Generational Differences in Preference for Interactivity
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Transcript of Generational Differences in Preference for Interactivity
GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN PREFERENCE FOR INTERACTIVITYDissertation DefenseCapella University
Linda Kaiser, PhD
• Student concerns regarding lack of interactivity
• Literature on the Millennial generation
• Research involving Baby Boomer learners
• Course content on the importance of interactivity in online learning environments
CONTEXT
ENVIRONMENT• Community College learners
• Online courses
• Began with online Educational
Technology course
• Extended to other disciplines
ONLINE INTERACTION
• Instructor-to-student• Student-to-student• Student-to-content
KEY RESEARCH• More interactivity for Generation X and Millennials (Su et al., 2005).
o Out of the 102 [Generation X and Millennial] respondents of this survey, 92 percent indicated a need for more peer and instructor interactivity in online course environments and discussion of these results points to “individual personalities or learning style differences.”
• Generational preferences vary (Billings, Skiba, & Connors, 2005).
o There was a marked difference in interactivity preferences between undergraduate and graduate students in the online learning environment they studied.
o Baby Boomers perceived less interactivityo Generation X and Millennials perceived more interactivity
KEY RESEARCH• Age impacts learner success with regard to technology (Liaw, 2007).
o Older participants had less prior experience with technology thus possessedless self-efficacy or confidence with technology use.
o Lack of experience and self-confidence was found to lead to decreased learning
o Age was the most effective predictor of all demographic factors in this studyo A 2008 follow-up study supported learners use of collaborative learning
systems however, age was not a collected demographic
• Technology is used by only a small number of Millennials (Kennedy et al.,
2006 & 2009) o Survey on a wide range of technology tools, including Web 2.0 toolso Many Millennials had never used many of these tools
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK• Social Constructivist Learning Theory (Vygotsky, 1978)
o Knowledge is best constructed in a social setting.
• Communities of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991)
o Groups of people who have common interests and learn as they interact on a regular basis.
• Engagement Theory (Kearsley & Schniederman, 1999)
o In order to achieve learner motivation, engagement and interactivity, learners need to collaborate and interact with each other.
• Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) (Dillenbourg et al., 1996)
o Learners must interact and collaborate with eachother in order to achieve successful and fulfillinglearning.
RESEARCH PROBLEMHow do instructional designers and course facilitators accommodate the interactivity preferences of students from different generations who are concurrently enrolled in the same course?
RESEARCH PURPOSE• To investigate the online
interaction preferences of different generations
• To identify instructional strategies which can be applied to accommodate different generational groups
• To focus on factors that have an impact on engagement, motivation and interactivity in online learning
RESEARCH QUESTIONFor different generations of learners enrolled concurrently in an online course, what effect will employing different interactivity tools have on:
RESEARCH DESIGN• Quantitative analysis design
o Independent variables: Three types of interactions discussion boards – non-collaborative small group projects – collaborative, not tool-specific wiki collaboration project - collaborative, tool-specific
• Variables that were measured o Interest/enjoyment o Perceived competence o Effort/importance o Pressure/tension o Value/usefulness and o Relatedness
• End-of-quarter embedded survey o Informed consent and invitation included as
announcement
RESEARCH DESIGN• Generational Demographics
o Participants were asked to identify their age group
• Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) o Customizable survey to measure motivation and thus
engagemento Seven-point Likert Scaleo Responses range from “Very True
for Me” to “Not True At All for Me”o Comparison of generational
responses
• Null hypothesis o No significant difference in the
preference of interactivity tools based on generation.
• 166 participants surveyed – 90 responses (54%)• Small response rate of (Age 40 and Over) Baby Boomer group (n = 5)• Two older age groups were combined• Statistically significant difference in Effort/Importance for overall
interactivity preference for the older set of participants (p=0.04)
ANALYSIS
• All age groups combined revealed that wiki projects rated higher in o Relatednesso Interest and Enjoymento Effort and Importanceo Pressure and Tension
o Discussion Board rated highest in Value/Usefulnesso Students felt most competent in small group projects
ANALYSIS
FINDINGS• Age groups showed no significant
difference in preference for tools used for interaction
• Older learners reported placing more effort and importance on interaction with peers
• Millennial learners may not prefer more interaction and/or technology
Supports findings of Kennedy et al. (2009)
IMPLICATIONS• Learners may not be using
technology in ways some of the literature suggests
• Design learning environments to reduce cognitive load for all learners
• Rely more on common interaction tools
FUTURE RESEARCH• How are Baby Boomers using
technology?
• Give learners the opportunity to compare different types of interaction tools
• Apply findings in a long-term study
CONTRIBUTIONS• Type of technology is not
suggested to be a factor in effective design
• Many learners are still technically inexperienced
• Design should remain simple to reduce cognitive load and focus on learning
Thank you for viewing this presentation.
REFERENCESBillings, D. M., Skiba, D. J., & Connors, H. R. (2005). Best practices in web-based courses:
Generational differences across undergraduate and graduate nursing students. Journal of Professional Nursing, 21(2), 126-133.
Dillenbourg, P., Baker, M., Blaye, A., & O'Malley, C. (1996). The evolution of research on collaborative learning. Retrieved January 17, 2009, from http://tecfa.unige.ch/tecfa/publicat/dil-papers-2/Dil_7_1_10.pdf.
Hartman, J., Moskal, P., & Dziuban, C. (2005). Preparing the academy of today for the learner of tomorrow. In D. Oblinger & J. Oblinger (2005) Educating the net generation. [Electronic version]. Retrieved on June 10, 2008 from http://www.educause.edu/educatingthenetgen/5989
Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System (IPEDS). (2007). Retrieved on February 9, 2009 from http://nces.ed.gov/IPEDS
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. 1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning [Electronic Version]. Retrieved May 23, 3009 from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Lave. J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York, NY, Cambridge University Press.
REFERENCESKennedy, G., Dalgarno, B., Bennett, S.,Gray, K., Waycott, J., Judd, T., Bishop, A., Maton, K., Krause, K.,
Chang, R., (2009). Educating the net generation: A handbook of findings for practice and policy. [Electronic version]. http://www.netgen.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/handbook/NetGenHandbookAll.pdf . Support for the original work was provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd., an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
Liaw, S. (2007). Computers and the Internet as a job assisted tool: based on the three-tier use model approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(1), 399-414.
Liaw, S., Chen, G., & Huang, H. (2008). Users' attitudes toward web-based collaborative learning systems for knowledge management [Electronic Version]. Computers & Education, 50, 950-961. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.
Moore, M. & Kearsley, G. (2005). Distance education: A systems view. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Stapleton, J. L., Wen, H. J., Starrett, D., & Kilburn, M. (2007). Generational differences in using online learning systems. Human Systems Management, 26(2), 99-109.
Su, B., Bonk, C., Magjuka, R., Liu, X., & Lee, S. (2005). The importance of interaction in web-based education: A program-level case study of online MBA courses. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 4(1)(Summer 2005).
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.