Open AccessDigital Learners in Higher Education: Generation is Not the Issue
Author(s) -
Mark Bullen,
Tannis Morgan,
Adnan Qayyum
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
canadian journal of learning and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1499-6685
pISSN - 1499-6677
DOI - 10.21432/t2nc7b
Subject(s) - immediacy , institution , higher education , information and communications technology , empirical research , psychology , set (abstract data type) , focus group , sample (material) , empirical evidence , icts , pedagogy , likert scale , medical education , sociology , political science , social science , computer science , medicine , philosophy , chemistry , developmental psychology , epistemology , chromatography , anthropology , law , programming language
Generation is often used to explain and rationalize the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education. However, a comprehensive review of the research and popular literature on the topic and an empirical study at one postsecondary institution in Canada suggest there are no meaningful generational differences in how learners say they use ICTs or their perceived behavioural characteristics. The study also concluded that the post-secondary students at the institution in question use a limited set of ICTs and their use is driven by three key issues: familiarity, cost, and immediacy. The findings are based on focus group interviews with 69 students and survey responses from a random sample of 438 second year students in 14 different programs in five schools in the institution. The results of this investigation add to a growing body of research that questions the popular view that generation can be used to explain the use of ICTs in higher education.