'One laptop per archaeologist': assessing the correlation between access to IT resources and the academic performance of archaeology students in e-learning programmes

Description

The academic performance of 60 archaeology students in an e-learning programme will be statistically explored in order to determine the degree to which differential access to computers and Internet connections affects the education quality of virtual-environment learners.In August 2007, the Open University launched a new course, World Archaeology, which is predominantly taught over the Internet; interaction between students and tutors takes place in online forums (via the Firstclass system), and there are no face-to-face meetings. Concerns about the challenges posed by virtual learning environments are not unique to the World Archaeology course. In the ‘Associate Lecturer Survey’ of 2007 (http://www.fitproject.co.uk/Associate%20Lecturer%20Survey%202007%20Summary%20Data.pdf) conducted by the Open University among all its tutors, a majority (69%) expressed concern about the fact that the University’s increasing emphasis on e-learning programmes risks excluding ‘the very people the University was designed for’. These fears arise partly from the steep learning curves faced by some of the students with little or no prior IT knowledge. As more interactive course content, administrative features, and formative assessments become available online, and students engage more with others through forums and blogs, there is a risk that the disadvantaged will become increasingly disadvantaged if they do not have regular access to IT resources. This is a concern particularly for arts programmes such as archaeology, history, and classics, which are often faced with low budgets and therefore have very limited student funding available for the purchase of IT equipment.The immediate goal of this project is to statistically determine whether there is a correlation between academic performance and access to IT resources within a sample of sixty students in the A251 World Archaeology Course. The ultimate aim is to set these results in the broader context of e-learning environments, in order to shed light on the question of whether programmes conducted in virtual settings could have the adverse effect of further alienating those who already have limited access to IT skills and resources.The last two years have seen a substantial advance in the development of increasingly affordable IT solutions. However, for departments with limited budgets and large student numbers, it is still important to ascertain whether investing in the principle of ‘one laptop per student’ is a real necessity, and whether this would provide true value for money in terms of academic performance. Research into good practice in e-learning programmes is an incipient field. Software and virtual interaction (e.g. the design of user-friendly interfaces, the efficient integration of different platforms, and accessibility issues in operative systems) have received the attention of researchers in Education Studies and associated academic disciplines. However, relatively little research has been carried out in relation to the hardware and physical-reality needs arising from virtual learning – particularly the challenges posed by providing students with physical access to computers and Internet connections. 

Aarón Alzola Romero

The Open University

aar76@tutor.open.ac.uk

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