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Research

Students Unimpressed with Faculty Use of Ed Tech

While students and faculty seem to agree on the importance of technology in education, the two groups do not agree on how well it's being implemented. According to new research released Monday, only 38 percent of students indicated that their instructors "understand technology and fully integrate it into their classes." Students also rated that lack of understanding as "the biggest obstacle to classroom technology integration."

Despite this, 74 percent of higher education instructors polled indicated that they "incorporate technology into every class or nearly every class," and 67 percent said they were "satisfied with their technology professional development." Faculty also seem to lag in the social media department, according to the report. While 52 percent of students said they use social networking tools for education, only 14 percent of faculty members said they use social networking for teaching purposes. (Thirty-six percent of faculty members use social networking tools for non-academic purposes.)

The report, "2009 21st-Century Campus Report: Defining the Vision," released by CDW Government, polled about 1,000 students, instructors, and IT department staff members in order to gauge their attitudes about technology used in education and their expectations for the future.

"Ten years into the 21st-century, we still lacked consensus on the features that define the modern college campus. To answer this question, we asked the educational community to identify the elements and strategies necessary to prepare graduates for success now and as they move into the modern workplace," said Julie Smith, vice president, higher education for CDW-G, in a statement released to coincide with the report. "Across the board, students, faculty and staff view technology as a means to bring the campus community together and further educational goals. They all acknowledge that we haven't achieved the vision, but their insights have set a clear path forward."

The report also found that students now more than ever are using technology regularly in preparation for class: 81 percent of them this year said they use technology every day before class to prepare compared with 63 percent last year. Researchers also asked students which technologies they thought their institutions should offer. The top results included:

  • Wireless access (76 percent in 2009 versus 50 percent in 2008);
  • Computer labs (66 percent in 2009 versus 55 percent in 208); and
  • Course management systems (53 percent in 2009 versus 31 percent in 2008).

 

The complete report is available for download now. Further information and a link to the PDF can be found here.

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Comments

Sat, Nov 21, 2009 Brian Reid Dartmouth Medical School

Folks should read the actual "report" referenced here. The survey results are very sparesly reported. Here are some comments about specific slides in the report: ----------------------- Slide: Increasing Technology Expectations Comments: There is not a lot of data in the slide. The data presented are only for the "percent of students who said the technology was 'extremely' important." Also the graphic has a lot of what Edward Tufte calls "chart junk" - 3D shaded columns and arrows that emphasize the increases. I suggest reducing the chart junk and giving more original data so we can make our own conclusions. Slide: Following the Leaders Comments: "When it comes to the latest technology in higher education, faculty should look to students' lead." The slide has comparisons between two different questions asked of students and faculty. Already it is a suspicious comparison. The facts that faculty teach a few course and students take many also skews the comparisons. I don't think the printed conclusion follows the data presented. Slide: Making the Connection Comments: There are some data for faculty use of social media here (although again presented with chart junk and odd phrases like "social media gap"), but there isn't the equivalent for students (only that 52% report using social networking tools for education). Slide: Finding the Middle Ground in the Classroom Comments: "Only 38% of students say their professors understand technology and have fully integrated it into their classes." Again there isn't a full set of data, since we don't know exactly what the question and possible responses were. Also the use of the word "fully" is a bit loaded, with many possible interpretations. Slide: Prepping for the Workforce Comments: "Less than a third of students 'strongly agree' that their college/university is preparing them to successfully use technology..." Was there a simple "agree" option? How many students chose that? Another third? Maybe half? That might suggest that 2/3 or more thought that their school was doing the job of preparing them. But I don't know, because again the actual data presented is very slim. I suggest presenting all the data in a compact form. Slide: Higher Education Call to Action Comments: What data in the survey support the statements on this slide? There aren't any on the slide. ------------------------- It may be that the conclusions presented are valid, but that is not clear from the report. The report should present more of the actual survey results in a compact and readable form, and then we could have an even more informed discussion.

Thu, Nov 12, 2009 High School Computer Guy Atlanta, GA

Teachers are fearful of using social media technology because of puritanical expectations (a teacher was asked to resign because she had a facebook of herself drinking a beer), restrictive policies (often times social sites are blocked), and the resistance to change by older teachers and administration.

Thu, Nov 5, 2009 Sharon C

As an adjunctive instructor and career counselor at GSU, I use online career technology, online testing and even video/audio my career workshops. However, personal initiative, time management and learning how to learn, is still an issue. How can we encourage University students to be actively engaged with the curriculum, not just passive recipients of knowledge?

Tue, Nov 3, 2009 James

It's very interesting. I agree completely with the thought that students are drawn toward entertainment technology, but often lack what I consider to be basic computer skills. Plagiarism is quite a issue in my classes as well, but I do not know if plagiarism is actually worse today than in the past. It certainly is easier to plagiarize today as you can copy and paste instead of having to manually copy from the encyclopedia, but I do encounter an attitude that plagiarism is fine. My favorite excuse is being told that the giant uncited paragraph they copied was "the definition" (sarcasm). In any case, it's also easier to catch plagiarism as well. Besides Turnitin, we have the power of Google as well. It's really easy to copy and paste suspicious text into Google and give the student the exact source they plagiarized. I don't know about the effectiveness of social networking application use in teaching, but I have had a lot of success using a wiki. Discussion boards are also very nice. I love being able to answer multiple student questions in one place rather than multiple E-mails, phone calls or in person explanations.

Tue, Nov 3, 2009 Anne Massachusetts

Sasha from Michigan is right; young people are not as tech savvy as people believe. Research on information literacy in college students has found that students ARE more tech savvy when it comes to communication and entertainment, but not when it comes to educational technologies, and information literacy. My students are all wired up with their IPods, Facebook and texting, but many do not know how to format a paper using Word, or even to use spell-check. Spelling and grammar are atrocious. I see many presentations heavy on the "bling" of technology but with a paucity of independent thought. They have grown up in a culture of cheating and pirating, and see nothing wrong with submitting a paper copied and pasted from the first few Google hits as their own work. When given a common topic to research using the library databases, many "can't find ANYTHING" on the topic (after several classes with the librarian on how to use the databases). Students want to be entertained, and think educational technology is either too hard or boring. Technology can be a great tool or a great distraction. More and more, it is becoming a distraction.

Tue, Nov 3, 2009 Stasha Michigan

How many families in our current economic state are willing to pay additional in taxes in order to provide the "razzle dazzle" part of education? The public still does not see the purpose of technology within the classrooms pre-K through 16, especially when they are struggling to keep their jobs, their homes, etc. Like it or not, it isn't the teachers who aren't willing to utilize it, but to utilize it correctly, it would mean a significant update in all schools networks, computers, programs, and staffing. Part-time techies cannot service an entire district adequately. The problem is very complex and it is incorrect to always blame the educators. Students really aren't as tech savvy as people want to believe-there is a microcosm within our society that is, but it isn't a greater percentage than in the general populous.

Tue, Nov 3, 2009 Emily Howard Pleasant Grove, UT

NYTimes writer Steve Lohr wrote recently that technology in education can allow more "learning by doing, which many students find engaging and useful." Technologies that support learning by doing should be sought after. www.thelabsimexperience.com

Tue, Nov 3, 2009

Student expectations can be higher than faculty hopes to fulfill them. For example, posting lectures outline, video of lectures/discussions and provision of copyright materials electronically may not be something faculty wish to do. A decade ago at EDUCAUSE, the rhetorical question "when will faculty adopt these electronic measures". I rose to answer "when they help the faculty do what they wish to accomplish". To be successful, these trends need to respect faculty expectations, values and needs.

Tue, Nov 3, 2009 Ken Arkansas

It's a fair cop. There does appear to be a technology gap between students and faculty. And not always due to lack of resources. You can lead a horse to water, but sometimes the only way to get it to drink is by salting the oats. Please pass the salt.

Tue, Nov 3, 2009 Sharon Murphy

There's still too much insistence on students' part on razzle-dazzle and not enough on the use of the primary technology, the brain. Gadgets and entertainment do not ensure deep thinking and genuine learning.

Tue, Nov 3, 2009 Joe Frost Phoenix, AZ

If educational technology was actually taught as part of a College of Education / Teacher Certification Program perhaps we wouldn't have the incredible disparity between teachers & students today regarding technology!!! Let's Go - rzonz.com

Tue, Nov 3, 2009

thank you

Tue, Nov 3, 2009

Thank you

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