The Effects of Student Social Class on Learning in Computer-Mediated Versus Face-to-Face Settings

Abstract

Contemporary higher education makes use of computers and the Internet more than ever before and the extent to which education is delivered via these media is only likely to increase in the future. While computer-mediated communication and education have been studied extensively, relatively little research has examined the potential impact of cultural background (e.g. social class) on students' experiences of different learning media. To address this gap, the current research uses a multi-sample (6 samples; n = 473), quasi-experimental approach to interrogate the relationship between student social class background and learning environment on various educational and individual outcomes. Examining a trichotomous (lower, middle, upper) conceptualization of social class across three distinct learning environments (face-to-face, computer-mediated, and fully-online) I find evidence of effects of student social class, learning environment and their interaction. In general, middle class students vary the least across conditions; lower class students tend to score lower on outcomes overall but with some notable exceptions for shared experience in face-to-face settings and comfort in online settings; and upper class students tend to experience a laboratory-based computer-mediated learning environment most positively. Implications for studying computer-mediated learning and social class are discussed, along with implications for real-world online education.