Boundary Management in E-learning: A Student Perspective
Debby Cotton1, Jennie Winter1, Joan Gavin1, Jon Yorke2
1University of Plymouth, United Kingdom, 2Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Background:The increasing use of e-learning in Higher Education has led to an associated concern with the student experience of social and learning technologies. Student use of social networking sites is at an unprecedented level, yet our understanding of how they use technology for learning remains somewhat limited. This research takes an ‘instrumental’ case study approach (Stake, 1995) to explore the learner experience of technology in a holistic manner, encompassing both social and learning technologies.Approach used:The research focuses on postgraduate students – a group that are relatively under-represented in the literature – with a view to investigating their use of technology as part of the whole student experience. We used questionnaires, audio-diaries and the ‘interview plus’ method (semi-structured interviews using prompts from audio-diaries and questionnaires) to elicit the student voice.Results:Our results suggest that many students use learning and non-learning technologies and applications simultaneously, flicking from sites such as ‘Facebook’ and MSN to their academic work. However, they frequently found combining socialising and study in this way to be problematic, and took steps to reduce the impact of distraction on their work. There was also some evidence that students resented the blurred boundaries between work and social life and took a number of steps aimed at ‘boundary management’ (maintaining a division between academic and social activities). Specific strategies included turning off MSN, Facebook and other social tools (including e-mail) whilst working, and also controlling the impact of academic work on social activities (for example by not using mobile phones or MP3 players for work).Conclusion:Despite the assertion that today’s students are ‘digital natives’ who multi-task easily, our research suggests that the learners themselves perceived this to be an ineffective way of working, and took steps to minimize multi-tasking through boundary management. They used similar strategies to prevent academic work impinging on their social lives. This research has implications for the potential uses of technologies for learning, and suggests that care is required to ensure that students obtain the maximum benefit from new technologies. The area of digital distraction and boundary management would benefit from further exploration.Stake, R.E. (1995) The Art of Case Study Research (London: Sage Publications)