An Exploratory Study of English Quest Online Learning in Taiwan
摘要
The onset of the Internet has sparked the growth of the e-learning industry where students have the option to learn online in combination with the classroom or online alone, if they prefer. With the growth of this industry more and more Websites have been developed offering English lessons to ESL students. This study takes an in depth look at Taiwanese parents’ opinions toward English Quest’s online English learning courseware designed for Taiwanese children. It is a qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews conducted with Taiwanese parents after browsing the English Quest Website and observing their children complete a number of tutorials. The findings of this study suggest that parents’ opinions were generally mixed. Except for security, parents were satisfied with the Website design. However, they expressed comments showing both satisfaction and dissatisfaction when questions were asked about the educational and entertainment value of the courseware. From this research it appears that in order for English Quest to be seen as a more desirable e-learning product in the eyes of Taiwanese parents measures must be taken to improve the educational and entertainment value of its courseware. Furthermore, standards should be set higher so as to not simply satisfy Taiwanese parents, rather impressing them by going beyond their expectations.