Patterns in student and staff access to, and attitudes towards usefulness of, ICT in an Australian University (original) (raw)
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2013
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… ASCILITE 2010: 27th …, 2010
and communication technologies (ICTs) provide new opportunities for learning and teaching. However, for students to benefit from these opportunities, they must have ready access to ICT and positive attitudes toward its usefulness for learning. This paper reports results from an analysis of data collected from students and staff at an Australian regional university with on campus and distance student cohorts in late 2009. The surveys were conducted as part of a larger project to identify ICT likely to be available and of most benefit for student learning, and to gain an understanding of lecturers' attitudes toward ICT use for teaching in relation to the perceived benefits to students. The survey data are being used to inform decisions about adoption of new digital technologies for learning and teaching and the provision of professional development to teaching staff. This paper focuses on the preparedness of students to access study aids such as lecture recordings via traditional and mobile devices. Outcomes of the study are important to inform responses to proposals to make recordings of all classes available online through establishing what types of content are most likely to be accessed by students and identifying priorities for professional development of teaching staff.
2009
In recent years, reports in the popular press have highlighted the rapid take-up of Web 2.0 type tools that support social networking, collaboration and information access. Also, there have been calls for universities to be more innovative in their use of these emerging technologies for learning and not just for the distribution of resources and the management of grades. Unfortunately, there is little empirical evidence documenting the technology-related uses, experience, expectations, skill levels and training needs of the broad range of students that are currently entering Australian Universities. This paper reports on a pilot survey of a sample of first year students entering a regional Australian University. Contrary to expectations, this research indicates that the youngest students had the lowest desire to use the technologies in their studies. These findings have implications for program development and delivery particular at first year level.
… proceedings of the …, 2004
Knowledge of the student view of ICT in education, and in particular their view of elearning, is a vital ingredient in the Edinburgh University's strategic planning process. In this paper we present data collected from new and established students over a 13 year period which gives us an insight into their experiences with ICT and their attitudes towards its use in higher education. Some of the implications of the students' views for university actions are discussed.
Students' perceptions of ICT e-journal of the British Education Studies Association
2020
The rapid increase in the use of ICT in education and the changing demands of the labour force requiring transferable skills provided by educational studies is an emerging reality. Even though in recent years there has been a upsurge of interest in the use of new technologies in higher education, there is as yet relatively little research on the ICT skills of undergraduate students in educational studies courses or how educational studies degrees can offer ICT skills to their students as a part of their study programme. Thus this research project was two fold. Firstly, it was intended to identify the ICT skills of Level 5 undergraduate students. The aim was to investigate students' self perception of their ICT skills over a period of three months. Secondly, it aimed to investigate how students' self perception changed over a module created to improve their ICT skills. The research project attempted to assess students' self perception of their ICT skills using an ICT Audit test prior to and after the module had finished. The statistical nominal analysis of the ICT audit revealed that the Level 5 students with computer anxiety or less preparation for using computers are most at risk of not taking advantage of the wide range of universities ICT resources. However, the qualitative data revealed that these students overcame their computer anxiety when ICT is purposeful and contextualised.
Use of ICT and Student Learning in Higher Education
International Journal of People-Oriented Programming, 2012
The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Higher Education (HE) and the capabilities of the internet have added value to university teaching and learning. It has also tested the resolve of universities to maximise the benefits of technology integration amidst increasing class sizes, student expectations, cultural diversity and mobility of students. Understanding how students learn and devising appropriate student centred instruction and learning are considered essential to the successful implementation of ICT and allied technologies in teaching and learning. Supported by the findings of an empirical study conducted in an Australian university on student learning orientations and perceptions of course delivery, this article discusses the challenges faced by universities in the integration of technology in teaching for better learning outcomes. The study indicates that technology and learning contexts have a profound influence on student learning orientations of d...
Effects of use of ICT: students’ perception at higher education level
Introduction The integration of ICT into education has been assumed as the potential of the new technological tools to revolutionize an outmoded educational system (Albrini, 2006). In the last 20 years, initiatives, projects and implications related to use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into education motivate teachers to gain necessary knowledge and skills in using ICT in their instruction. Pelgrum (2001) has noted that ICT is "not only the backbone of the Information Age, but also an important catalyst and tool for inducing educational reforms that change our students into productive knowledge workers. " Developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have impacted all sectors of society, including the education sector. In higher education, application of ICTs in form of e-learning is already changing teaching and learning processes. There are many pedagogical1 and socioeconomic factors that have driven higher learning institutions ...
2015
Digital technologies are now an integral aspect of the university student experience. As such, academic research has understandably focused on the potential of various digital technologies to enable, extend and even 'enhance' student learning. This paper offers an alternate perspective on these issues by exploring students' actual experiences of digital technology during their academic studieshighlighting the aspects of digital technology use that students themselves see as particularly helpful and/or useful. Drawing on a survey of 1658 undergraduate students, the paper identifies 11 distinct digital 'benefits'ranging from flexibilities of time and place, ease of organizing and managing study tasks through to the ability to replay and revisit teaching materials, and learn in more visual forms. While these data confirm digital technologies as central to the ways in which students experience their studies, they also suggest that digital technologies are not 'transforming' the nature of university teaching and learning. As such, university educators perhaps need to temper enthusiasms for what might be achieved through technology-enabled learning and develop better understandings of the realities of students' encounters with digital technology.
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This paper reports on a large longitudinal survey of students and their use of technologies in two Australian universities. The SEET survey is unique in Australia because it includes not just current use, but students’ expectations about their future use of technology. The survey was originally run in 2010 and then repeated, with slight modifications to reflect changes in technologies, in 2013. This paper compares the results from 2013 with the 2010 results. Whilst some changes reflect the wider access to freely available open resources and new technologies such as Smartphones and iPads, other results are remarkably consistent with the 2010 results. Overall students are increasingly satisfied with their use of technologies and despite the increase in uptake of freely available technologies, it is evident that the LMS and its inbuilt tools and functions remain a key platform for learning and teaching at universities.