Session Information
16 SES 04B, ICT in Higher Education
Paper Session
Time:
2008-09-10
16:00-17:30
Room:
B4 416
Chair:
Anthony Michael Coles
Contribution
In the recent years, there has been an exponential growth in the use of Internet and communication technology (ICT) in different aspects of human life. ICT is an innovation which can promote and foster various degrees of organizational change (Yuen et al., 2003). ICT has also shown its significant impact in learning environments. As ICT develops, more facilities are provided to support an active participation of learners in the construction of knowledge. ICT provides a variety of media to deliver up-to-date information to learners. The navigation property of ICT enables learners to search among various sources and documents in multiple locations. A convenient communication provided by ICT allows learners in various locations to share ideas and exchange ideas by engaging in conversation with subject experts in specific fields of their studies (Smaldino et al., 2008).
Furthermore, ICT has the capacity to support a wide range of learning activities. Those technologies have been integrated into teaching approaches of different training programs. ICT can enhance the effectiveness of information presentation to students and stimulate their interest using various Internet and multimedia technologies. Since advancement of ICT, the analysis of students’ perceptions on using ICT and their preferences for the web-based learning has been of some interest to educators. Web based learning permits an agile access to exponentially growing amount of information necessary for students. According to Shuell and Farber (2001), students found that the use of technology in the course delivery was beneficial and it assisted them to learn the materials and skills taught in a way that facilitated their learning.
Since web-based learning becomes more and more wide-spread in universities, expectations for learning advantages are becoming more and greater. However, just providing students with web-based learning technologies, may not have the desired effect, if the design and development of learning materials is not based on students’ backgrounds and educational needs.
Due to widely use of ICT in assisting the learning procedure of students, it is important for universities and instructors to know the degree of students’ familiarity with ICT and to identify their preferred learning environments. These information also help guide ICT based strategies of higher education institutes.
Students’ preferences for learning materials and learning methods are important as well as their preferences for learning environments. Those factors must be taken in care for designing the learning environments. On the other hand, their familiarity with ICT calls for new considerations in training of students as the next generation of individuals and manpower in future. This study examined the university students’ familiarity with ICT, their preferences for online and traditional classroom environments and their preferences for learning methods and materials in online learning environments. Consequently, the following objectives were defined in advance of carrying out this research:
• To examine homogeneity and diversity in usage and familiarity with different ICT applications among students;
• To compare students’ perceptions of ICT based learning and their preferred learning environments;
The subjects of this study consisted of 232 freshman students from five different departments at the Faculty of Commercial Sciences. Results indicated that the majority of the students were familiar with most of the information and communication technologies and tools. It has been also indicated that blended type of learning is an appropriate choice for freshman students according to their their preferences.
Method
Participants of the study were 232 first-year students from seven departments in faculty of commercial sciences, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey (Table 1). 114 girls and 118 boys were enrolled in the study with a mean age of 21 years (SD=20,7). Table 2 shows that, 96,4 % of the selected students were using Internet in their daily life.
A questionnaire was developed and prepared by the researchers that included three parts; Part I, aimed to measure the familiarity of students with certain information and communication technologies such as e-mail, search engines, etc. Part II was designed to measure the frequency for the usage of certain ICT tools and services. The aim of Part 3 was to identify the learning environment preferences (online via classroom) of students.
For first part of the questionnaire, a 3-point Likert scale was used to assess each familiarity property. The scales descriptors were: I am using = 3, Not using but hear about I t= 2, and I have no idea = 1.
In part II of the questionnaire, a 6-point Likert scale was used to assess the information and communication technologies usage frequency. The scales descriptors were: every day = 6, few times a week = 5, few times a month = 4, once a month = 3, once during few months = 2 and never = 1. For third part of the questionnaire, students’ preferences for learning medium were classroom or Internet.
To ensure the reliability of the scales, an additional reliability assessment was conducted for the instruments using a sample of students from the same faculty. The calculated coefficient alpha was 0,810 for Part I, 0,826 for Part II, and 0,769 for Part III respectively. These results suggest that the measurement tools provided suitable consistency.
Descriptive analyses were conducted to identify the distribution of students’ familiarity with ICT, usage of ICT and their preferences. Moreover, two way contingency analyses was used to determine whether there were differences between the departments regarding their preferences for learning medium as supporting certain factors/events in learning environments.
Table 3 shows the descriptive analysis for students’ familiarity with certain information and communication technologies/ tools. It contains the frequencies and percentages for each property. Our survey reveals that most of the students used e-mail and search engines, (98,3% and 90, 1%). Also, Mp3-Mp4 players (88,4%), USB (86,2%), Bluetooth (86,2 %), and web cam technologies used more frequently by the students than other technologies listed in Table 3. PDA and Wi-Fi technologies were the least used technologies (9,5% and 15,5% respectively). Web programming and Wii were among the technologies that students did not use but had heard about it (58,8% and 50,7%).
In general, results of the descriptive analysis for participated students’ familiarity with certain technologies/ tools suggest that majority of the students are familiar with information and communication technologies. The results show that especially the Internet technologies and tools were the most familiar ones for students among others.
Results of Part III (see Table 4), highlighted students’ frequency for usage of Internet. Students used Internet everyday mostly for e-mail services (64,2%), followed by chatting (61,6%), and then for accessing the daily news (59,9%). Using the Internet for shopping (6,0% ) and banking (5,6%) were among the least used daily services by used students. The results indicated that 39,7% of the students used the Internet for studying their lessons few times during a week, 25% of the students used it few times in a month, 11,2% used it once in a month to solve tests, and 14,2% used it once during few months to use e-books.
It was interesting that students’ use of the Internet to help their learning process in the courses were not in low proportions. Results indicated that more than one third of the students used the Internet frequently (everday and few times a week) for supporting a traditional course, doing homework, and taking on-line courses.
Results of descriptive analyses also revealed the preferences of students for learning medium as supporting certain factors/events in learning environments (Table 5). Students preferred the Internet as learning medium mostly for its potential in using resources (79,8%). Also regarding the capability of offering various materials, Internet medium was preferred more (76,6%) than classroom environments. The Internet was stated as the more appropriate medium in having communication (53,9%), using time efficiently (51,9%), getting help (51,8%), and relating new information with existing knowledge (51,2%) by the participated students. On the other hand, students preferred classroom as the more appropriate learning medium for the factors such as; offering interactivity between students and the teacher (90,8%), helping to focus on course (87,1%), interactivity with the course (86,6%), effective learning (84,8 %), interactivity among student (84,0%), collaborative study (82,6%), chance for asking questions (82,1%), and chance of getting response or feedback (82,1%).
In order to see the differences between departments regarding the preferences of students for learning mediums, two way contingency analyses were also conducted. Results of this analysis indicated no significant difference between the departments regarding the each factor/event listed in Table 5.
Expected Outcomes
Information and communication technologies offer new ways and possibilities to enhance/support students’ learning. While students’ familiarity and usage of ICT are important in introducing these new ways of learning, their preferences must also considered carefully while designing and conducting instruction through Internet. Web based learning programs are most effective when they are based on an assessment of the priorities of learners and their educational needs. According to Potter and Mellar (2000), teaching based on information technologies should address the personal and professional needs of the learners. Unfortunately, students’ needs may sometimes be ignored as a critical first step in the development of web-based learning programs. This can lead to a waste of time, human resources and money while damaging the motivation and enthusiasm of students attended in those programs.
Results of this study indicated that the classroom medium is still an indispensable option for the freshman students in our university. So, while deciding to diffuse web-based learning in teaching programs it is also important to include face to face learning programs for the first year students. Blended learning in that sense seems to be an appropriate approach for those students. It should always be kept in mind that those preferences might be different for the students that have enough experiences in different e-learning applications. Therefore, further studies must be conducted to see the big picture for a greater numbar of students and compare the results in that respect.
References
Potter, John; Mellar, Harvey (2000). Identifying Teachers’ Internet Training Needs. Journal of Information. Technology for Teacher Education,Vol. 9, No. 1. Shuell, J. T. and Farber, L.S. (2001). Students perceptions of technology use in college courses, Journal of Educational Computing Research, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 119-138. Smaldino, Sharon E., Lowther, Deborah L., Russel, James D. (2008). Instructional Technology and Media for Learning. Pearson Merrill/ Prentice Hall. Yuen, A.H.K., Law, N., Wong, K.C. (2003). ICT implementation and school leadership: Case studies of ICT integration in teaching and learning. Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 158-170.
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