The positive impact of virtual environments across cultures: Understanding the experience of the African American college students' use of e-tools in the learning environment ..

The technology of change is rapid, it is all encompassing, and it is inescapable. The question emerges in this swift acquisition of new technology – what is lost and what is gained? Traits such as social introversion and defensiveness can inhibit traditional styles of communication. It is believed that electronic communication tools can facilitate communication with certain personality traits and cultural groups and remove some communication barriers across cultures. For this exploratory study a select group of African American university students were given a personality assessment and asked about their experiences with electronic communication tools such as instant message, email, chat, and text messaging. The rapid evolution of the Internet and e-tools (instant message, email, chat, and text messaging) has provided the means for audiences to connect in a variety of interactive ways (J. Wei, 2007). The newness and swift adoption of these multimedia platforms presents a challenge on how to harness the potential in creating learning environments (J. Wei, 2007). Collaborative learning is considered an effective pedagogy for fostering “skills of analysis, communication and higher order thinking” (McLoughlin & Luca, 2002 p. 571). Internet based learning is a perfect environment for collaborative learning and has been shown to be as effective as traditional classroom collaborative learning (Geer, 2000). Adolescents worldwide are using the Internet as an important communication tool. Greenfield and Zheng (2006) claim Ghana teenagers use the Internet to seek out health information that they otherwise would not be able to access. The cell phone and other new technologies (text messaging, instant messaging, and chat) have had a “profound effect on the way people communicate and organize their lives” (Smith & Williams, 2004, p. 292) crossing barriers not previously permeable. Kadirire (2007) found learners were enthusiastic about learning with e-tools. After experiencing mobile learning 62 percent wanted to continue learning with mobile learning tools (Kadirire, 2007). The Internet offers an exciting format with vast pedagogical potential especially for active engagement. Greenfield and Yan (2006) claim the Internet is more exciting and demanding “than earlier media because it is a complex virtual, social and physical world that children and adolescents participate in and co-construct, rather than something that is merely watched (TV) or merely used (PC)” (p. 393). Other e-tools such as text messaging, instant messaging, and chat also provide the element of active engagement. Curtis and Lawson (2001) suggest that “student chats, threaded discussions, role playing, investigation of case studies, and working ha l-0 02 57 13 2, v er si on 1 18 F eb 2 00 8 Author manuscript, published in "Conference ICL2007, September 26 -28, 2007, Villach : Austria (2007)"