Review by: Amato, Vito (2005-11-14)

In this article, Jonathan Brinkerhoff and Carol M. Koroghlanian investigated the computer skills and attitudes toward Internet delivered instruction of geographically dispersed students. They also investigated the rate of change in students’ computer skills and attitudes toward Internet-based instruction over time. Their findings revealed shallow levels of computer skills with significant differences by geographic location. In addition, they found that students were generally neutral toward Internet-based Instruction and that students with prior Internet-based experience positively regarded Internet-based instruction. Their findings also indicated that within a four-year timeframe, student skills and attitudes remained relatively stable with some positive shifts. As a result of their study, the authors present implications and suggestions for Internet-based course design, development and delivery.

In this study, Koroghlanian and Brinkerhoff (2000-2001) extend their previous work by addressing limitations in an earlier study, which included a limited geographic distribution of participants. Additionally, a question not addressed in their previous work centers on the rate of change in college students’ computer skills and attitudes and perceptions toward Internet-delivered courses. As a result of their previous work, the authors’ areas of focus for this study centered on:

1. Current state of computer experience and skills of students
2. Computer experience and skill differences by geographic region
3. Student attitudes toward and perceptions of Internet-delivered courses
4. Differences of attitudes and perceptions by geographic region, demographics, computer experience, computer skills, or prior Internet delivered course experience
5. Components that students feel are important for an Internet-delivered course
6. Differences in components by geographic region, computer experience, demographics, computer skills, or prior Internet-delivered course experience
7. Change in computer experience over time
8. Change in attitudes toward and perceptions of Internet-delivered instruction

This investigation was conducted in two phases. Phase One addressed areas one through six. Phase Two addressed areas seven and eight.

In Phase One of this investigation five hundred and twelve participants from six universities located throughout the United States participated in this study. The instrument for this phase was a survey comprised of five sections: demographics and computer experience, computer skills related to Internet delivery of instruction, attitudes toward and perceptions of Internet delivered courses, rating of components in an Internet-delivered course, and prior distance education experience. Phase one results indicated shallow levels of computer skills with significant differences by geographic location. Additionally, while students overall were generally neutral toward Internet-based instruction, those with prior Internet-based experience regarded such instruction more positively.

The Phase Two participants were not associated with those from Phase One. Nine hundred and ninety one students from a large southwestern university participated in Phase Two of this study. The survey for Phase Two included only the first three sections of the Phase One survey: demographics and computer experience, computer skills related to Internet delivery of instruction and attitudes toward and perceptions of Internet-delivered courses. Phase Two results revealed that within a four-year timeframe, student skills and attitudes remained relatively stable with some positive shifts.

The authors posit that the number of Internet delivered or supported courses is quickly expanding and conclude that research is yet to determine best practices or optimal instructional design techniques and strategies. They suggest that tracking student characteristics, computer skills and attitudes toward distance education over time could provide faculty and instructional designers the opportunity to proactively address issues related to student frustration and attrition, therefore supporting more effective and efficient instruction as well as more satisfied and successful learners.

The authors present implications for instructional designers creating and implementing Internet delivered courses and present techniques for effectively deploying Internet delivered courses. A summary of these techniques include:

1. A task analysis of each Internet-delivered course should be conducted to ascertain the technical skills prerequisite of the course
2. Internet-delivered courses should to be designed to deal with a wide spectrum of student computer skills
3. A database of accessible, instructionally sound, and frequently revised scaffolds addressing technical issues related to Internet-delivered instruction
4. Examination of on-line curricula that includes required prerequisite of technical skills

The following is a summary of the implications related to internet delivered course attitudes presented by the authors:

1. Technical support should be made available through a central help desk to address general hardware and software problems
2. Faculty should try to connect with students on a personal basis through e-mail, telephone messages, video conferencing, if available, might also help connect instructors with the students
3. Course design that might encourage non-traditional students that might have less positive views of Internet delivered courses to complete the course
4. Follow up interviews and/or surveys by neutral parties to analyze and document overall course satisfaction

The authors conclude that the results of this study lead to some areas for future research. A summary of suggestions for future research include:

1. An analysis that addresses course management and delivery systems in order to document the specific computer skills required and whether they align to student computer skill levels
2. An examination of the underlying political, social, and economic factors that could contribute to the regional differences among students
3. Ongoing assessment of computer skills for prospective online students

In closing, the authors feel that emerging technologies are continually expanding the options for instructional design, development and delivery. In addition, they posit that student computer skills and attitudes change over time; therefore, the authors feel that students should be surveyed and studies should be conducted on an on-going basis to ensure the appropriate alignment between learners, their skills, and on-line course design and implementation.