Are They Really Learning Online? The Impact of the ...

Are They Really Learning Online? The Impact of the Internet on Adolescents’ Learning Experiences

Verónica Donoso Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Leuven, Belgium [email protected] Keith Roe Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Leuven, Belgium [email protected]

Abstract: The current Chilean technological context has greatly favoured adolescents’ internet use, particularly for educational purposes. However, most literature on Chilean children and adolescents’ uses of the internet has concentrated on formal learning contexts failing to account for learning episodes outside the school. Motivated by the finding that most adolescents’ Internet activity takes place outside school settings, this article provides an account of what Chilean youngsters are doing online and the way this is influencing their learning experiences outside school. A theoretical approach based on self-regulated learning constitutes the basis upon which our findings will be framed.

Introduction Most research on the educational impact of new information and communication technologies (ICT’s) has concentrated on the potential success (or failure) of their introduction into the classroom. In fact, since the introduction of computers in schools in the early 1980’s high expectations about the potential of new technologies for improving students’ learning began to be raised. It was even predicted that new media such as the computer would significantly and positively change the quality and the outcomes of school learning (De Corte et al., 1996). However, although educators and researchers recognize the importance of the use of new media for educational purposes, there still is lot of controversy regarding whether there are real benefits to be gained from employing new ICT ’s to deliver instruction. Furthermore, current research has amply demonstrated that children and adolescents mainly use new media and technologies outside school and above all for social and leisure purposes. In this respect, Erstad (2003) comments that young people’s uses of new technologies relate to using cultural tools, such as the Internet, that are less used in schools than outside of schools settings. Livingstone (2002) suggests that children value the internet for providing information, entertainment, and relieving boredom, and that even though many parents value the educational uses of the internet, children and adolescents tend to value more its entertainment character centred on fandom, pop music and bands. Taking into account this current complex technological context and the consequent spatial, temporal and social transformations of learning (Livingstone, 2003), this article discusses the way Internet-based activities influence students’ learning processes outside school. In particular, we explore the ways in which Chilean youngsters themselves play a role in establishing the emerging uses and significance of the internet as a facilitator of their own learning processes . In congruence with these objectives, and following the principles of inclusive and participatory children centred methodologies (Barker & Weller, 2003), we have decided to employ a ‘youngster-centred’ methodological approach that regards youngsters as active and interpretative agents who appropriate and shape the meanings and consequences of the internet (Livingstone, 2004). Finally, a theoretical approach based on selfregulated learning (Boekaerts, 1999) will be the basis upon which our findings will be framed.

Chilean Youngsters Online The Internet has become an important part in the life of Chilean adolescents. This may partly be explained by the Chilean government’s interest in encouraging the use of and promoting the access to information and communications technologies. In addition, the current Chilean technological context has greatly favoured adolescents’ internet use. Nowadays, Chile is recognized as Latin America’s leader in telecommunications infrastructure and ICT ’s, and has the region's highest rates of computer penetration and internet access with almost 1 million homes having a computer, half of which are connected to the Internet, and 3.7 million Chileans (24% of the total population) having access to the Internet (Digital Action group, 2004). At the school level, the most important governmental initiative has been the creation of the Enlaces Network, a programme which has aimed at achieving a harmonic and widespread insertion and use of ICT’s into the Chilean educational system, while improving teaching and learning opportunities for children in the public school sector. Some of the core strategies of the Enlaces programme are based on the ICT training and support offered to classroom teachers as well as the investment in infrastructure. As a result of this initiative, 85% of public school teachers have been trained in the use and integration of ICT’s into the classroom, 88% of primary and 85% of secondary Chilean public schools have received computers, local networks, and educational and productivity software, and most of them have free and unlimited Internet access to especially created educational content relevant to the Chilean curriculum(Hepp et al., 1997). As we can see, Chile has taken a great leap forward in the use and spread of information and communications technologies, particularly at the educational level. However, there is still much to be done in order to grasp the real impact of the intense penetration of the internet in the lives of children and young people, and specifically in relation to their learning experiences outside formal educational settings.

Conceptual Framework Self-regulated Learning In recent years the concept of self-regulated learning has been heavily researched. Zimmerman and Schunk (1989) define self-regulated learning as self generated thoughts, feelings, and actions, which are systematically oriented toward attainment of students’ own goals. Boekaerts (2002) refers to self-regulation as students’ attempts to accomplish their own personal goals through the systematic generation of thoughts, actions, and feelings at the point of use, taking account of the local conditions. In her opinion, all students self-regulate their behaviour in the classroom, and therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the personal goals students are trying to achieve and avoid so as to understand how and why they regulate the self. She goes on to argue that self-regulation is intricately linked to an individual’s goal structure and that all individuals strive to obtain, retain, foster, and protect the goals they value. Consequently, the availability of personal choice and control is relevant for the generation of effective learning processes . Boekaerts (1999) recognizes three key aspects of self-regulated learning, namely, cognitive, metacognitive, motivational and affective. Cognitively speaking, one important issue in self-regulated learning is the students’ ability to select, combine, and coordinate strategies in an effective way. In relation to the metacognitive aspect of self-regulated learning, students should be able to direct their own learning. In this respect, Zimmerman (1994) points to evidence that students who are taught metacognitive strategies can achieve improved learning outcomes. Finally, the motivational and affective features of self-regulated learning are expressed through the students’ involvement in and commitment to self-chosen goals. At this point, it should be mentioned that students rarely pursue single goals and that indeed, they usually tend to pursue multiple goals which are part of their complex goal structure. Until now, most research on self-regulated learning has focused on its cognitive and metacognitive aspects without paying much attention to its motivational and affective features. However, these aspects are particularly relevant because students who do not identify with the goals and values of a specific learning context , i.e. students who are

not motivated by that context, will face more difficulties in developing successful learning episodes than the ones who are motivated by them. Furthermore, motivational and affective factors, such as student’s ability to define ongoing and upcoming activities based on their own wishes, needs, and expectations, also play an important role in effort allocation, involvement, and commitment, and therefore, will also have an impact on students’ learning outcomes (Boekaerts, 2002). On the basis of the current research literature it seems reasonable to conclude that in order to develop a comprehensive model of self-regulated learning, an integration of cognitive, metacognitive and motivationalaffective frames of reference is necessary. In this respect, Boekaerts (1999) argues that this conceptual map is necessary to understand the potential and limitations of learning environments and to identify those self-regulatory skills that students need to acquire at a particular moment in their development. Finally, learning and achievement goals cannot be understood when isolated from salient socio-emotional goals and from motivation processes that guide the pursuit of personal goals. If we want to describe and explain students’ self-regulatory processes, we need to construct a comprehensive theory that incorporates self-regulation of both academic and socio-emotional goals. Studying the impact of the internet from the perspective of Self-Regulated Learning provides a useful framework to explore the learning processes developed by youngsters as they perform Internet-based activities. By saying this, we do not imply that every single activity performed through the internet is conducive to learning as we are aware of the various purposes the internet serves children and young people, especially as an entertainment tool. However, we cannot deny the potential of the internet to support learning processes . Consequently, it is relevant to explore the ways in which the interaction of children and young people with this media may contribute to the generation of significant learning episodes. Informal Learning Contexts As pointed out before, current research has revealed that most children and young people’s internet activity takes place in informal, non-institutionalised learning contexts. Boekaerts and Minnaert (1999) define informal learning as an active, voluntary, self-discovering, self-determined, non-threatening, enjoyable, and explorative process. According to them, most informal learning is embedded in a social context where social cues are highly relevant and where students engage in co-operative learning activities. These socially situated learning activities are loosely structured, learner directed, and mediated by peers who often share the same values, attitudes, interests, and beliefs. Furthermore, informal learning situations employ realistic objects, materials or settings that are highly contextualised. In an informal learning context time-allocation is unhurried in nature, self-paced, and with relatively few time constraints. Besides, the learning experience is more qualitative than quantitative, and is more processoriented than product-oriented. Finally, there is no compulsory, individual testing or assessment procedure, but rather a collective, informal type of assessment based on feedback. In summary, informal learning settings help to produce a natural form of learning that gives students the impression that they learn spontaneously and without much conscious effort. The importance of studying informal learning lies in the fact that students’ appraisal of a specific learning environment affects not only the value they attach to learning goals but also the quality of the learning process (Boekaerts, 1999). In this sense, self-regulatory skills are essential for the appraisal of non-traditional learning environments as powerful facilitators of learning and for the use of resources, such as the internet, that are available in these out-of-school environments.

Methodology Studying the learning potential of the internet in informal learning contexts implies researching young people’s internet use outside school, and therefore, researching the users’ homes. Nevertheless, accessing the home poses serious challenges in relation to privacy; ethical and methodological issues, particularly because researching private settings involve an unusual degree of intrusion, which may compromise the quality of the data (Livingstone, 2002). Furthermore, we must be aware of possible problems related to the collection and trustworthiness of the data obtained from the participants in relation to their private home and leisure practices. In spite of this , we believe that

by means of a method that combines a survey and in-depth interviews we have been able to reduce, at least to some degree, the problems involved in the exploration of private internet uses and practices . Survey For the purpose of our study, different classes from 10 secondary schools were selected to respond a survey about the students’ internet practices both inside and outside school. In most cases each school decided which classes would participate based mainly on the teachers’ willingness to hand their classes over to the researcher. The survey was conducted during October-November 2004 and was administered to 655 high school students aged between 14 and 19 years. Of this sample, 341 (52%) were female and 314 (48%) were male. All the participants lived in Santiago, Chile, and the majority came from middle class backgrounds. In relation to the school type they attended, 41% attended private schools, 28% subsidized schools and 29% public schools. In-depth Interviews In our study 32 semi-structured interviews were carried out. The interviews focused on the generation of data about the nature of the students ’ internet practices and perceptions, their motivations for using the internet, their personal internet histories, and various other topics that emerged in each particular conversation. We decided to select interviewees on the basis of the following criteria: (1) having voluntarily agreed to participate in the second phase of the study; (2) having at least two years of internet experience, and (3) using the Internet on a weekly or daily basis. Of all the students who fulfilled these requirements, three or four of the heaviest internet users in each of the schools that constituted the survey sample, were selected to be interviewed. Finally, we chose the same number of boys and girls (16 of each) so as to obtain a balanced sample in terms of gender.

Findings What Are Chilean Youngsters Doing Online? In our research 99% of 14-19 years-old surveyed claimed to have used the Internet, of whom 70% use it at least on a weekly basis. In relation to the number of years online, 15% of youngsters have used the Internet for at least two years, 20% have used it for at least three years, 46% for more than four years, and only 8% for less than two years. With regard to places of internet access, 86% of the adolescents in this study use the Internet at school compared to 91% of adolescents who use it outside school. However, it is important to carefully interpret these results, because even though these figures are quite similar, they do not imply that students are using the internet as intensely in both places. In fact, if we compare the frequencies with which students access the Internet in both places, we do find significant differences. To illustrate, two thirds (66%) of the adolescents who use the internet at school only use it a couple of times a month or less. Conversely, adolescents who access the internet outside school use it much more frequently. Indeed 42% of them access the internet from a place outside school on a daily basis and 34% do so at least once a week. This finding confirms previous research on young people and new media that claim that adolescents’ Internet activity mainly takes place outside school (Erstad, 2003). In relation to the activities performed online, most adolescents devote their time to looking for information, whether for personal (70%) or for school purposes (73%), using instant messaging (68%) and downloading things (58%). Regarding school work, the vast majority of adolescents believe that the internet is an extremely useful medium, even more useful than books: 91% of the adolescents find the internet very useful to get information for schoolrelated tasks compared to 74% who find books very useful for this purpose. The Internet: Something like a Universal Encyclopaedia During the interviewing process each student was asked to define the internet in their own words as we believe that the way children understand and interact with the internet has important bearing on the ways that the internet influences them. In the interviews, most adolescents referred to the uses (they know or assume) the internet serves, emphasising its informative, communicative, and global character. The following extracts also reveal that

adolescents have a sophisticated knowledge of the internet, which reflects their awareness of both the technical and the social complexities of this medium (Yan, 2005). Interviewer: Dayán: Interviewer: Dayán:

If you had to tell someone, who knows nothing about the internet, what the internet is, what would you tell them? That it’s a connection that exists between computers all over the world. It allows people to create a space, to create sites that they can visit through their own computer. And what is it used for? To connect people, so that they can share information in a faster way. It sort of brings all the means of communication like newspapers, or the television, or things like that, into one thing. And, it’s easier to access. (Dayán, 16)

Interviewer : Tomás:

Interviewer: Tomás:

Imagine you have to tell someone who knows nothing about the internet what the internet is, what would you tell them? Basically, the old concept was that (the internet) was a way to save information in case there was a nuclear holocaust. That problem existed because of the cold war. And nowadays, it’s used as a means of sharing information, for example, to download music, to share files or ideas (...). That’s it, basically. OK! And in one line, how would you define the internet? Anything that you want (laughs). Nowadays, whatever you are looking for, can be found on the internet. (Tomás, 16)

Interviewer: Juan:

What is the Internet? Let’s suppose I don’t know anything about it Well, even though it may sound like very extreme, we can say that almost all human knowledge is there. For example, in some subjects at school we’ve been told that in former times, people wanted to make a kind of universal encyclopaedia, and I think I’ve realized that with the Internet that already exists, there is a universal encyclopaedia. In the times of the Renaissance, people, the French, if I’m not wrong, wanted to make a universal encyclopaedia, so I think that that already exists with the internet, that dream of humanity has already been fulfilled. (Juan, 16)

Informal Learning Contexts Some of the most important characteristics of Informal learning contexts are their active, non-threatening, and enjoyable nature. In relation to the non-threatening, and enjoyable qualities of informal learning, most adolescents tend to perceive the Internet as fun, and therefore, as a medium that facilitates learning. Interviewer: Elizabeth:

Do you think that it is possible to learn on the internet? I think so. I believe that the Internet is an easy tool to learn, and also it’s more fun because sometimes you find pages that are interactive and you can learn, for instance, about the water cycle, and you look for it and pictures appear. So, sometimes you look things up on the internet and you find pages with pictures, but the pictures are moving, and one begins to see the page. That’s the advantage of the internet, it’s easier and it’s fun. (Elizabeth, 16)

Besides, learning experiences in informal learning contexts help to produce a more natural form of learning that gives students the impression that they learn spontaneously and without much conscious effort. In our research, many students referred to this incidental aspect of learning as a result of internet activity. The following extract from an interview with a 16 year-old gamer confirms that learning may take place even when it is not intended to happen, therefore supporting the development of more spontaneous learning episodes. Interviewer: Juan: Interviewer: Juan:

Do you t hink that your English is better now that you use the Internet? Absolutely! Some time ago, I knew very little compared to what I know now. Every time I learn new things. And do you like to learn English this way, by playing and chatting? Of course! Because when you are playing, you don’t realize that you are really learning as you are worried about the game, but after that you really notice that you have, that you are getting to learn more things. For example, in this game that I’m playing now, there are things which are not so common, such as cooking, things related to the kitchen, for instance. So, in this game there’s the possibility to cook things, and you have to start memorizing the ingredients and all that, so you begin to learn things which are not so common and which are not taught at school. (Juan, 16)

Our interviews show that the more informal nature of learning by means of the internet constitutes a powerful context for developing students’ success, progress, and satisfaction in accordance with the students’ specific need structure. These kinds of contexts can also help students to develop and maintain specific learning outcomes, based on their own formulation of social goals and progress expectations that are in harmony with the realistic learning context and their self-regulatory skills (Boeakaerts & Minnaert, 1999). The Role of the Internet in the Development of Self-regulated Learning While young internet users recognize the potential of the internet to support learning, most of them make a distinction between school-based and out-of school learning episodes . Indeed, when talking about school-based learning, most interviewees tend to view the internet as a mere information source. In fact, the vast majority of adolescents surveyed agreed that the internet is an extremely useful medium to find information (91%) and in fact, many of them referred to the internet as something where information on practically any topic is to be found. At this point it is important to point out that searching for information on the WWW does not necessarily imply that some kind of learning process is going on. On the contrary, many of the interviewees agree that doing homework or performing other school tasks usually means looking for information on the WWW, selecting some information from a couple of sites, and simply copying and pasting the chunks they find most suitable. Consequently, doing homework or other school-related tasks has, to a great extent, become a mere “copy-paste” activity where almost no cognitive effort is demanded from pupils . Interviewer: Juan Ignacio: Interviewer: Juan Ignacio: Interviewer: Juan Ignacio:

Where do you search for information when you have to do some school work? On the internet And what about the library or books? No, not much in books And how do you search for the information? What do you do? If I have to look things up about art there’s a page, but if I have to look for…I don’t know…let’s say a whole report, a whole paper or what ever, then I look it up on “El Rincón del Vago” 1 Interviewer: And how do you use “El Rincón del Vago”? Juan Ignacio: I type the name of a book or something, and then click on search and sometimes the paper is already done Interviewer: The paper is done? What do you mean? Juan Ignacio: Well, it’s very boring to write a paper for religion class, so I just search for…whatever (the topic is), and the paper appears on the screen and I download it, have a look at it, then I paste it and…a seven2 ! Interviewer: So, you paste it in a Word document or something like that and… Juan Ignacio: I change the font and that’s it! (Juan Ignacio, 16)

Motivational and Goal-oriented Aspects of Internet-based Learning When referring to learning experiences outside school, many students conceptualise the internet as a facilitator of learning, instead of just as an information source. We believe that this finding reveals the potential the internet offers to support and reinforce the voluntary, goal-oriented and motivational-affective character of self-regulated learning. Therefore, if students voluntarily decide what to learn, how to learn it, and when to do it, then the resulting learning processes will not only become more meaningful to them, but also more effective as the students will already be motivated by their own desire to accomplish specific, personal-oriented goals, rather than by the need to satisfy impersonal, teacher-oriented ones. In this context, the internet becomes a very useful means to support autonomous learning processes by providing not only the possibility to access information about almost any topic, but also by creating a more flexib le context of learning in terms of time, place and learning styles without the necessary supervision of teachers or other adults . [1] El Rincón del Vago” (www.elrincondelvago.cl), literally translated as “the idler’s corner”, is a popular website among Chilean adolescents. From this site it is possible t o download all kinds of school material, papers, reports, etc. based on the demands of the Chilean study programmes. Most adolescents, however, simply use this site to download entire papers, which are most of the times simply “copied” and “pasted” into Word documents to later on be “edited” and presented at school as their own “research work”. Most of the times the “editing” consists on changing the font, cutting some paragraphs, and changing the author’s name (if any) by the pupil’s name [2] Seven (7.0) is the highest grade in the Chilean grading system

The following interview extracts by a 16-year old girl and a 16-year old boy, respectively, illustrate this point by emphasizing the voluntary nature of informal internet-based learning contexts. Interviewer: Alejandra:

Do you think that the Internet is useful to learn? I think it is because the information is there and if you want, you can spend some time reading it and then you learn. At least I improved in chess (…) and in fact, I once tried to learn to talk Portuguese and I found a site that (…) was like a small course, there were tips on how to pronounce, and everything, so I spent some time reading that page and I learned a little, so I believe that it’s possible (to learn). (Alejandra, 16)

As expressed by Alejandra (16), learning in an internet-based context is perceived as a natural consequence of being interested in a particular topic. Carlos (16), in turn, stresses the possibilities the internet provides to learn about things he is interested in, and therefore to accomplish personal-oriented goals rather than other-oriented ones . Interviewer: Carlos:

Is it about religion that you have learned the most (on the internet)? Yes! Because, for example, I never look anything up about mathematics because it doesn’t interest me much and besides there’s the class and I learn the necessary there, but I always search for information about what I like the most, for example, if in history class we are studying the history of Chile in 20th century, I don’t just stay with what they’ve taught me in class, I try to look for more (information) in books and on the internet, to get to know the contexts of all that, to get to know more information (Carlos, 16)

To conclude, it seems reasonable to claim that information access and motivation are relevant components of a successful learning experience and that, in this sense, the internet does not only constitute a powerful learning tool, but also a relevant tool to generate powerful learning contexts that support more successful and autonomous learning processes.

Discussion Studying the impact of the internet on learning outside school requires exploring less traditional and less studied learning contexts with the consequent lack of consistent theoretical and methodological frameworks. In our study, we have tried to combine some of the most important principles of a relatively new psychological theory of selfregulated learning and a theory of informal learning (Boekaerts and Minnaert, 1999) as we believe that the integration of these two complementary approaches provides a useful framework for the study of the learning processes developed by means of the Internet, especially in out-of-school environments. Concretely speaking, this study shows that the Internet provides a real opportunity for students’ control and initiative both in terms of information access and learning styles. Moreover, the use of tools like email and instant messaging, or the participation of adolescents in opinion forums may help students to develop their autonomy while providing more opportunities to interact with their peers. Furthermore, as compared to classroom verbal discussion, students using these types of applications would not need their teacher’s permission to talk getting more control over what topics to raise and when to do it (Warschauer et al., 1996). However, more research is needed in order to understand the actual processes by which specific internet applications may be conducive to learning, and also to explore other factors, such as students’ personal characteristics and learning styles and the way their interaction may have an impact on the development of more effective learning experiences. Finally, we believe that researchers should be aware that the spatial, temporal and social contexts of learning have been transformed (Livingstone, 2003) and that this transformation has important implications for research. Consequently, (1) it becomes necessary to expand our focus of attention beyond the school so as to include those places where adolescents’ Internet activity is mainly taking place and where a greater impact of the internet has been felt. By doing this we will be able to provide a more comprehensive insight into the complex relationship between learning and new technologies, and particularly between learning and the internet. (2) A broader definition of learning is needed that better accounts for the intricate nature of learning in times of complex technological and social contexts. In this respect, we believe that self-regulated learning theory constitutes a comprehensive

framework to explore the mechanisms through which new media such as the internet are boosting students’ opportunities to learn practically anything, anytime, anywhere, without the necessary supervision of their teachers or other formal educational agents.

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