By Diana Amaya Rademaker

Created for EDTC 5053: Learning in the Digital Age in Fall 2024; course taught by Dr. Tutaleni Asino

The following interview was conducted with an online learner to capture their insights about learning in the digital age:

In today’s world, digital tools play a significant role both in formal and informal learning. Many of us use various websites, apps, streaming services, and devices to entertain ourselves, but we often find ourselves also participating in learning experiences along the way, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Jason Hinojosa, a 23-year-old sophomore Cybersecurity major enrolled in a fully online Associate of Applied Science program, draws a fine line between the two. “I spend about 95% of my time on Discord and Steam, and YouTube. For exclusively[sic] learning, it’s Canvas and some labs that are done through Ascend Education for my Cybersecurity courses.”

Hinojosa spends most of his leisure time playing games and connecting with friends via Discord, an instant messaging and VoIP social platform. Otherwise, he is watching a variety of YouTube videos ranging in topics from news, politics, gaming, and TV shows. He considers the kind of content he engages with “entertainment” despite the underlying educational elements. He finds his learning is more incidental in these contexts and does not necessarily connect entertainment with being educated. Hinojosa states he is currently motivated to engage with digital learning content because he wants to earn his degree and find a job in a field he is more interested in. In his online courses, he uses interactive labs to complete assignments and finds those to be the most effective and enjoyable for learning. “I enjoy interactive simulations the most, then I guess videos and articles would be my last choice. Articles can be helpful, but I feel like they don’t use the medium to its fullest benefit. With online classes, you can make things interactive or more immersive, so articles don’t feel like the best use in my opinion.”

When it comes to his gaming, Hinojosa enjoys using online forums and Discord channels to connect with others on different games he plays. He uses these digital tools to learn more about the game, and states that it adds to his overall experience and enjoyment. “Community can be very helpful when you’re playing games. You can ask for help and learn so much more than if you were to piece things together on your own. I find it personally enjoyable to learn the nitty gritty of games…and online gaming communities can be incredibly thorough.” When asked if he engages with his fellow learners or in forums related to his coursework, he stated he is aware he can reach out to other students and his professors easily through Canvas, but to do so has not been as intuitive for him in this context. Connecting with fellow learners does not necessarily add to his learning experience, which is why he finds online course delivery suits him best compared to traditional in-person learning. Still, he sometimes struggles to take a deep interest in the course or feels he is not fully retaining the material being covered.

Jane McGonigal gave an insightful 2010 TED talk in which she talked about the resilience, problem-solving skills, passion, and determination that gamers possess. She goes on to state that those skills, if harnessed properly, could be the key to solving some of the world’s largest problems. As a gamer, Hinojosa possesses these traits and is even used to collaborating with others to solve a variety of puzzles and problems to learn new skills more deeply. If we can help transfer those traits and that mental framework to approaching learning experiences, we may be able to design more successful digital course delivery methods that lead to greater knowledge retention for other digital learners like him.

When asked about the improvement of digital tools or platforms for learning, Hinojosa states, “Honestly, what would help me is if you could gamify an entire course. There’s a realistic restaurant simulator, why not a Pen-testing Simulator where you take on contracts and each one tackles new concepts and counts as an assignment completed?” Maybe someday soon, Jason.