ECAR recently released the results of its annual Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology. You can read the full report here, but here are a few findings that we found interesting:
- Students look to their instructors for guidance on how to integrate technology into their academic lives.
- Even though they have never lived in a world without the Internet, students value face-to-face instruction. Their preferred modality is blended learning – combining face-to-face interaction and online learning.
- Students expect that course materials are available to them anytime, anywhere and wish that their instructors made lectures available outside of class (lecture capture) and used course management systems (Moodle) more fully and effectively.
- Students would like to use their devices in class to look up information, take pictures in class, take notes, schedule using their calendars, set alerts and tasks. They reported that they would also use them as calculators, a dictionary or thesaurus, and a translation device.
- Instructional technology does not have to be flashy to be useful to students.
Want to learn how to better integrate technology into your classes in a way that meets your course objectives and improves the learning environment – and is not simply a distraction? Interested in learning how to make better use of Moodle? Contact your Instructional Technology liaison.
