Incorporating e-mail into the learning process: Its impact on student academic achievement and attitudes

The present study set out to investigate the impacts of incorporating e-mail, one of the most accessible, convenient, and easy to use computer-mediated communications, into a classroom setting on student academic achievement and attitudes. A posttest-only control-group design was adopted. Two classes from a "Computers in Education" course participated in the study and were randomly assigned to different conditions, namely, the e-mail diffusion group and the non-e-mail diffusion group. Two criteria-referenced performance-type posttests were used for individual student computer capabilities assessment. "Prospective Teacher Computer Attitudes Scale" was adopted to assess e-mail's effects on student attitudes toward computers. Results from the data analysis showed that there was a statistically significant difference in student academic performance. However, no statistically significant difference was found in student attitudes toward computers. The obtained results provided empirical evidence supporting the usefulness of e-mail as a promising aid to promote student cognitive growth pertaining to computer knowledge and skills. Based on the collected data, it was concluded that without additional investment in equipment and software, incorporating e-mail into the learning process might be a promising enhancement to instruction that teachers could readily adopt.