Computer Assisted Adult Interactive Learning in a Multi-Cultural Environment

With the declining cost and continued convergence of computing and communication technologies, and the availability of networked, computer multimedia communication, instruction supported by Web and e-mail interactive technology has been widely adopted by teaching and learning institutions. Adult learning often seems more consistent with the sort of peer learning and exchange that takes place outside formal education and training situations than within them. When more and more adults, who have been away from schooling for a Dong time, need to develop their knowledge or skills, the demands for adult learning increase. Computer multimedia and networking is regarded as an ideal supporting technology to meet the increasing demands for continuing adult education, but may cause a drastic change in the style of adult learning. This technology may or may not suit the learners' characteristics and their prior learning style. Most important, this change provides a more complex learning environment. For example, Pinhey (1998) stated that the Internet made possible a global education curriculum with various nations involved, so that understanding and tolerance of cultural differences is needed to reach a successful learning outcome. Besides more intercultural communication, there also will be more interactions among learners of different age levels during the learning process. These further considerations are prompting researchers to explore the effect of these factors on adult learning outcomes. The Environment of the Case Study This study reports on the experiences of 18 adult learners who were participating in a 12-week credit course. Students learned how to use the computer and the Internet as learning aids. The course used a combination of face-to-face conventional instruction, group work and e-mail interaction. This compound learning style offered an ideal situation to compare learners' preference and the effect on learning between face-to-face and e-mail media. The participants came from various countries, including China, Fiji, Hong Kong, Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan and the United States. The mean age of the students was 38 years; the youngest was 24 while the oldest was 55. A total of 80 percent of the students had a personal computer in their home and 50 percent were able to access the Internet from home. One student was very sophisticated in IT (Information Technology) and more than half of them had more than three years of workplace computer experience. Through questionnaires, observations and interviews, we investigated the relationship between learner characteristics and their learning outcome, and the impact of the media used. We examined the learners' expectation of the teacher, the preferences by which these learners communicated with their learning peers, the conformity issue and the impact of the language barrier. Introvert vs. Extrovert Yi and Majima (1993) asserted that distance learning provided a low-anxiety learning environment and a relaxed atmosphere that lowered the learner's affective filter. Similarly, in this study, we found that the e-mail interactive learning style was more suitable for the introverts than face-to-face learning styles, because introverts may feel more comfortable in expressing themselves in e-mail interactive learning. The barriers of being embarrassed or being shy are partially removed. With more confidence, introverts are more comfortable in communicating with the tutors as well as the learning peers through e-mail interactive learning, but there is no evidence that such learning style is more efficient for introverts than for extroverts. In particular, even though the extroverts tend to prefer face-to-face interactive learning, this phenomenon can not be generalised to those learners who have a sophisticated IT background. After so many years working in front of the computer, the latter have become used to working/studying in front of the computer rather than working with co-learners face-to-face. …