
(Miniwatts International, 2005).
The Center for the Digital Future at the
The
Perhaps more than any other factor, what has fueled this
growth and the normalizing of Internet usage has been the steady increase in access
via broadband connections, including cable, DSL, satellite Internet feed, T1
lines, and wireless Internet in its various forms. Pew researchers
substantiated that broadband usage increased steadily during a three year
period. Horrigan (2005) noted that by the summer of 2005, “approximately 66
million Americans had high speed connections at home” (p. 6). Fox (2005) said
that 53% of American Internet users now have broadband connections at home, up
from 21% in 2002; she followed with this observation: “Broadband access is now
a more significant prediction of online behavior than years of online
experience” (p. 6).
Growth in Internet usage and broadband access most likely
will continue as competition drives down connections costs, wireless access
become more common in many locations, and people see increasing value in being
online. It is my contention that such factors are making profound changes in
the way people think about, seek, and use information for their own education
and learning. In that regard, I make a case in this paper (extracted from a
National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored study described later) through a
qualitative research effort that the Internet is, indeed, changing the nature
of self-directed learning (SDL). Furthermore, later in this paper I also discuss
some resulting implications for us as SDL specialists to ponder.
Advantages of the Internet for SDL
There
has been considerable thought already given regarding the Internet’s impact on
SDL. The purpose of this section is to summarize some of this information
Bulik
and Hanor (2000) suggest that the Web supports self-directed learning by both
increasing learner control and providing mechanisms for learners to determine
what information is pertinent to them. Mathai (2002) even goes so far as to
suggest that the Internet is an ideal tool for enhancing SDL because of its
ready access to massive amounts of information and its ease as a communication
tool. Long (2001) also describes the potential of the Internet for “searching and
retrieving information” (p. 13).
Google
has announced an ambitious initiative to scan and index material from the
Draves
(2002) provides a list of reasons why he believes the Internet enhances
learning, including such advantages as being able to learn at a peak time of
the day, learning at your own speed, accessibility to
much information, an ability to track personal progress, and the capability to
test personal learning efforts. He also believes cognitive learning via the
Internet is actually better than in-person learning. Long (2001) likes the
virtual world’s potential for learning to go “beyond problem solving to problem
posing” (p. 14).
Kerka
(1997) mentions the time and place flexibility of the Internet in supporting
SDL. Ruelland (2003), too, likes how the e-world provides flexibility in the
learning rhythm. Candy (2004) stresses the liberating value of the Internet in
terms of continuous access to information and no geographic boundaries or
restrictions. He also believes some forms of SDL are particularly suited to the
Internet:
. .
. self-directed learning is one key way in which
people keep up with change and, since we are currently experiencing an
unprecedented level and pace of change on a global scale, it is plausible to
expect the demands of a changing world to lead to greater amounts of
self-directed learning. (¶ 20)
In
many respects, the Internet is the great equalizer. Although initial access to
the Internet can be difficult, people in isolation because of fear,
undocumented status, lack of language skills, or poverty can obtain knowledge
and learn what they have to learn once they can access the Internet. In
essence, if adults have the motivation, drive, and patience they can learn much
by themselves. The next section describes such attributes as motivation, drive,
and patience, as well as many others, that seem to be associated with SDL.
Self-Directed Learning Traits,
Attributes, and Characteristics
Various authors have described traits, attributes, and
characteristics of learners who succeed in the e-world. Boyd (2004), for example,
talks about technical, environmental, and personal situations of such success.
Willis (2001) describes some of the characteristics learners bring to online
activities that influence their successes. Guglielmino and Guglielmino (2002)
provide lists of numerous characteristics for success in e-distance learning
activities.
Although not very surprising given what we know about SDL,
the various traits, attributes, and characteristics described by such authors
appear to fall mainly in three broad categories. I will briefly describe them
and provide related citations for more in-depth study.
1. Self-motivation – the Internet can be a resource to
facilitate personal interest and motivation (Boyd, 2004; Deci & Ryan, 2000;
Ekstrom, Landau, & Plowman, 2003; Gerstain, 2000; Guglielmino &
Guglielmino, 2002; Kerka, 1997; Lynch & Dembo, 2004; Mathai, 2002; Willis,
2001).
2. Self-discipline – the solitary nature of the Internet
requires dedicated self-discipline for successful acquisition of all its
relevant resources (Boyd, 2004; Guglielmino & Guglielmino, 2002; Kerka,
1997; Willis, 2001; Wulff, Burke, & Hurley, 2001).
3. Taking personal responsibility – beyond self-motivation
and discipline is that successful self-directed learners show interest, personal
efficacy, enthusiasm, and even comfort in controlling their own learning
activities (Boyd, 2004; Derrick, Ponton, & Carr, 2005; Deci & Ryan,
2000; Ekstrom, Landau, & Plowman, 2003; Guglielmino & Guglielmino,
2002; Kerka, 1997; Willis, 2001).
Thus, the literature seems clear, as well as the intuitive
sense most of us working in this field possess, that there is considerable
potential for the Internet to enhance SDL. In the remainder of this paper I
describe efforts to better understand this potential as I examined the Internet
activities of several rural adults who had broadband Web access via a special
project.
Rural Adults as Self-Directed Learners
I consult with the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC),
headquartered at the
Called the Advanced Internet Satellite Extension Project
(AISEP), this demonstration effort involved partnering with the Tachyon Corporation
(Tachyon, 2005) to provide broadband Internet to those people living at the
edges of the “network” via hybrid networking—the fiber of Internet2 combined
with wireless satellite (VSAT technology) and various new applications (ADEC,
2005). Although AISEP was designed to serve hard-to-reach audiences in numerous
locations, my specific role was to help understand the impact of a broadband
connection in rural areas. One of several independent studies through that NSF
effort mentioned earlier, three broad objectives guided my particular effort:
1.
To better
understand how people living in rural areas use the Internet when it is
available via broadband connectivity.
2.
To better
understand what type of resources, databases, and collaborative opportunities
rural users access when broadband Internet is
available.
3.
To examine the
impact on individual learning for rural users who access the Internet over a
broadband connection.
I
was specifically interested in rural users because of my Cooperative Extension
work in the 1960s and 70s where I observed the many problems people in such
locations often had to overcome. Today, unfortunately, people living in rural
areas still struggle comparatively with many of their urban and suburban
counterparts. This is true, for example, in terms of access to the Internet:
When
the Pew Internet & American Life Project first began surveying the Internet
landscape in early 2000, 41% of rural residents were online, while 51% of urban
residents and 55% of suburban residents were online. Rural Internet penetration
. . . has remained roughly 10 percentage points behind the national average in
each of the last four years. (Bell, Reddy, & Rainie, 2004, p. 2)
Fewer choices in accessing the Internet, especially broadband
connections, put those in rural areas at a distinct disadvantage as learners.
The real power of the Internet as a resource for learning, including
self-directed learning, is just beginning to be understood (Web-Based Education
Commission, 2000). My research effort was aimed at adding new information about
broadband Internet in rural locations. Additionally, I learned some things
about self-directed learning in the process.
The Research Sites
One site I visited on two occasions was the
Another site, visited three times, was a recreation center
in
A third location, visited twice, was the community resource
center in
The Research Subjects
A decision was made to utilize qualitative research
methodology so a more in-depth understanding of the Internet’s impact could be
obtained. In that regard, volunteer subjects, both youth and adults, were
sought. Utilizing the assistance of local leaders and Cooperative Extension
personnel in the local areas, and via personal contacts by me, a purposeful
convenience sample of 51 people participated in interviews (five from
For purposes of this paper only information from the
21 adults interviewed (seven males and 14 females are portrayed. In this study
I chose age 19 and older as my definition of an adult. Additionally, in the
data portrayed later I talk about experienced versus inexperienced Internet
users. Inexperienced users are those who had been involved with the Internet
less than one year at the time of my interview with them.
Methodology
As noted above, qualitative data collection techniques were
employed. This involved participant observations, an examination of relevant
documents, conversations with center and Extension personnel, and personal
interviews using a semi-structured schedule. The interview schedule contained
numerous open-ended items that facilitated my asking similar queries of each
volunteer about their Internet usage and its subsequent impact on them (I can
provide a copy of the schedule to anyone who is interested). In addition, a
number of probing questions were available to help me clarify my understanding
of the various responses. Occasionally, responses that I perceived as unique or
that provided new directions of thought enabled me to follow up with more probing
questions. All interviews were recorded in analog format and later transcribed
into a digital format via word processing software. Interviews lasted an
average of 40-45 minutes. Throughout the data collection process I wrote
various field notes and observational memos that also became part of the
database.
Merriam and Simpson (1995) describe the appropriateness of
qualitative techniques for field study activities, especially when a growing
understanding of impact is desired. In essence, qualitative data collection, an
ever-expanding understanding, and subsequent systematic data analysis allows
the researcher to uncover actual meanings of why people do, think, and even
change through their own words. These research strategies fit well with my
desire to understand and interpret the Internet’s impact on people living at
the edges of society in terms of Web access. As I show, too, some unintended
consequences were new understandings about self-directed learning.
After I had gathered information as noted above, I used QSR
International’s NVivo software (2002), a tool that supports qualitative data
analysis. Funding limitations prevented my gathering additional, corroborating,
or clarifying data after I began using the software, so that limitation needs
to be considered in interpreting my subsequent results and conclusions.
However, NVivo is an excellent tool for handling, reducing, rearranging,
linking, and displaying data during the analysis process. It facilitates the
constant comparative analytical approach by involving a cyclical process of
coding, recoding as needed, and assessment or clarification of assumptions,
hunches, and growing conclusions (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). This results in
a framework for understanding and describing the data. I did not attempt any
theory building in my efforts, although the NVivo software allowed me to
examine hunches by searching for specific related words or phrases. My main
goal was to interpret the data in broad strokes as bases for subsequent
research.
The coding process I employed involved my reading the
interview information, notes from participant observations, field notes, observational
memos, and gathered documents two or more times based on issues of complexity
and length. During the process I wrote additional memos reflecting my growing
understanding. This process resulted in several coding categories (NVivo refers
to these as “nodes”) that evolved as I became more familiar with what
information I had gathered:
Impact on community Experience level with the Internet
Barriers/hurdles/problems Type of Internet usage or activity
Success promoters Education or learning activities
E-mail experiences Impact on learning
Enjoyment level Online uses in terms of learning
Skill transference to life Self-directed learning experiences
Communicating with others Internet uses
In this paper I only deal
with a few of these categories.
The
decisions I made about codes, categories, and meanings of interviewees’ words
in many respects were arbitrary in nature, although I attempted to avoid using
any leading questions. Even the assumption made that interviewees will always
answer questions openly and honestly is subject to error because it is
impossible to always know the intent or motivation behind responses.
Participants’ words can’t always be taken at face value and my role was to look
at connections to larger forces existing within their setting, do some
interpretation, and tease out the threads of meaning and richness in the data.
Even how I was perceived by respondents as an outsider is another factor that
can add complexity to any answers received.
As such situations are true, of course, in most research
projects, several safe guards were employed in this research effort. As an
illustration, I am the only one who did the interviewing so intonation,
language, and interpretation differences that could arise from multiple
interviewers were eliminated. Considerable time was taken at the beginning of
each interview to explain why I was collecting information, that all responses
would be kept strictly confidential, and that a person could choose not to
answer a question at any time or even to end the interview if they so desired.
Although a person not connected with the research effort
was hired to transcribe the audio tapes into a digital format, I listened to
each tape recording while reading the transcripts for purposes of enhancing
accuracy. Any needed corrections were typed by me onto the digital files. The
feedback from research colleagues associated with the NSF project during telephone
conference calls and face to face meetings toward the conclusion of this
research effort also provided useful information in guiding the final report’s
development.
Obviously, this research project is only one of many
efforts, past and future, designed to better understand how people use, think
about, and depend on the Internet. The coordinated ADEC research efforts, previous
Pew and UCLA studies alluded to earlier, and the many studies I have not yet
perused are important contributors as our understanding of the Internet’s
impact is increased. Ultimately, though, research on this topic, especially in
what I found related to self-directed learning, must be an ongoing endeavor.
The Changing Self-Directed Learner
Internet Uses
One of my areas of interest as an ADEC representative was to
determine how rural subjects in this study used the Internet. As noted above,
this surfaced as a separate coding category during my assessment of the
interview data. During the interview I asked each person to talk about their
experiences at the computer center. Most respondents talked quite freely and
enthusiastically about the types of activities for which they typically used
the Internet. For more hesitant people various examples, prompters, or probing
questions were used to elicit more comments. This frequently resulted in more
in-depth answers, ideas, and even reflections by interviewees.
As might be anticipated, and in line with the work by the
Following is a small sampling of such Internet uses with
their own words.
A
29 year old experienced user from
. . . I collect toys and a lot of
Japanese cartoons. I used it for a lot for the animation and surfing the web.
A
47 year old male and beginning user from
I’ve used it for references on different
things, for medical problems, . . . I have used it for to look up, with my
diabetes, and since my Dad got cancer they have a, I think it’s called
cancer.com where you can speak with other people who were diagnosed with
cancer.
A
47 year old female and experienced user from
Well, I do more searching things out
like, I don’t know, health issues, vitamins, and then . . . e-mail. We’re in a
home school group that you go to a Web site to read an article or something,
you know, there’s quite a bit of that.
A
19 year old male from
I use it to find information on things
that I’m interested in, like a book I’m looking for, I’ll go to the Internet
and find the author, title, and a rating.
A
42 year old female and beginning user in
I like to train,
I like to run, so I look for Olympic records and things like that, how close I
want to get to it.
A
70 year old female and a self-described novice user in
I learned on my own to get and send
e-mail and that’s all I basically do.
From
an experienced 30-39 year old female in
Employment,
to research medical history . . . All kinds of things. I use it for
everything. You've got to learn how to do it.
The
sample quotes above reveal how many people keep up with the constantly changing
world and intuitively understand that their user-derived needs often can be met
through the Internet. They are answering interesting questions about life,
personal interests, and essential needs through their Web searching. Having a
means for fairly quickly and efficiently meeting such needs becomes an
important tool in developing both lifelong and self-directed learning skills
(Brockett & Hiemstra, 1991; Hiemstra, 2002). I mention more about this
notion of developing SDL skills later.
Impact on Learning
One
important research objective was to determine the impact on learning for adults
who have broadband access to the Internet. In that regard, several related questions
were asked during the interviews. As might be anticipated, respondents offered
a wide variety of opinions and relayed numerous personal experiences. However,
there were some commonalities or similarities across the responses.
For example, the notion of efficiency and easy access to
information was expressed frequently. Following is a sampling of these
comments.
A
55 year old female from
Well, I’ve learned to be a little more
overall efficient on the computer. . . As I use it more I’ve found my way
around a little better.
A
30-39 year old female in
. . . First of all,
the knowledge of the Internet. I didn’t even know I could do that much.
Probably a lot, I can use it now. . . Well, I’ve learned a lot more altogether
because not only have I learned how to use the Internet, but now I know how to
look things up without having to spend all day looking at a book and about
everything you want to find out.
A
29 year old male from
. . . it is now
easer to access stuff and it wasn’t that easy before.
A
beginning user who is a 61 year old female in
Oh definitely, it's made it a lot easier
to get the information and it gives me a lot more information than what I would
be able to get any other way.
A
general increase in overall knowledge and skill from the experiences of using
the Internet was expressed in various ways:
A
47 year old female living in
Well, I have learned quite a few things
on the Internet and these are things I wouldn't have probably learned otherwise
because our lifestyles are pretty busy and we live in a very small town. The
library is pretty limited with what their information is. I just wouldn’t have
had access.
A
19 year male in
I've really picked up on really good
sites to go to for education and stuff like that.
A
40 to 59 year old woman in
Oh
my gosh, I learned a lot off the Internet.
This
notion of enhanced knowledge and skill also was expressed in terms of how a
person’s learning abilities were affected.
A
47 year old male in
I’m learning by other people’s
experiences, how they changed their lives, and how the changes they made helped
them live their lives . . . better.
A
19 year old male from
A lot of my learning is really based on
the computers because that is where I learned most of what I know.
A 40-59
year old female in
Yeah, well I think you do have a
different way of learning. I think it’s faster for one thing. The ease of it is
wonderful. It’s right there at your fingertips, you’re not having to go
somewhere to search it out or whatever.
Notions
about curiosity, enjoyment, and general interest or excitement in working with
the Internet came up several times.
A
47 year old female from
. . . it makes
it a lot more interesting and exciting than just trying to search through 100
books at the library.
Another
I'm really excited about what I can do
and I'm really excited about what I'm going to learn to do, the future of it,
and I try to get my other friends approximately my age and they won't and I
can't understand because I tell them, if I can do it, so can you.
Another
older female in
So I guess I've become more exploratory;
my learning before that was more specifically directed to job or personal
leisure or something like that. Just kind of discovering something for the heck
of it is kind of fun.
It
was anticipated that interest or involvement in online courses would exist
among the respondents because of the growth of distance education throughout
the world. However, very little involvement was found. A couple of adults had
used the Internet to access some course material at a university, e-mail a
teacher about an assignment, or send in material electronically for an
assignment. Only two people had taken a course of some sort via the Internet.
The
29 year old American Indian male in
. . . the A+
certification was done online through [the
University of]
A
40-59 year old female, an experienced user took a couple of courses to aid her
teaching abilities:
The Word course online I did take. It
was free and that’s how I learned a lot before I started teaching it because I
really didn’t use Word. . . . I took another Excel course so that maybe I could
teach . . . [it].
There
is no doubt the Internet has impacted the way rural people learn, use the
Internet to access learning resources they need, and undertake various learning
activities. Some of the people I interviewed had become very excited about the
Internet as a resource for new learning activities. Even though interviewees
weren’t using terms like self-directed learning, personal control, and
self-motivation, you got the sense that learning by themselves
had become rewarding and even habit forming. This research has only begun the
process of understanding such learning enhancements. Future research can delve
more intensely into this so the ways people learn, and the corresponding ways
people like us can help them, will be enhanced.
What Does This All Mean?
This
current research effort has generally supported previous research about
Internet users. In essence, rural people in the
We know that people living in rural and remote areas will
become avid users of the Internet for information acquisition, skill building,
and learning purposes if opportunities to do so exist. This research report,
other ADEC research reports, and national efforts by the
Outcomes From Using the
Internet
After
interviewing 51 youth and adults, observing what was going on in parts of
In many respects, the power of broadband Internet has
helped rural people think of it as their encyclopedia, World book, and self-directed
“go to” source of information needed for life. Summarizing from some of my
interviewees’ words, yes, that includes e-mailing friends, listening to a song,
and booking an airplane ticket for that get away vacation. However, who can say
that such snatches at joyful living aren’t just as essential as finding information
about Olympic records, chatting with someone about your Dad’s cancer, or
locating the information necessary for submitting a funding proposal. As a person
in
This embracing of the whole world in a computer through
Internet access seems to even be extended as these rural users gain experience
and discover new applications. Think of those earlier quotes from several
people who exclaimed almost with glee how they had discovered all the
additional things they could do on the Internet and how that was helping them
in various ways. This, in turn, can lead to self-discovery and
self-improvement, which ultimately benefits community and even society.
I was amazed at how quickly many of the interviewees seemed
to become quite knowledgeable about the Internet, computers, and various
associated applications. For example, my purposeful sample resulted in both
experienced and inexperienced interviewees. Often a fairly new user was
employing the language, concepts, and approaches associated with Internet
familiarity one might expect more with a very sophisticated and experienced
user. Web site names and URLs, common Internet jargon, complaints about slow
computers, discerning comments about which search engines did what, and even
Web page design talk emanated from many of these Internet users.
There also appear to be new learning approaches and skills
developing as these rural people use the Internet. Several have readily accessed
various resources or information sites to help them with their learning needs,
including such actions as finding animation resources, increasing typing
skills, e-mailing a professor about a college course requirement, and finding
material for a special interest. As Raupers and Roberts (1998) suggest,
technology seems to motivate some students to learn.
So, are there some indicators of success we can look for
when assessing the Internet’s impact on rural and other users? Here are several
that appear to come from the interview data:
·
A growth in
computer and Internet knowledge, jargon, and use abilities
·
An ability to
evaluate Web pages and discern among them for their perceived value and
usefulness
·
Increases in both
time and sophistication in using search engines or searching techniques
·
Increased typing,
communication, and information retrieval skills
·
An enhanced or
growing confidence, curiosity, enjoyment, and even excitement about using the
Internet
·
Turning more to
the Internet for the information, knowledge, and resources required for meeting
life’s needs and keeping up with change.
Future
research efforts are needed to verify, add to, and even quantify such
indicators. However, an important lesson learned from this research effort is
that having access to broadband Internet can make an important difference in
the lives of many rural learners.
Impact on Community
I
was also interested in determining what kind of an impact broadband access to
the Internet has on a rural community. Looking at just three sites, only two of
which were in a true community setting, is a real limitation in answering this
question. However, out of the interview data and observations I made of many
people using the computer labs, some beginning insight is possible.
In
A
55 year old female in
I like to look up information about
educational things for my kids at school, different schools, programs, book
clubs, places that sell books. I just like going on and getting information
whatever . . . happens to be going on in my life at that time.
A
55 year old female in
. . . the
There
is some evidence that the computer labs can serve as a stimulus in community
capacity building, where administrators, teachers, volunteers, and even users
of the Internet begin developing a desire for more personal learning, exposure
to ideas, and computer-related courses. Various learners, for example, talked
about wanting to take some courses. Here is a sampling.
A
54 year old female in
As far as educational courses . . . that
is another area that would be very interesting to me. One thing that I would
really like would be a course that you could, maybe an Internet course, that
you could go in and find out . . . well, . . . I don’t
know how to access the Library of Congress.
A
48 year old female in
I am very hopeful that they will
increase the amount of classes that they offer and I hope that the community
will take them.
Various
training implications arise from such needs and desires. Administrators and
coordinators will need help in learning how to take a broader view of their
roles as contributing to a community’s development. Teachers and facilitators
of learning will need to be found for any new courses and trained on how to use
the Internet effectively and efficiently as an educational aid. Even users,
themselves, can be helped to become savvier about employing the Internet as a
learning tool.
This notion of capacity building harkens back to the ideas
many years ago when Biddle and Biddle (1965) were noting that developing a
community really means human development. In many ways, sitting at a computer
screen and accessing the Internet can be seen as a solitary activity that keeps
people apart, rather than contributing to a community by developing human
capacity. However, the necessary act of journeying to a centrally located
community center, even for self-directed learning, brings people of all ages
and walks of life together over a common need. As suggested by Schrage’s (1999)
work, the AISEP efforts may be demonstrating an innovative new model for
reinvigorating the rural community.
From Reflections to the Future
I
was able to take only a brief snapshot in time of how rural people in three
locations use, think about, and incorporate into their lives access to
broadband Internet via satellite transmissions. Thus, any reflections that I
offer must be considered with a certain amount of caution. However, an
important outcome of a qualitative research effort is that it enables the
researcher to live even for a short time through the eyes, minds, and
experiences of the people being studied.
Such an insertion into the lives and communities of people
is, at best, imperfect in helping a researcher form a real picture of the
reality such people experience. I struggled with that imperfect reality. Were
enough questions asked? Were too many asked? Were the right kind of probing or
follow-up questions used? Were the interpretations of typed transcripts, field
notes, and memos about perceptions accurate? Did my personal biases and my generally
positive nature creep into those evolving perceptions? Did I select quotes that
tended to match what words were expected to have been found in these
communities while overlooking conflicting or contrary thoughts? Did my perceptions
of self as a researcher, as a person experienced with technology,
and even as an avid Internet user color any data analyses?
There also are some obvious things that were not learned in
this study effort. For example, there is always a certain amount of built-in
selectivity in terms of who makes their way to a computer lab in the first
place. Finding volunteers from that selected group means many others were not
studied. We need to know why some people don’t use the computer labs. We need
to know about those who began using it, but for various reasons do not
continue. As I write this paper, I certainly wish I had asked more specific
questions pertaining to SDL.
Recognition of such struggles and unanswered questions is
important, for it serves as a constant reminder, both for me and for you, that
the imperfect world of research still results in new knowledge and
understanding. Thus, from my overall effort to understand more about how rural
people use the Internet when there is a broadband connection, it is possible to
make a few personal observations. It is anticipated that reflecting on these
observations will help others think about the future benefit for learners as we
find ways to increase Internet access for hard to reach people.
Information Overload
Almost
everyone who accesses the Internet soon experiences the enormity of what is
there. The good news is that almost anything about which you are interested
will be addressed in some way via multiple Web sites. The bad news is that
almost anything about which you are interested will be addressed ad nausea via multiple Web sites. The
resulting information overload can be daunting, to say the least, especially
for a new Internet user.
Several interviewees in the current study expressed
concerns about the bombardment of information when working with the Internet.
This comment from a woman in
Meeting Medical and Legal Needs
People
living in rural and remote areas often are at a disadvantage in terms of
finding those who will advocate for them when they have medical or legal needs.
Financial limitations, social service or specialized medical organizations
located in a town many miles away, and even a reluctance to depend on others
can act as barriers in securing vital information. The Internet has the
potential to help people secure some related knowledge through their
self-discovery efforts.
Some of the people interviewed for this study, for example,
described how they turn to the Internet for medical information.
A
47 year old male in
Well, the sites I pull, on the diabetes,
they’ve got sites where medical doctors share their information, have sites on
there, actually people who have diabetes Type I, and you can pull that site up
and say their information might be a short story book or like a term paper. The
information that they’ve gathered and what they’ve learning.
A
48 year old woman in
Yes, we look for medical . . . if we
have a question, instead of going to the encyclopedia, we go to the Internet.
A
30-39 year old woman in
I put in the word emphysema and Google
came to a whole list of different things you could find out about emphysema and
the one I went to, it said, diagrams of the lungs, and you click onto that and
that takes you to a Web site that has everything you’d want to know about the
disease including what your lungs look like.
Other
interviewees talked about special situations they were facing that had legal
implications.
The
woman described just above used the Internet to find information to help her
children:
I’ve used it to research child support
laws for my kids.
A
42 year old female in
Oh, I look up information in order to
get my child support. How to hire a lawyer, just tons of information if can get
it.
Other
specialized needs related to such areas as finances, searching for jobs, and
even finding information about where a certain relative was buried, were some
other uses described by these interviewees. Future research to uncover the
variety of specialized uses by rural people can become the basis for developing
various kinds of educational programs and resources.
Working with Minorities
Another
unanticipated outcome was hearing the perceptions by some interviewees in
A
59 year old male in
I don’t know exactly how to say that,
but we have a tremendous Hispanic population, probably one of the largest
Hispanic populations in . . . Idaho, and probably I’m saying 80 or 90% of these
people do not have Internet access or home computers and so basically this is a
resource for them for their kids that without it, they wouldn’t have it. . . The
whole thing about it, I think it behooves us to have as good an educational
tool for the Hispanic kids as we possibly can. I think it just makes sense for
us to do that.
Still
another adult in
A Concluding Thought
Development
of the Advanced Internet Satellite Extension Project came about because ADEC
leaders believed there were better ways of serving those living in rural and
remote areas through technology. The National Science Foundation provided
important financial support so that new models and approaches in support of the
Internet could be determined. It is anticipated the results will demonstrate
that satellite transmission of broadband Internet is an important means for
providing such access.
What the future holds for rural and remote areas is still
unclear. Foundation and other outside support will not be sufficient to meet
all such needs across the
Stone, Itoi, and Flynn (2004) provide some insight on what
may be new ways of thinking about the situation. They describe how EZ Wireless
in
Having broadband access is very important to many people
living in rural areas and will likely become more important in the future as
our information age continues to expand. However, as a qualitative researcher I
must ask myself, and you, if I have made the case implied in my title for this
paper and in my opening section. I think I have, in that the people I
interviewed, almost to a person, were excited about what they were able to do,
were enthusiastically using the Internet to meet various personal learning
needs, and were truly discovering new things they most likely could not have
done without the Internet. I sensed, and perhaps I am reading more into it than
I should, that they had changed as learners and were undergoing such change mainly
by themselves.
I am
not a biologist and I don’t play one on TV, but I am going to borrow an analogy
now from the world of biology. In biological co-evolution there is a concept
called self-optimization (Rikvold, 2005). This is where a new species is
introduced through a small probability of mutation and becomes maximized and
eventually self-sustaining. By introducing people to the wonders and ever
increasing potential of the Internet, I believe we are helping to evolve a new
species where the power of the Web changes the way we think about learning and
acquiring information.
Most
of us can see this perhaps most clearly in our youth (and that was certainly
true in the youth I interviewed), as the Internet has become a natural
extension of almost everything they do. However, I saw that happening, too, in
the rural adults I studied. In my view, the Internet is helping to create a new
type of self-directed learner. The beauty of the ISDLS is that you can look at
my research and assail, challenge, support, and, above all, do some related
research if you are interested in what I am proposing.
For the people I studied, the Web has a
potential for resource access any time, any place, any path, any pace. But it
is still up to us as professional educators, designers, or human resource
developers to make sure that the learning efforts we facilitate are inclusive
enough so that people no matter where they live or no matter what their
circumstances can be a part of it all (Hiemstra & Poley, 2006).
I realize I am preaching a bit here, and
most certainly I am preaching to the choir, but we cannot let those in the remote areas of the country or those who are
hard to reach for whatever circumstances be left
behind. Thus, I draw from the wisdom of one of my youngest interviewees to end
this paper. An 11 year old female in
References
American Distance Education
Consortium. (2005).
Advanced Internet Satellite Extension Project.
Biddle, W. W., & Biddle, L. J.
(1965). The community development process: The rediscovery of local initiative.
Boyd, D. (2004, Spring). The characteristics of successful
online students. New Horizons in
Adult Education, 18(2), 31-39. Retrieved
Brockett, R. G., & Hiemstra, R.
(1991). Self-direction in adult learning: Perspectives on theory, research, and
practice.
Bulik, R. J., & Hanor, J.
(2000). Self-directed learning in a digital age: Where next to browse is informed
by reflection (pp. 265-276). In H. B. Long &
Associates, Practice & theory in self-directed learning.
Bush, G. W. (2004, March 26). Promoting innovation and economic security
through broadband technology.
Candy, P. C. (2004). Linking thinking – self-directed learning in
the digital age.
DeLaney, K. J., & Trachtenberg, J. A. (2005,
November 1). Google will return to scanning copyrighted library books. The Wall Street Journal Online, B1.
Retrieved
Derrick,
M. G., Ponton, M. K., & Carr, P. B. (2005). Enhancing and
facilitating self-efficacious behaviors in distance learning environments. New Horizons in Adult Education, 19(3),
4-11. Retrieved
Deci,
E., & Ryan, R. (2000). What is the self in self-directed
learning?: Findings from recent motivational research
(pp. 75-92). In G. A. Straka (Ed.), Conception of self-directed learning: Theoretical and conceptual
considerations.
Draves,
W. (2002). How the Internet is
changing how we learn. Paper
presented to the Seventh Annual Teaching on the Community Colleges Online
Conference,
Ekstrom, K. M., Landau, N. B., & Plowman, T. S.
(2003). Implications
of classroom technology on self-directed learning (pp. 123-140). In H. B. Long, H. B & Associates, Current developments in
e-learning & self-directed learning.
Fox, S. (2005, October 5). Digital divisions: There are clear differences among those with
broadband connections, dial-up connections, and no connections at all to the
internet.
Gerstein, R.B. (2000). Video-conferencing
in the classroom, special projects toward cultural understanding. Computers
in the School, 16(3&4), 177-187.
Guglielmino, P. J. &
Guglielmino, L. M. (2002). Learner characteristics
affecting success in electronic distance learning (pp. 257-273).
In H. B. Long & Associates, Twenty-First Century advances in
self-directed learning. Boynton Beach, FL: Motorola University. Available only as an interactive CD-ROM. See http://sdlglobal.com/
for ordering information.
Glaser,
B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory:
Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine.
Hiemstra, R. (2000). The educative community: Linking the community, education, and family.
Baldwinsville, NY: HiTree Press. Retrieved
Hiemstra, R. (2002). Lifelong learning: An exploration of adult and continuing education
within a setting of lifelong learning needs. Baldwinsville, NY: HiTree Press. Retrieved
Hiemstra, R., & Poley, J. (in
process). Advancing an inclusive future for learning.
Paper to be presented at the 23rd
Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, August 2-4, 2006, Madison,
WI.
Horrigan, J. B. (2005). Broadband adoption at home
in the United States: Growing but slowing. Paper presented to
the 33rd Annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, Arlington,
Virginia, September 24, 2005. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life
Project. Retrieved
Kerka, S. (1997). Distance
learning, the Internet, and the World Wide Web (ERIC Digest). Retrieved
Lebo, H. (2004). Surveying the digital future. Los Angeles, CA:
University of Southern California, Center for the Digital Future. Retrieved
Long, H. B. (2001). A new era in teaching and learning (pp.
1-16). In H. B. Long & Associates. (2001). Self-directed learning and the information age.
Boynton Beach, FL: Motorola University. Available only as an
interactive CD-ROM. See http://sdlglobal.com/ for ordering
information.
Lynch, R., & Dembo, M. (2004, August). The relationship between self-regulation and online learning in a
blended learning context. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.
Retrieved
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. (2005). MIT opencourseware:
About OCW. Retrieved
Mathai, R. V.
(2002). The use
of the Internet to foster self-directed learning in community and technical
college math and natural science classes (pp.
127-153). In H. B. Long & Associates, Twenty-First Century advances in
self-directed learning. Boynton Beach, FL: Motorola University. Available only as an interactive CD-ROM. See http://sdlglobal.com
for ordering information.
Merriam, S. B., &
Simpson, E. L. (1995).
A guide to research for educators and trainers of adults
(2nd Edition). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company.
Miniwatts International. (2005). Internet world stats: Usage and population
statistics. Retrieved
QSR
International. (2002). NVivo: Using NVivo in qualitative research (3rd
Edition). Melbourne, Australia: Author.
Rainie,
L., & Horrigan, J. (2005). A decade of adoption: How the internet
has woven itself into American Life. Washington DC: Pew Internet &
American Life Project. Retrieved
Raupers,
P. M., & Roberts, P. H. (1998). Technology: The latest line of learning
style tools. In R. Dunn & K. Dunn (Eds.), Practical approaches to individualized staff development for adults.
Westport, CT: Praeger.
Rikvold, P. A. (2005, August 19). Self-optimization, community stability, and fluctuations
in a class of individual-based models of biological co-evolution.
Submitted to the Journal of Theoretical
Biology, 1(19). Reprint: arXiv:q-bio.PE/0508025.
Retrieved,
Ruelland, D. (2003). eLearning +, a support system for the workplace
(pp. 235-242). In H. B. Long, H. B & Associates, Current
developments in e-learning & self-directed learning. Boynton
Beach, FL: Motorola University. Available only as an
interactive CD-ROM. See http://sdlglobal.com/ for ordering
information.
Schrage,
M. (1999). Serious play: How the
world’s best companies simulate to innovate. Boston: Harvard School Press.
Stone, B., Itoi, K., & Flynn, E. (2004, June 7). 10 favorite hot spots. Newsweek,
61-66.
Tachyon, Inc. (2005). The Tachyon
network services. Vienna, VA: Tachyon Networks International. Retrieved
Tyler, N. (2004, December 14). Google checks out library books.
Wang, H. (2005-2006). An exploration
of Internet use among adult students. Perspectives: The New York Journal of Adult Learning, 4(1), 35-46.
Web-Based
Education Commission. (2000). The power of the Internet
for learning. Washington, DC: We-Based Education Commission. Retrieved
Willis, B. (2001).
Distance education at a glance: Distance
education research (Guide 9). Moscow, ID: University of Idaho, Engineering Outreach. Retrieved
Wulff, S., Burke, E., & Hurley,
J. (2001). Guided
self-directed learning: Strategies for distance and on-site education.
Madison, WI: 17th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and
Learning. Retrieved
Zakon, R. H. (2005). Hobbes' Internet
timeline. Zakon Group, LLC. Retrieved