Trends in Student Use of Information Technology
I am a huge advocate for technology in the classroom, so when I came across this article from Information Resources and Technologies, I was very eager to read what it said about students and technology. I also enjoyed how the article spoke of social networking programs (which I will touch on later in this blog), e.g. Facebook, because I am active with that program.
In the introduction to the report released by the Educause Center for Applied Research, Chris Dede of the Harvard School of Education writes that, “Our ways of thinking and knowing, teaching and learning, are undergoing a sea change…” but that more research is yet needed to fully understand and appreciate the options and opportunities that technology can provide to higher education.
As I mentioned before, I am a huge advocate for technology in the classroom, and I believe strongly that by allowing higher education students the opportunity to use technology greatly increases their knowledge of how to use it and incorporate it into their own lives. Technology is not just for higher education though. I was using computers in elementary school and was even taught, quite thoroughly, how to type properly. As I entered middle school, the teachers incorporated more technology into their classrooms and I actually made my first PowerPoint presentation in 7th or 8th grade. I feel that by having the teachers incorporate technology into their lessons, students are able to learn and understand what is being taught more clearly. The article I read was based on a study done by ECAR (Educause Center for Applied Research) and gathered information from freshmen and seniors to gain a better understanding of:
- Student engagement in technology-enabled classes
- Student perceptions regarding instructors’ use of technology and whether it improves their learning
- Student use of course management systems
- Benefits and barriers associated with using technology in course-related activities
- How students perceive their skills in using key information technologies
- Which technologies students own and how much time students spend engaged in technology-enabled activities
The article focuses on statistics from the 2006 and 2007 study which highlights how “technology impacts students’ academic experiences.”
I believe that there are many benefits of using technology to increase the academic ability of students and the article even pointed out a few that they found were most popular among the students of St. Thomas.
The main benefits that students see with using technology in courses are the convenience of accessing course materials at any time or anywhere, and for managing course activities. Nearly 56% of national respondents and 59% of UST respondents listed convenience as the most valuable aspect of using technology in courses. The study found that students who were currently using a learning management system, e.g., Blackboard, in their courses were more likely to choose convenience as the primary benefit of technology in courses.
I absolutely love how this article and study decided to point out the use of Blackboard in the classroom. The first time I ever experienced Blackboard was my freshmen year at the community college. The professor was not clear on what exactly it was or how to use it, but tried very hard for his students to become active in using it to keep track of in-class discussions and homework assignments. Now being a senior I have become quite experienced with Blackboard and realize that it’s nearly impossible to pass a class without it since the majority of schools and professors now use this system, or one similar. The survey conducted amongst St. Thomas students shows “a 13% increase in students’ use of a learning management system. The use of a learning management system such as Blackboard is fairly widespread-with 82% of survey respondents indicating that they have used an LMS.”
Of the Blackboard features that students find useful, features relating to convenience and access appear to be highly valued. … Tools in Blackboard that facilitate turning in assignments, receiving assignments back with instructor comments, and online sharing of materials among students are features that are less commonly used.
Very quickly I will touch on what the article said about social networking tools, but if you want to read more, check out the article itself. The use of social networking tools amongst students have increased which has caused the use of Blackboard for sharing materials among classmates to decrease.
Data from the study shows an increase in the percentage of respondents who use social networking tools such as Facebook, from 72.3% in 2006 to 80.3% in 2007. Nearly 70% of all participants and 46% of UST students report using social networking tools on a daily basis. … As the authors of the study are quick to note, although a large number of students use online social networking tools, most students do not use these technologies as a formal part of their courses. Focus groups conducted with national participants reveal that students consider technologies such as Facebook and Instant Messaging to be part of their private, rather than academic, lives.
I found the last part of this very interesting. I remember another blog that someone wrote about teachers now incorporating MySpace into their classroom and having their students create pages for different characters in a book. I believe that it is possible to incorporate Myspace, Facebook, and maybe even Instant Messaging into a classroom and get students involved in using that for their academic lives, since they are already familiar with it in their personal lives. This may be something I think about for my own classroom.
I will end on this note (and yes I realize that this blog is fairly lengthy, but there was a lot to cover):
An analysis conducted on open-ended responses identified five positive areas of the impact of technology on learning:
- Technology facilitates organization and control in the learning environment
- Technology can make content more accessible, including class materials and Internet resources
- Technology facilitates communication with faculty and classmates
- Technology in courses is valuable when directly linked to applications (e.g., Excel, PowerPoint, SPSS) that are useful to future employment
- Technology is an enabler of learning when faculty use it effectively
University of St. Thomas, Minnesota
Bulletin Today-Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Trends in Student Use of Information Technology: A Sea Change?
