The Long Arm of the Digital Tether: Communication with Home during Study Abroad
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v28i1.378Keywords:
Digital tether, Home communication, Study abroad, Education abroadAbstract
A growing array of technological communication modes makes it possible for students to be in increasingly frequent contact with their parents while at college, and high-frequency contact has been associated with lower autonomy and self-regulation (Hofer & Moore, 2010). This study extends this research to investigate the influence of frequent contact with family and friends while studying abroad. Surveyed at the end of a semester abroad in Denmark, 417 students responded to survey questions that addressed frequency, mode, and initiation of communication with home, as well as communication with friends. Participants also answered questions about satisfaction with connectedness abroad, autonomy, self-regulation, parental regulation, and personal and cultural learning. Findings suggest that students were in contact with family as frequently as individuals surveyed at their home institutions, that parents continued to regulate from afar, and that the most common affective reaction to less potential for connectedness was “a sense of freedom.”
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References
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Engle, L. & Engle, J. (2012). Beyond immersion: the American University Center of Provence experiment in holistic intervention. In M. Vande Berg, R.M. Paige, & K. H. Lou (Eds.), Student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 284-307). Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
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Steinberg, L., & Silverberg, S. (1986). The vicissitudes of autonomy in early adolescence. Child Development, 57(4), 841-851.
Sutton, R.C. & Rubin, D.L. (2004). The GLOSSARI project: initial findings from a system-wide research initiative on study abroad learning outcomes. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 10, 65-82.
Tando, Ferucci, & Duffy (2015). Facebook use, envy, and depression among college students. Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 139-146.
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books.
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Vande Berg, M. Connor-Linton, J., & Paige, R.M. (2009). The Georgetown Consortium Project: Interventions for student learning abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, XVIII, (1-74).
Vande Berg, M., Paige, R.M., & Lou, K.H. (2012). Student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Vande Berg, M., Quinn, M., & Menyhart, C. An experiment in developmental teaching and learning: The Council on International Educational Exchange’s seminar on living and learning abroad. In M. Vande Berg, R.M. Paige, & K. H. Lou (Eds.), Student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 383-407). Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Wooley, S. (2013). Constantly connected: the impact of social media and the advancement in technology on the study abroad experience. Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 4(2), http://www.studentpulse.com/a?id=822.
Arnett, J. J. (2015). Oxford handbook of emerging adulthood. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bell, K. L., Allen, J. P., Hauser, S., & O'Connor, T. (1996). Family factors and young adult transitions: Educational attainment and occupational prestige. In J. Graber, J. Brooks-Gunn & A. Petersen (Eds.), Transitions through adolescence. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
Cohen, A. D., Paige, R. M., Shively, R. L., Emert, H., & Hoff, J. (2005). Maximizing study abroad through language and culture strategies: Research on students, study abroad program professionals, and language instructors. Final Report to the International Research and Studies Program, Office of International Education, U.S. Department of Education. Minneapolis, MN: Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota.
Deardorff, D.K. (2011). Assessing intercultural competence. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2011(149), 65–79.
Engle, L. & Engle, J. (2002). Neither international nor educative: Study abroad in the time of globalization. In W. Grunzweig & N. Rinehart (Eds.), Rockin in Red Square: Critical approaches to international education in the age of cyberculture (pp. 25-39). Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Engle, L. & Engle, J. (2003). Study abroad levels: Toward a classification of program types. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 9, 1-20.
Engle, L. & Engle, J. (2012). Beyond immersion: the American University Center of Provence experiment in holistic intervention. In M. Vande Berg, R.M. Paige, & K. H. Lou (Eds.), Student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 284-307). Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Hammer, M.R. (2012). The intercultural development inventory: a new frontier in assessment and development of intercultural competence. In M. Vande Berg, R.M. Paige, & K. H. Lou (Eds.), Student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 115-136). Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Hofer, B. K. (2008). The electronic tether: Parental regulation, self-regulation, and the role of technology in college transitions. Journal of the First-year Experience & Students In Transition, 20(2), 9-24.
Hofer, B. K., Kennedy, E., & Hurd, K. (August, 2006). From “other regulation” to “self regulation”: Parental contact and influence during the transition to college. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans.
Hofer, B. K. & Moore, A. S. (2010). The iConnected Parent: Staying close to your kids in college (and beyond) while letting them grow up. New York: Free Press.
Hofer, B. K., Souder, C., Kennedy, E., Fullman, F. E., & Hurd, K. (2009). The electronic tether: Communication and parental monitoring during the college years. In M. K. Nelson and A. I. Garey, (Eds.). Who’s watching? Practices of surveillance in contemporary families (pp. 277-294). Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
Hofer, B., & Yu, S. (2003). Teaching self-regulated learning through a "Learning to learn" Course. Teaching of Psychology, 30(1), 30-37.
Hofer, B., Yu, S., & Pintrich, P. (1998). Teaching college students to be self-regulated learners. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Self-regulated learning - from teaching to self-reflective practice (pp. 57-83). New York: Guilford Press.
Hoffa, W.W.& DePaul, S.C. (2010). A history of U.S. study abroad: 1965 to present. Carlisle, PA: Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad/The Forum on Education Abroad.
Huesca, R. (2013, January 14). How Facebook can ruin study abroad. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 59 (19). http://chronicle.com/article/How-Facebook-Can-Ruin-Study/136633
Ingraham, E.C. & Peterson, D.L. (2004). Assessing the impact of study abroad on student learning at Michigan State University. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 10, 83-100.
Mikal, J.P. (2011). When social support fits into your luggage: online support seeking and its effects on the traditional study abroad experience. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 21,17-40.
Mikal, J.P. & Grace, K. (2012). Against abstinence only education abroad: viewing internet use during study abroad as a possible experience enhancement. Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(3), 287-306.
Noom, M. J., Dekovi´c, M., and Meeus, W. (2001). Conceptual analysis and measurement of adolescent autonomy. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 30, 577–595.
Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange (2014). Institute of International Education. http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad
Paige, R.M. & Vande Berg, M. (2012). Why students are and are not learning abroad. In M. Vande Berg, R.M. Paige, & K. H. Lou (Eds.), Student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 29-58). Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Root, E. and Ngampornchai, A. (2012). “I came back as a new human being”: student descriptions of intercultural competence acquired through education abroad experiences. Journal of Studies in International Education. 17(5), 513–532.
Ross, M., Salisbury-Glennon, J., Guarino, A., Reed, C., & Marshall, M. (2003). Situation self-regulation: Modeling the interrelationships among instruction, assessment, learning strategies and academic performance. Educational Research and Evaluation, 9(2), 189-209.
Salisbury, M.H., An, B.P.. & Pascarella, E.. (2013). The effect of study abroad on intercultural competence among undergraduate college students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 50 (1), 1–20.
Sherman, L. E., Payton, A. A., Hernandez, L. M., Greenfield, P. M., Dapretto, M. (May 31, 2016) The power of the like in adolescence: Effects of peer influence on neural and behavioral responses to social media. Psychological Science OnlineFirst, 1-9, doi:10.1177/0956797616645673
Smith, A. (April 1, 2015). U.S.smartphone use in 2015. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/.
Steinberg, L. (2001). We know some things: Parent-adolescent relationships in retrospect and prospect. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11(1), 1-19.
Steinberg, L., & Silverberg, S. (1986). The vicissitudes of autonomy in early adolescence. Child Development, 57(4), 841-851.
Sutton, R.C. & Rubin, D.L. (2004). The GLOSSARI project: initial findings from a system-wide research initiative on study abroad learning outcomes. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 10, 65-82.
Tando, Ferucci, & Duffy (2015). Facebook use, envy, and depression among college students. Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 139-146.
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books.
Twombly, S.B., Salisbury, M.H., Tumanut, S.D., & Klute, P. (2012). Special Issue: study abroad in a new global century--renewing the promise, refining the purpose. ASHE Higher Education Report, 38(4), 1-152.
Vande Berg, M. Connor-Linton, J., & Paige, R.M. (2009). The Georgetown Consortium Project: Interventions for student learning abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, XVIII, (1-74).
Vande Berg, M., Paige, R.M., & Lou, K.H. (2012). Student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Vande Berg, M., Quinn, M., & Menyhart, C. An experiment in developmental teaching and learning: The Council on International Educational Exchange’s seminar on living and learning abroad. In M. Vande Berg, R.M. Paige, & K. H. Lou (Eds.), Student learning abroad: what our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it (pp. 383-407). Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Wooley, S. (2013). Constantly connected: the impact of social media and the advancement in technology on the study abroad experience. Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 4(2), http://www.studentpulse.com/a?id=822.
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Published
2016-11-17
How to Cite
Hofer , B., Thebodo , S. W., Kaslow , Z., Meredith , K., & Saunders , A. (2016). The Long Arm of the Digital Tether: Communication with Home during Study Abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 28(1), 24–41. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v28i1.378
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Research Articles
