Abstract
Purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to examine the significant difference in information-age mindset in the following areas: first, among traditional college-age students (18-24 years old); second, among adult students (25 years and older); third, between traditional college-age students and adult students; fourth, between traditional college-age students and the successful completion of distance learning (DL) courses; fifth, between adult students and the successful completion of DL courses; and sixth, between traditional college-age students and adult students, and successful completion of DL courses. Methodology. This study applied a descriptive research design. An online questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from students enrolled of two California Community College institutions. Findings: There was flot a significant difference between traditional college-age students and adult students relative to the overall information-age mindset. There was a significant difference between the information-age mindsets of students (regardless of age group) and successful DL course completion, relative to the information-age mindset attribute "the lines between consumer and creator are blurring." Conclusions. An expectation of this study was that traditional college-age students would possess a significantly stronger information-age mindset than adult students. This was not the case, however, when considering total attribute scores. This suggests that the information-age mindset is not age-specific. It was also expected that an individual's information-age mindset significantly impacts DL course completion. However, it was found that it is not the information-age mindset, in total, that influences success in DL, but rather certain attributes of it. For example, regardless of age, students who did not complete their DL courses possessed a significantly higher presence of the attribute "the lines between creator and consumer are blurring." Unsuccessful students may assume that anything found on the Web is their own or anyone's property. At the academic level, this raises plagiarism issues which can result in a student's failure of the course. It may also imply that unsuccessful students are "borrowing" material from the Internet without citing it and/or not checking its validity. This all can result in poor performance and ultimately contribute to incompletion of the course.