Age, Race and Gender Issues Related to On-line Learning

Background

For some time now, on-line learning has been seen as the panacea for various goals and dilemmas related to higher education:

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  the early ideal of offering courses to students truly “at a distance” from the brick-and-mortar campus – ideally, adult students with busy lives and students not enrolled at one’s own institution – a marketing tool

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  the actuality of offering courses to one’s own students who have difficulties attending face to face classes – “non-traditional” students, students working full or part-time, one’s students still enrolled but serving in the military

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  the reality of offering courses to any student on any campus at any time

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  and the most recently noted positive aspect of on-line learning: the ability to continue delivery of courses in the event of disasters – natural (e.g., floods, H1N1 flu, blizzards) or man-made (e.g., biological or chemical attacks or other problems).

Despite these lofty goals, issues of age, gender, race, and social class have often not been explored sufficiently related to on-line learning.

Adult learners, sometimes called nontraditional adult learners, one of the first “targets” for on-line learning, express preference for on line learning and other forms of individualized credit-bearing instruction, given their busy schedules and demands of their lives. However, a mismatch between adult learners and distance learning has sometimes been predicted -- given adult learners’ relative lack of technology experience (compared to younger students) and need for frequent communication with instructors (Ausburn, 2003). Despite these observations, the largest group of on-line learners today are nontraditional (e.g., 26 and over) students studying part-time. It must be noted, however, that the dropout rate for on-line learning is higher than that for face-to-face instruction – perhaps implying that some of those who register are not prepared for the rigors and requirements of on-line learning (Diaz, 2002; Filkins et al., 2001, Frankola, 2001)

Diversity concerns have broadened research on learning style differences between the genders, and research also has focused on differences in races/ethnic groups in terms of learning/communication style and preference. Since distance learning’s effectiveness depends upon communication and learning style, developers of on-line instruction need to consider gender and racial differences as well as those related to age (Barrett & Lally, 1999; Proost & Elen, 1997; Sullivan, 2001).

Gender Issues

The phenomenon of on-line/distance learning does not occur in a vacuum. The various contexts in which such learning resides (e.g., a student taking one course to learn a specific skill; a student taking a degree program on-line; an institution offering a selection of on-line courses) need to be recognized and articulated. It is in the social science realm that the ramifications of such categories as gender, race, and age (as context) are fully examined.