ERIC Number: EJ1149726
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0965-948X
EISSN: N/A
Students' Engagement with Learning Technologies
Larkin, Derek; Huett, Kim C.
Psychology Teaching Review, v19 n2 p49-58 Aut 2013
This paper seeks to add to the discussion surrounding young adults' relationship and engagement with learning technologies, exploring whether they naturally engage with these technologies when the use of them is either compulsory or optional. We discuss our findings in relation to whether young people are truly engaging with technologies or whether they are simply passive consumers of some technology, and unenthusiastic innovators in others. Participants in the UK (N = 6, Mean Age 20.66, undergraduate psychology students) provided their responses to a short series of face-to-face interviews using open-ended questions designed to elicit a critical exploration of their learning experience with particular emphasis on learning technologies. Participants in the US (N = 26, Mean Age = 22.38, pre-service teachers) responded to a series of short open-ended questions submitted online using asynchronous video journals uploaded to a private classroom space on YouTube. We found that young people are generally unenthusiastic users of learning technologies, which has significant implications for the educational sector in the UK and the US, as many of our participants are pre-service teachers. At a time when great emphasis is being placed on increasing student access to technologies in the classroom to enrich the learning experience, and to offer greater opportunity for understanding and discovery of information, trainee educators seem reluctant to engage with many types of educational technologies.
Descriptors: Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Undergraduate Students, Interviews, Student Attitudes, Preservice Teachers, Video Technology, Foreign Countries, Cross Cultural Studies, Student Journals, Online Courses, Psychology, Cultural Differences, Qualitative Research
British Psychological Society, Division for Teachers & Researchers in Psychology. St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester, LE1 7DR, UK. Tel: +44-1162-529551; Fax: +44-1162-271314; e-mail: directmail@bps.org.uk; Web site: http://www.bps.org.uk/ptr
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A