The purpose of this study was to examine the training approach, the impact of volunteer community education on program participants, and the effectiveness of the Internet Master train-the-volunteer-trainer model to address the lack of community education about Internet access and utilization.

University Extension is well suited and well positioned in Missouri to address the acute need in Missouri for community adult education on how to access and utilize the Internet. The demand, though, exceeds Extension's resources. Creative delivery methods utilizing trained community volunteers can be effective in rapidly expanding the base of those educated in how to access the Internet and to conduct community informal education.

Research was needed to determine the effectiveness of the Internet Master curriculum, to assess if the Internet Master model was viable to extend the educational efforts from the class members into the community, and to assess the impact of the volunteer community education on the Internet Master volunteers.

This study addressed the more specific questions of

1. What are the characteristics of people enrolled in the Internet Master program?

2. Is there a difference among repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10 and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education?

3. Is there a difference between Learning Type Measures (LTM) and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10, and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education?

4. Is there a difference between watching/doing scores and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10, and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education?

5. Is there a difference between levels of success in completing hours of volunteer community education and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10, and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education?

Three null hypothesis were tested at the .05 alpha level. SPSS for the personal computer was utilized for repeated measures analysis with a general linear model procedure.

The first null hypothesis was rejected. There was a statistically significant difference at the .0001 level among repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10 and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education.

The second null hypothesis was not rejected. There was not a statistically significant difference at the .05 level between Learning Type Measures and watching/doing measures and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10 and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education.

The third null hypothesis was rejected. There was a statistically significant relationship at the .05 level between volunteer success and facilitating community education and knowledge and use of the Internet from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education. However there was not a statistically significant difference at the .05 level between levels of volunteer success in completing hours of volunteer community education and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating volunteer community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10.

Summary of Findings

1. The Internet Master program attracted adults of all ages. Ninety-six percent of those enrolled in the six pilot classes in 1996 were 30 years old or more. Seventy-five percent of those enrolled were 40 years old or older.

2. The Internet Master program attracted people from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. Twenty-seven percent had a high school education or less, 45% had an undergraduate degree, while 28% had graduate degrees.

3. Internet Masters were highly motivated to learn about the Internet. More than 90% of the Internet Masters rated their motivation to learn about the Internet as being average or higher.

4. Participant's weekly hours utilizing the Internet increased after enrolling in the Internet Master program. Median Internet use went from two hours per week prior to class to a median of 10 hours per week during classes. Internet Masters projected that they would remain at a median of 10 hours per week utilizing the Internet after classes concluded. This is the equivalent of one additional full work day per week on the Internet.

5. Those enrolling in the Internet Master program were people that have a positive attitude toward school. Fully 91% reported enjoying school.

6. The characteristics of the Internet Masters suggested that communication skills are strengths of many of the participants. Seventy-four percent reported competencies in listening empathetically. Nearly half (47%) identified competencies in discerning motives of others.

7. Internet Masters reported low competencies in drawing, dancing, and creating music.

8. Of the two classes that had completion deadlines prior to the conclusion of the data collection process for this study, there was a 34% success rate for volunteer community education completion for Internet Masters. Twenty-two of the 65 participants in the first two classes completed their volunteer community education within one year of completing classes. Success was defined as facilitating 30 hours or more of volunteer community education about the Internet.

9. Internet Masters, during the first year of the program, reported a total of 2,876 volunteer hours, with a preparation to teaching ratio of nearly 1: 1. Preparation hours totaled 1,430 hours and teaching hours totaled 1,446. The Internet Masters reached 8,498 people through their efforts. Of these, 5,465 were adults and 3,033 were youth age 18 and younger.

10. The curriculum, as utilized by teaching, was successful in increasing scores on knowledge and use of the Internet from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10.

11. The curriculum, as utilized by teaching, was successful in increasing scores on facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10.

12. Facilitating community education by Internet Masters benefited the volunteer educator. Knowledge and use of the Internet had a statistically significant increase for repeated measures from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education. Volunteers that exceeded the standards for volunteer community education had significantly higher knowledge and use of the Internet scores at the conclusion of volunteer education than those that did not meet the volunteer community education standard.

13. There were not statistically significant differences between volunteer community education success and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from class 1 to class 10.

14. Facilitating community education by program volunteers benefited the volunteer as well. Confidence in facilitating community education had a statistically significant increase from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education. Volunteers that did not meet the standards for volunteer hours had statistically significant lower confidence facilitating community Internet education than those that met or exceeded the standards at the conclusion of their volunteer community education.

15. There was not a statistically significant difference between Learning Type Measures and knowledge and use of the Internet from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10. This would suggest that the curriculum was able to successfully meet the needs of people with a variety of learning styles.

16. There was not a statistically significant difference between Learning Type Measures and facilitating community education scores from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10. This would suggest that the curriculum was successful in enabling participants with a variety of learning styles to strengthen their confidence to facilitate volunteer community education.

17. There was not a statistically significant difference between Learning Type Measures and repeated measures of facilitating community education from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education. This would suggest that the volunteer community education experience was successful in increasing their confidence in doing volunteer community education for all the learning types measured.

18. There was not a statistically significant difference between Learning Type Measures and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education. This would suggest that all types of learners increased their knowledge and use of the Internet by doing volunteer community education.

19. There was not a statistically significant difference between watching/doing measures and knowledge and use of the Internet from class 1 to the conclusion of class 10. Classes were taught with only one computer and a projection device to enlarge the output so that all learner's could see. There was not a computer lab available for learners during the instruction. Learners, though, were expected to have hands-on practice and assignments between Internet Master classes. This would suggest that this was an effective teaching strategy for both people that learn best by watching and those that learn best by doing.

20. There was not a statistically significant difference between Internet Master's watching/doing measures and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education.

21. There was not a statistically significant difference between Internet Master's watching/doing scores and repeated measures of facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10, and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education.

22. Those with below average motivation to learn about the Internet had statistically lower scores than those with higher than average motivations to learn about the Internet for knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education repeated measures from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10 and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education.

23. There was not a statistically significant difference between the variables gender, age, education, and year home computer was first purchased and repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet or facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10 or the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education.

24. The Internet Master classes had a completion rate of 85% as measured by the number enrolling in the six pilot classes with the number completing the instrument at the conclusion of class 10. One hundred forty-six of the 172 Internet Masters enrolling in the program completed the series of classes and filled out the instrument at the conclusion of class 10.

Discussion

The program was designed to address the void in adult Internet education and was successful in attracting adults. The majority of participants were 40 years old and older. Adults were targeted because of the void in Internet adult education. Students have opportunities for Internet education through their educational institutions. While the program attracted a well educated audience, there was some diversity in education. More than one-fourth, though, had a high school diploma as their highest grade completed.

When repeated measures of knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10 and from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education were examined by gender, age and highest level of education there were not statistically significant differences. Men and women do well in the Internet Master program. People of all ages do well in the Internet Master program. Learners, for example, that are in their 60's and 70's do well, as do younger learners in their thirties, for example. Those with graduate degrees didn't do statistically significantly better than those with a high school education. As a result, those with a high school education need not be reluctant to enroll in the Internet Masters program.

In addition to having a positive attitude toward school, Internet Masters rated themselves as average or above when comparing their motivation to learn about the Internet. Thirty hours of instruction plus thirty hours of volunteer community education is no small commitment. Only those that like a structured academic setting and are highly motivated would accept the challenge of this programming. In addition, these characteristics probably contributed to the effectiveness of the curriculum and class completion rates.

The study found that Internet Masters dramatically increased their use of the Internet from a median of 2 hours prior to classes to 10 hours during classes and they projected that they would continue using the Internet at 10 hours per week after classes concluded. Certainly an increase in Internet use could have been predicted as a result of participating in the Internet Master program. Utilizing the Internet the equivalent of one work day per week is a large increase in use, though. Increased use of the Internet does not assure increased productivity for employers or households. There are certainly opportunity costs of a increased time on the Internet. Employers, family members, and Internet Masters may not welcome this increased time utilization of the Internet.

It was a concern that the programming would attract people with high technological interests but, perhaps, less well developed communication and people oriented skills. The characteristics of the Internet Masters suggested that the latter, in fact, are strengths of many of the participants. In addition to mastering the Internet, facilitating community education was an expectation clearly articulated in all marketing. Perhaps those only interested in technological skills self selected not to enroll in the Internet Master program because of the emphasis on facilitating community education.

The Internet Master classes in 1996 had a remarkable completion rate of 85% as measured by the number enrolling in the six pilot classes with the number completing the instrument at the conclusion of class 10. Internet Masters are early adapters of technology and had few other options for learning about the Internet. High motivation levels, high enjoyment for school, financial investment of class fees, subscription fees for Internet service providers, and investment in hardware all contributed to the high completion rates. Internet Masters were willing to invest their time in addition to their financial resources.

The volunteer community education aspect of the Internet Master program was the most "unknown" part of the programming for both learners and the program facilitators. Virtually all interested in the program called the organizers to inquire about the volunteer community education expectation. What do you have in mind for teaching opportunities? Do you have a set agenda for what the teaching is to accomplish? Are there targeted audiences? I don't have teaching credentials. Can I still do the volunteer education work? What does the volunteer community education aspect really involve? Internet Masters were first and foremost interested in developing their knowledge and use of the Internet. Consistent with the Master Gardener program, helping others and the community were not primary motivators to join the program. Many Internet Masters hesitantly agreed to facilitate volunteer community education as they enrolled in the program.

There were two primary factors that encouraged Internet Masters to tackle the volunteer community education expectation in 1996. First, class organizers did a great deal of persuasive talking during the recruiting process. Virtually every prospective Internet Master called for more information. Secondly, the difference in enrollment fees between those agreeing to do volunteer community education and those that chose to opt out of this aspect were very different. Internet Masters paid $50 for the program if they agreed to 30 hours of volunteer community education. Those choosing to opt out of this requirement were charged $350 to attend classes only. On the program application Internet Masters were asked to formally sign that they would volunteer 30 hours for facilitating volunteer community education or agree to pay the additional $300 fee.

Of the two classes that had completion rates prior to the conclusion of the study, only one in three Internet Masters concluded their volunteer community education within one year of completing classes. This is an aspect of the program that needs to be further developed. More support mechanisms for Internet Masters may need to be developed for community education. During the study, incentives of a drawing for color printers was offered for those completing their volunteer hours on time. Perhaps there are more effective incentives. Perhaps more incentives need to be offered.

Financial penalties may need to be assessed that, to date, have not been billed. In the first two classes that would amount to billings of $12,900. Certainly that would represent a financial incentive to complete the volunteer community education. On the other hand, it could serve as a deterrent to future enrollment.

The fee scheduled could be revised. One possibility would be having Internet Masters pay $350 initially. Those that volunteer 30 hours of volunteer community education would receive a $300 refund as an alternative to the current fee schedule.

The Master Gardener program research suggested that the most effective retention strategy appeared to be the opportunity for continued learning. This study is helpful in documenting the value of facilitating volunteer community, education for the Internet Master for future classes. Those that do the most volunteer community education have a second statistically significant increase in knowledge and use of the Internet and confidence in facilitating community education from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education. While class organizers might have speculated that those with higher knowledge and use of the Internet scores or those with higher confidence in facilitating community education would have been more likely to successfully complete volunteer community education, there was not a statistically significant difference in volunteer success and repeated measures from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10.

On the other hand, it is significant that Internet Masters volunteered more than 2,900 hours in the first year of the program, reaching nearly 8,500 adults and youth. At the program rate of $ 10 per volunteer hour, this represents a value of more than $28,000. This represents a significant initial outcome.

The curriculum, as utilized by teaching, was successful in increasing the knowledge and use of participants and also increasing the confidence to facilitate community education through 30 hours of instruction. While the curriculum will need to be continually updated with current Internet information, the design is successfully in place. In addition, the curriculum met the needs of learners with a variety of learning styles, as measured by the Learning Type Measure. Finally, those that learn by doing and those that learn best by watching were successful with the curriculum and the volunteer community education.

The delivery method of Internet demonstration by class presenters with hand-on activities between classes was effective both for those that learn by watching and those that learn by doing. This study indicates that the delivery method utilized was effective.

In summary, the program was able to begin addressing the void in adult Internet education. Men and women of all ages and educational backgrounds were successful participating in the programming. Internet Master's positive attitudes toward school, high motivation levels, increase in hours on the Internet, skills in communication all contributed to the remarkable 85% class completion rate. The study indicated that Internet demonstration by class presenters with hands-on activities between classes for Internet Masters was effective. Much was learned about the volunteer community education facet of the programming. As the program matures, additional support and incentives for Internet Masters during the volunteer phase need to be developed. Marketing can emphasize the benefits of the volunteer community education to the Internet Master as a result of this study. While the curriculum will need to be continually updated with current

Internet information, the design is successfully in place.

Conclusions

Within the limitations and assumptions of this study and to the extent that the findings are valid and reliable, the following conclusions were drawn concerning the Internet Master program:

1. The curriculum, as utilized in teaching, is effective. There will be a significant increase in knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education from the beginning of class 1 to the conclusion of class 10 for participants.

2. The educational programming is able to successfully meet the needs of people with a variety of learning styles both in terms of increasing knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating community education. The delivery methods associated with the curriculum are effective for both people that prefer to learn by watching and those that prefer to learn by doing.

3. Facilitating community education by program volunteers benefits the Internet Master. Internet Masters that facilitate volunteer community education following the conclusion of classes further increase knowledge and use of the Internet and confidence to facilitate volunteer community education from the conclusion of class 10 to the conclusion of volunteer community education.

Implications

The Internet Master program pilot study suggests that this is an effective program both in terms of content and delivery methods. Both Internet Masters that have tendencies to learn best by watching or learn best by doing are successful with classroom demonstration and hands-on assignments. It is not a requirement that each learner have computer hands on experience utilizing the Internet during class instruction. It is, though, important for learners to have hands on experience with their own equipment or public access to the Internet between classes.

The curriculum is successful and facilitating community education further increases the participant's knowledge and use of the Internet and confidence in facilitating community education. While curriculum fine tuning and updating will always be necessary, it is appropriate to expand the Internet Master programming statewide and beyond.

Findings of this study can be useful in the marketing of future programming. The program needs to continue to be marketed to a wide audience. Materials can emphasize that men and women of all ages and a variety of educational backgrounds are successful in the program.

A programming emphasis needs to address the relatively low volunteer completion rate while not reducing the impressive class completion rate. The benefits of the volunteer community education to the Internet Master need to be stressed. The barriers to volunteer community education success need to be recognized. Internet Masters primarily enroll to address their needs for knowledge and use of the Internet. They are very busy people. The volunteer community education role is unfamiliar to most Internet Masters. Finally, class organizers need to realize that the pool of eager community learners that the Internet Masters can reach is smaller than that of Master Gardeners. While nearly all people have an interest in Master Gardener subject matter such as lawns, vegetable gardening, trees, flowers, and ecology, the pool of eager learners about the Internet is much smaller. Clearly, though, that group is increasing rapidly.

While it is a concern that Internet Masters tend to increase their use of the Internet the equivalent of one full work day per week during classes and project that they will sustain this level, it also points out that the curriculum honors one of the most basic of adult education principles - the principle that curriculum be immediately applicable and usable for adult learners.

During the early adoption of Internet technology, it is important that Internet Masters work with Extension personnel to address the Internet education void in communities. Over time, perhaps the volunteer aspect of the programming will become less important.

The curriculum in initial pilot classes attracted early technological adapters. The audience for Internet Masters will change as the technology is utilized by an even broader based of adults in communities.

While it is the preference of Internet Masters to have hands-on computer experience during classes, there are alternatives. This study indicated that class Internet demonstration with hands-on experience between classes is also effective. In order to have hands-on experience, it is imperative that all Internet Masters have established, convenient Internet access established prior to the beginning of class when classes are Internet demonstration only.

The Internet Master program has significant implications for community economic development. Human capital is developed for both knowledge and use of the Internet and facilitating volunteer community education. Social capital is developed as citizens with an interest in technology come together to learn and also participate on a listserv with Internet Masters from their own class and other classes. The Internet serves to reduce isolation both personally as citizens are able to easily and inexpensively communicate with family and friends all over the world and professionally as citizens can communicate, network, and share information internationally. As society capitalizes more and more on electronic technology, people will be able to choose where they live based on quality of life, rather than proximity to work. People can live where they choose and commute to work electronically anywhere in the world.

Recommendations for Further Research

The following questions derived from or related to this study may provide a basis for future research.

1. What is the impact to Internet Masters and Internet Master's families and employers of spending eight additional hours per week utilizing the Internet during the series of Internet Master classes and following the completion of the Internet Master instruction? Is the time on the Internet being used productively? What specific uses are the Internet Masters making of this additional time on the Internet?

2. What could be done to increase the successful completion of volunteer community education hours? What are barriers to completing volunteer community education hours for those that are not successful

3. What is the impact of the Volunteer community education on those that the Internet Masters reach and to the community as a whole?

4. To what extent can Internet Masters successfully teach the entire curriculum or portions of the curriculum?

5. What are effective strategies for reaching a broader clientele with the Internet Master program, for example those that didn't enjoy school, that aren't high school graduates, and that are more culturally diverse?

6, In what ways does mastery of knowledge and use of the Internet add to quality of life and productivity? In what ways does it detract from quality of life and productivity?

7. In what ways does an increase in confidence about facilitating community education add to quality of life and productivity? In what ways does it detract from quality of life and productivity?

8. Are Internet Masters able to establish or enhance income generating pursuits using knowledge and use of the Internet and/or facilitating community education skills learned through the Internet Master programming?

9. What are the implications of the Internet Master programming on community and economic development?

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