Lost in Cyberspace, part the second: Invaders from the Net Dimension

“At least we keep trying to get better--we don't go around turning people into machines.” - Will Robinson

So what are the basics of navigating the net when we’re just setting out into the big new digital universe? It can be difficult enough finding and evaluating information when you are a proficient internet user, but what about those who have just gone online?  How hard must it be for those who have LLN needs? What do you do when a window suddenly pops up telling you that you have to download a new program? How do you know you aren't going to encounter some scary creature from another dimension?  When you’re learning a new language in the form of written communication or numeracy, compounding worries about wiping your harddrive with fears of not understanding the lesson thanks to internet issues leads to impaired learning and perceptions of computers being harder than they actually are (Saadé and Kira, 2009).  So what can we as tutors do to simplify things for learners?

Way back in 2000, Hacker dissected an American report on developing multimedia standards for Foundation-level adult learners (Cyberstep Project-Working Paper, 1999) for some help. She extracted four key principles from the paper that still apply today:
- Provide multiple ways to access and work with information, focusing on contextual learning
- Provide multiple methods to navigate within and between the learning material
- Encourage learners to formulate, test and refine explicit hypotheses
- Engage learners in self-reflection and provide a way for learners to track their progress (Hacker, 2000)

The last two points work across a range of learner abilities, but the first two points need to be examined more carefully.  Contextual learning is definitely a big plus-factor in my book, but how many ways are actually needed?  As discussed in my second post, “Lost in Cyberspace I”, providing multiple anything can lead to a single headache.  I would suggest that multiple methods are useful (and authentic), but should be introduced gradually as familiarity with the learning environment is established.  Creating a learner/internet interface that is at the right level of difficulty – just challenging enough – is necessary to maintain learner involvement.  Learners who have been challenged by mainstream learning environments enough to have already dropped out can lose confidence if too much is asked of them again.  Keeping learners’ websites simple might build up key skills before they move on to harder tasks. 

Keeping websites simple does raise the issue of authenticity.  Look at some public information websites – how simple would they be for a range of your learners?  Can they access bus timetables or work out what they have to pay for their rates?  God help them if they want to do their tax online using the Inland Revenue’s website , which, as an IR representative tried to tell me was “simple and easy to use”.





Not.

Unfortunately, as Saadé and Kira (2009) point out, “the more ‘easy to use’ the interface is designed the less effective the features become” (p. 11), and so many of the websites/computer programs we use have a lot of bells and whistles attached.  The IRD website looks user-friendly until you try to use it.  Compare the IRD website to the Air New Zealand website, which also wants your money but will take it in a more efficient manner .  Which one is easier to use?  Now try looking at both websites from the perspective of one or another of your LLN learners.

Looking at things more optimistically, however, as Saadé and Kira do in the next breath, we can see that with the advances in technology it is possible to compensate for this limitation by creating a number of learner interfaces, perhaps as parts of the same website, each designed for a different learner level.  As learners become more skilled at each level, they can move onto the next, exploring and building on their knowledge, in the process overcoming their technophobia. 

Creating spaces where learners can proceed according to their own confidence levels and understandings of the tactics involved in using the computer programs follows key principles of androgagy and constructivism: allowing learners to follow their own learning pathways to reach their goals, and building up a personalised understanding on previous experience. Developing or recommending websites that fit with a student’s level and personal goals/background personalises the internet for learners. That flexibility of web design is one are where the internet really shines – something we as tutors can capitalise on. We don’t need to be machines, or even give in to technological determinism: demonstrating how the internet can be made relevant to people as individuals might be the key to engaging and motivating learners.