Factors which influence adult learners' equitable use and learning of technologies.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study identifies factors that influence adult learners' use and learning of computers. It looks at the experiences of seven women who attended computer-based family literacy classes. The variation in these women's experiences and backgrounds allows for a richness of data. They are homemakers and professional women; women on welfare and women from the middle class. This study explicates their experiences and places computer use into the context of their lives. The study initially reviews previous studies which have looked at singular factors (e.g., cognition or gender roles) that inhibit or encourage technology use. Then, the study uses ethnographic methods to look at various causal factors that create these seven women's level of engagement with computers. By looking at these various factors, patterns emerge that suggest ways in which the level of computer use can be increased among traditionally excluded populations.
None of the women are high-level users, and the data identify a variety of causes which explain how they reached their level of computer use at the time of the study. These reasons include internalized factors such as their cognitive styles and affective perceptions, and their self-identity based on social class and cultural practices. The reasons also involve factors external to their control. These external factors include available resources, societal roles and cultural norms, and educational levels and opportunities. Rather than any factor singularly defining how these women use computers, the data show that the factors work together and have different impacts on different participants.
While this study looked at computers, the impacts of these barriers are not confined to computers. The factors that inhibit computer use are the same circumstances and defining experiences that limit any educational success. This study offers evidence that computers can provide a flexible and supportive environment for some learners; however, there is also evidence that computers can create another way in which people will fail to learn. For the women in this study to use computers at higher levels, factors that limit their use of computers must be addressed. The experiences of study participants suggest ways to create equitable learning environments.