Online learning design

Does generational poverty influence the young-adult learner?

Abstract

A conundrum exists when examining online learning and young adults who live in generational poverty. As informal learners these individuals gain and practice communication skills such as synchronous chat, uploading files, and frequent posting habits as members of social networking sites, yet typically do not succeed in formal online learning. This study examined how a sample of young American adults living in generational poverty participated in online social networking sites in order to identify cognitive styles used to develop knowledge or share knowledge, and to consider the implications of these approaches for the design of online learning for students at or near the poverty level. A case study strategy was employed to investigate online activities of Midwestern (USA) young adults who identified their families as living for at least two generation in a poverty level economic status defined by the U.S. Bureau of Census. The group was of mixed gender, and the same questions were posed to a like group of self- identified middle class adults to assess responses that were not unique to income level. Five usage perceptions or patterns were identified as unique to the generational poverty participants: (a) how the individual perceives life as a member of the virtual world; (b) life in the responders’ real world; (c) language register; (d) use of millennium learner cognitive styles; and (e) preference for synchronous versus asynchronous activity. These patterns suggest designers can cater for generational poverty through community interaction as a survival tool, casual language and tackling projects or problems with a sense of immediacy.