to consider whether and how the issues uncovered by research havechang - PDF document

1 to consider whether and how the issues u
to consider whether and how the issues uncovered by research havechanged as technologies have developed over time. Three issues are givenparticular attention: firstly the reasons for learners' use or lack of use of for learning.The research related to these two

2 issues is an early study of students'pe
issues is an early study of students'perceptions and attitudes towards using computers for tutorial learning in1980. The factors that influenced the students' use of the computer tutorialsincluded access, assessment and anxiety about using computers. Morerecent

3 studies illustrate how some of these fac
studies illustrate how some of these factors are still live issues formany students in making use of technology for their learning today. evaluating computer assisted learning tutorials at the Open University whichthen follows as part of the same section. As the

4 case study took place in1980, much of th
case study took place in1980, much of the literature post dates the study, and so further discussionof the literature is in section 3, following case study 1, and includesdiscussion of issues arising from the case study. Section 4 then introducesthe second case s

5 tudy: using technology for supporting em
tudy: using technology for supporting emotionaldevelopment and communication where a similar pattern applies, with mostof the discussion of the issues, and some literature, following the case study "They feel awkward and fear looking stupid." (p. 106)By the 1990s

6 a clearer definition of computer anxiet
a clearer definition of computer anxiety had been developed.Chua, Chen and Wong (1999) described computer anxiety as a complexpsychological construct, which is connected to computer avoidance. "Computer anxiety is, therefore, a kind of state anxiety, which can b

7 echanged and measured along multiple dim
echanged and measured along multiple dimensions" (p611). They also reporton a meta-analysis of computer anxiety and its relationships with gender,age and computer experience based on studies between 1990 and 1996.Whilst the literature suggested that the relations

8 hip with gender and agewas not straightf
hip with gender and agewas not straightforward, the relationship between anxiety and experienceappeared to be reliable and this was confirmed in their meta analysis whichshowed that computer anxiety is inversely related to computer experience. Joiner et. al's st

9 udy shows that twopsychological factors,
udy shows that twopsychological factors, Internet anxiety and Internet identification are both8 understanding their persistent and often problematic styles of relating. A toolsuch as Bubble Dialogue, described below, can allow us to firstly obtainchildren's persp

10 ectives of situations and secondly, when
ectives of situations and secondly, when investigating socialdifficulties it can allow us to focus on situations that are pertinent for thechild. The next section describes the Bubble Dialogue software and how it isused.When using the software, participants (usua

11 lly two) adopt the roles ofcharacters in
lly two) adopt the roles ofcharacters in a particular 'story' that they develop from an initial 'scenario'which may have already been outlined or they may develop it. They take situations. school secretary and shephoned his mother. Whenhis mother collected himlat

12 er he was very upsetOpener: (Opening spe
er he was very upsetOpener: (Opening speech)Peter says "Mum, there real life, such as to refer to his previous foster carers, talk about a burglarywhich had really worried him and to express his fear of strangers and adults.This suggests that this felt like a saf

13 e environment for Peter where he couldex
e environment for Peter where he couldexpress himself, and his anxieties. Both Peter and his mother said that theyenjoyed using Bubble Dialogue together. His mother found it a goodopportunity to concentrate on one child and to build up a bond. They usedhis own na

14 me in the scenarios and Peter commented
me in the scenarios and Peter commented that he particularlyliked this as it made him feel special. He made good use of thespeech/thought distinction as almost all his expressions of feelings werethrough thoughts. His mother thought that Peter was more prepared t

15 oreflect before responding when using Bu
oreflect before responding when using Bubble Dialogue than he did in real lifeand was more expressive. She also thought that the sessions revealed hisproblems in working out what other people were feeling and that he couldnot anticipate the effect his responses w

16 ould have on another person.Other case s
ould have on another person.Other case studies of adopted and fostered children (Selby and Jones 1996)suggest that the success of Bubble Dialogue in this context is likely todepend on how expressive the child is through other means; the types oftopic addressed, a

17 nd perhaps who the adult is (e.g. childr
nd perhaps who the adult is (e.g. children sometimeschose to talk to the researcher rather than the parent). Some children opted some of their social problems.What would Bubble Dialogue look like today? Two projects funded by the UKESRC/EPSRC TEL programme ( http

18 ://www.tlrp.org/tel/the-tel-programme/ab
://www.tlrp.org/tel/the-tel-programme/about-tel) take forward some aspects of Bubble Dialogue and also the workwith individuals with Asperger's syndrome described above.ECHOES II is developing an "adventurous technology- enhanced learningenvironment" for both typ

19 ically developing children and children
ically developing children and children withAsperger's Syndrome (ages 5-7) to explore and improve social interactionand collaboration skills in the context of virtual environments. In the sameway that Bubble Dialogue did in the 1990s (albeit on a much smaller sca

20 le)the environment will also " serve as
le)the environment will also " serve as a tool for researchers, teachers, social skills in a virtual world environment will be important in developingour understanding of whether this much more immersive environment willalso provide sufficient distancing and of o

21 ther issues that are important inthis pa
ther issues that are important inthis particular environment.8 ReferencesBrosnan, M. (1998). Technophobia: The psychological impact ofinformation technology. London: Routledge.Cambre, M.A. and Cook, D.L., 1985. Computer anxiety: definition,measurement and correla

22 tes. Journal of Educational Computing Re
tes. Journal of Educational Computing Research1(1): 37-54.Chua, S. L., Chen, S. D. and Wong, A. F. L., 1999. Computer anxiety andits correlates: a meta-analysis. Computers in Human Behavior 15 (5):609-623 3Chou, C. (2003). Incidences and correlates of Internet an