• Abstract
• Introduction
• Who is a novice?

We, the authors of this paper, come from a Distance Learning University Business School and from a Police Authority, both of which make increasing use of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) to support learning and professional development. We have been extensively involved in the induction and development of users of CMC in our own institutions for purposes of professional development and are concerned to ensure that the use of such a communications medium does not merely become the province of the expert and the enthusiast. In spite of the ever-increasing availability of computers, we have found it necessary to "begin at the beginning" and address the training and induction needs that are central to successful implementation of CMC for learning and professional development.

" Fear is an important element in every novice computer user's first attempts to use a new machine or new software: fear of destroying data, fear of hurting the machine, fear of seeming stupid in comparison to other users, or even to the machine itself" (p.10)

To this we would add "fear of running up a large telephone bill", where a beginner is using a conferencing platform on-line that does not include an off-line reader and local telephone calls are charged. For the novice user, "time can really be money".

To participate and learn effectively, new users need to progress to a stage where lack of proficiency in using the medium does not get in the way of their learning. Hillman et al discuss what they term learner-interface interaction in the context of Distance Education . They note in general about delivery systems that:

"Successful interaction in the mediated educational transaction is highly dependent upon how comfortable the learner feels in working with the delivery medium. Learners need to possess the necessary skills to operate the mechanisms of the delivery system before they can successfully interact with the content, instructor, or other learners" p. 32

They note further that:

"The inability to achieve learner-interface interaction successfully can also be a significant problem for those comfortable with technology yet unfamiliar with the specific communication protocols required to interact with the tools to accomplish a desired task ". p. 34

Novice needs are succinctly stated by Rohfeld et al in a section entitled "Training Learners in the Use of the Software": " The amount of support novice users are likely to need cannot be overestimated" (p3 of electronic version).

Prior experience of success or failure can be crucial. To illustrate this, we can draw on the "self horizons test" among Rogers’ list of 'tests' adults apply in deciding likely ease or difficulty in learning something new:

" ...the test as to how far the subject matter coincides with what the individual believes to be their own abilities. Usually built on prior experience of success/satisfaction or failure, the perception of personal attributes will to a large extent determine the location of the subject matter in proximity to or remoteness from the self. (p205)

Rogers gives an apt illustration for our purposes: "I can see the use of computers to me in my work but I could never cope with them" (p205).

However we consider that there is a great need not only to learn to use the software and attendant technology for the purposes of teaching and learning but that "CMC is unique in that it is perhaps the only medium...(where) its users change the very nature of communication" p.47. Communicating on line can be seen to be a unique combination of interactive writing and speaking and we therefore argue that has considerable implications in terms of learning new ways of communicating through composing and responding in writing through the keyboard.

"Judy", a student on a course entitled Teaching and Learning Online, encapsulates this in her end-of-course feedback

"I began this course disliking writing and I finish this course a better communicator by text. I have always preferred communicating orally and face to face. This course has shown me it is possible to communicate via text, and that writing can be enjoyable. " (p5)

Failure to overcome this barrier will mean that the essentially social "threshold" is never crossed in an online collaborative learning community- "...the line between feeling part of a community and feeling that one is outside the community looking in" p.6

The reaction of another student, Sujata, reported by Wegerif, who later dropped out of the course, shows the effect on a student who preferred to approach her learning through face to face conversation rather than writing:
"'It [CMC] is a cold medium'. Unlike face to face communication you get no instant feedback. You don't know how people responded to your comments; they just go out into silence. This feels isolating and unnerving. It's not warm and supportive..." p. 6

It is reasonable to assume that as the technology associated with CMC becomes more widely available and used in everyday life, computer use will become taken for granted like the telephone. We consider that such a view may well be too optimistic in the medium term. Lienard charts the trend in pre-course experience of Information Technology among samples of teacher trainees. Based on frequency of pre-course use in different locations, he categorised respondents according to high, moderate or no prior use. He noted that, "What was in 1989/90 three nearly equal sized groups has become two approximately equal sized groups, with the 'None' group falling to 5% of the total by 1993/94" (p114). What is, however, noteworthy in the context of this paper was the saliency of word processing as the most used application, with only database use among other applications consistently scoring over 10% in terms of frequent use, with games use close behind. Use for electronic communication in 1993/94 showed only 3% as frequent users and 11% as using this application sometimes or rarely. A useful comparison is provided by a sample of 279 female and 661 male students with access to a computer, studying Computer Science, Economics, Electrical Engineering and Education, Social Science and Humanities with the German Fernuniversitaet during 1995/96. It shows that on a self rating for computer competence, of female respondents 20.4% saw themselves as beginners and 49.8% as having some experience, with 26.9% seeing themselves as having a great deal of experience or being expert (2.9% could not classify themselves). Among men, the comparable figures were 2.7%, 38.1%, 57.6% (and 1.5%). Once again word processing stood out as the most frequent application overall with use for communications under 20% even in the male sample.

The question of basic access shows interesting variations according to gender, of Pruemmer and Rosie's total sample of 356 female and 740 male students, just over 20% of female students reported no access to a computer either at home or at work as opposed to just over 10% of male students. In the UK Open University, Kirkup reported of a 1996 student survey that 28% of women and 15% of men had no access to a computer at either home or work. Of these, when asked if they were considering buying one, 57% of women and 47% of men said 'No' and 52% of women and 34% of men said they would avoid a course where computer use was deemed essential (internal communication).

Ory et al investigated student use of and attitudes to asynchronous learning networks (ALN) among female and male university students after one year on courses using ALN. They report that "Results of the study reveal no significant gender differences" (p.1). The few significant differences showed that Female students:

• used computers more often for conferencing with the instructor and other students but less often for exploring resources on the Web,
• found using computers to be slightly more difficult
• were less likely to use personal computers in their apartment or residence hall room,
• reported greater gains in their familiarity with computers after taking and ALN course." (p.16)

"The other three differences listed may all be attributed to females having less computer experience prior to entering college than males. Females reported greater gain in computer familiarity or reported to get more out of their first year college experience than did males. The females also reported more difficulty using computers throughout the semester. Furthermore, focus groups with many students revealed that often females did not use their personal computers for course conferencing simply because they did not know how to make the connection. Said one female student, "I think I need some kind of card to access the Web. I just don't know how." Another female using her personal computer explained how happy she was that her "brother came by and installed the necessary software." (p.16)

They go on to advocate that: "More computer training of students, especially females, needs to be done to bring all students to a satisfactory level of familiarity. " (p16)

In late 1995, two of the authors (Giles & Salmon) collected details of access to computers and computing equipment as well previous computing experience from 93 Open University Business School (OUBS) part time tutors preparing to teach on a graduate entry programme to the OUBS MBA. Computer literacy was included as a requirement for recruitment. Nearly all of the tutors were practising managers in addition to their part time tutoring duties and their access and competence is likely to give an indication of access and skills of managers at that time. The data was collected at the point at which the tutors started their online training . All except 5 of the tutors had a PC and modem at home and 97% had access at their place of work. 11 of the 93 tutors reported little experience with a keyboard. This was of serious concern since keyboard skills were considered a key factor in influencing the amount of time spent on line and influences overall telephone costs when accessing remotely. Although 57% of the tutors reported being "very familiar" with Windows, 33 individuals had little or no experience. 16% of the tutors reported little or no experience with word processing- another key CMC skill. There was a wide spread of responses on experience with e mail. 25% of the tutors had no e mail experience, 16% a little, 19% considered themselves "adequate", 14% good and only 23% proficient. We considered those with little keyboarding or windows experience to be "novices", since this experience underpinned learning to use almost any application on the computer and were key skills in using computer mediated conferencing.

In April 1997, a study was undertaken by questionnaire involving 161 second and third year OUBS MBA student, all experienced and working managers. Of the 161 respondents, only 11 had not used a computer before commencing their OU studies. However, there was a clear hierarchy of competency through different applications, with only 6.8% of the students considering themselves novices at word processing but 59.6% considering themselves novices at computer mediated conferencing.