Variables

Age

The research on age has also made use of various treatments and forms of assessments producing very different results. The age variable appears to be associated with other variables such as gender, prior experience, or attitude. Older adults, college age adults as well as high-school age or younger computer users may all experience CA in varying degrees, however their experiences may be more or less important as a predictor in the appearance of CA. Other factors to consider when looking at the issue of age are: (a) time elapsed since last learning experience, (b) need to become current with technology, (c) necessity for re-education, or (d) family, social or career responsibilities. An older computer user could have had the possibility of a longer period of time lapse - perhaps 10 or 20 years - since the last learning experience in an educational setting. The older individual has the advantage and benefits of life experiences, however, because of the massive explosion of computer technology, re-education becomes necessary. In order to become current with the technology and survive in the new society, the prospect of re-educating oneself can be daunting for the older individual. The necessity for re-education may bring on conflicts with the new technology: "Adult learners many times have an instinctive fear of technology which leads to a considerable amount of computer anxiety. This anxiety varies from a minor amount of stress in some individuals, to full blown cyberphobia (fear of computers) in others" (Lantis, 1994, p. 82).

In addition to the fears and anxieties already experienced by the older computer user, there may also be family, social, career or job-related responsibilities. When progress in the individual career is threatened by lack of technological background, the adult learner facing the loss of a job or opportunity for advancement, becomes a prime candidate for joining the ranks of the computer anxious. It becomes a "flight or fight" situation and to the computer anxious, it appears to be a no-win situation: if the adult learner flees, then there is the risk of a loss career or loss of a job. If the computer anxious individual stays and fights to learn the new technology, unless the new technology can be mastered, there is the risk of heightened anxiety adversely affecting job performance and again, the threat of job loss.

In order to master the new technology and return to the educational setting after an absence of time, the older adult learner may not have the study skills available of the younger learner already in the educational setting. It may take a while to learn how to balance family, job, educational responsibilities and redevelop the study skills necessary to re-enter the learning environment. These learners need to be reminded of the basic study skills and methods of retaining information gained in the classroom. "Many times students will try so hard to gain every detail from the text or lectures that they become overwhelmed by trivial points at the expense of the main points" (Lantis, 1994, p. 83). Even after progressing through the re-introduction of basic study skills, the adult learner must become familiar with a whole new language of computer technology: "They are not familiar with the names of the hardware elements, they don't understand the fundamental operations of the PC, and the buzzwords and jargon that are used in describing the technology are foreign to them" (Lantis, 1994, p. 83).

The college-age adult student has the benefit of the educational setting, but without the benefit of having been exposed to the technology for the same amount of time as the younger students are today. Or if there was some exposure to computer technology, it may not have been a positive experience. In addition, although the college age student may not have the family responsibilities of the older adult, there may still be educational or school-related responsibilities as well as the necessity for learning the new language or jargon of the computer technology. The experiences and responsibilities of the college-age adult may contribute to the fears associated with the pressures of learning a new technology.

This fear of technology that the older or college age learners experience may be less evident in the younger student who is exposed to technology from the very first learning experience at school. However, the younger student may have had positive or negative earlier experiences depending on the influence of the adults associated with the child's learning or home environment.

Studies on age in relation to computer anxiety have proven to be inclusive with some showing a higher degree of CA in older learners, and other research showing a higher degree of CA in younger learners According to Honeyman and White (1987) as reported in Piña's research, "Older learners were also found to possess a higher degree of anxiety than younger learners" (Piña, 1994, p. 3). In contrast, however, the Dyck and Smither research indicated that "older adults were less computer anxious (as measured by both scales), had more positive attitudes toward computers, and had more liking for computers than younger adults" (Dyck, 1994, p. 239). Due to the close relationship to other variables such as experience, gender and confidence level, there is much inconsistency in reporting results. In their research, Dyck and Smother point out that there is a "need for basic controlled research in the area of computer anxiety and aging" (Dyck, 1994, p. 241). Because different studies use various instruments to measure CA, and base their studies on different age groups with differences in computer experience, results showing relationships between age and computer anxiety cannot be generalized across the studies.