The relationship between computer literacy and online learning attitudes for students in the Graduate School of Education in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to explore graduate students' competencies in computer use and their attitudes toward online learning in asynchronous online courses of distance learning programs in a Graduate School of Education (GSOE) in Taiwan. The research questions examined the relationship between computer literacy and the online learning attitudes of these students, the difference in the average online learning attitude scores of male and female students, and the difference in the average online learning attitude scores by students' ages.;Data were collected via a survey developed by the researcher. The survey consisted of 6 demographic questions, 10 questions using a Likert-type scale to obtain a score that reflected the student's computer literacy, and 10 questions using a Likert-type scale to obtain a score that reflected the student's online learning attitude. GSOE directors were contacted and asked to help distribute surveys to participants. The survey was administered to 252 GSOE students in Taiwan during the 2007--2008 academic year. A t test, analysis of variance, and Pearson's product-moment correlation were used to evaluate the responses to the survey.;Results revealed a significant positive relationship between average computer literacy scores and average online learning attitude scores among the students enrolled in GSOEs in Taiwan. Higher computer literacy scores were correlated with higher online learning attitude scores. However, no statistically significant difference was found in average online learning attitude scores by gender or by age group.