Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities

In the last decade, an important debate has arisen about the characteristics of today"s students due to their intensive experience as users of ICT. The main belief is that frequent use of technologies in everyday life implies that competent users are able to transfer their digital skills to lea...

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Authors: Gros Salvat, Begoña, García González, Iolanda, Escofet Roig, Anna
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2012
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/45447
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/45447
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Tecnologia educativa
Aprenentatge electrònic
Aprenentatge mixt
Educational technology
Web-based instruction
Blended learning
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spelling Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universitiesGros Salvat, BegoñaGarcía González, IolandaEscofet Roig, AnnaTecnologia educativaAprenentatge electrònicAprenentatge mixtEducational technologyWeb-based instructionBlended learningIn the last decade, an important debate has arisen about the characteristics of today"s students due to their intensive experience as users of ICT. The main belief is that frequent use of technologies in everyday life implies that competent users are able to transfer their digital skills to learning activities. However, empirical studies developed in different countries reveal similar results suggesting that the"digital native" label does not provide evidence of a better use of technology to support learning. The debate has to go beyond the characteristics of the new generation and focus on the implications of being a learner in a digitalised world. This paper is based on the hypothesis that the use of technology to support learning is not related to whether a student belongs to the Net Generation, but that it is mainly influenced by the teaching model. The study compares behaviour and preferences towards ICT use in two groups of university students: face-to-face students and online students. A questionnaire was applied to a sample of students from five universities with different characteristics (one offers online education and four offer face-to-face education with LMS teaching support). Findings suggest that although access to and use of ICT is widespread, the influence of teaching methodology is very decisive. For academic purposes, students seem to respond to the requirements of their courses, programmes, and universities. There is a clear relationship between students" perception of usefulness regarding certain ICT resources and their teachers" suggested uses of technologies. The most highly rated technologies correspond with those proposed by teachers. The study shows that the educational model (face-to-face or online) has a stronger influence on students" perception of usefulness regarding ICT support for learning than the fact of being a digital native.Athabasca University Press2013201320122013info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion21 p.application/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/45447Articles publicats en revistes (Teoria i Història de l'Educació)reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésInternational Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 2012, vol. 13, num. 4, p. 190-210cc-by (c) Gros Salvat, Begoña et al., 2012http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/esinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:2445/454472026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities
title Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities
spellingShingle Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities
Gros Salvat, Begoña
Tecnologia educativa
Aprenentatge electrònic
Aprenentatge mixt
Educational technology
Web-based instruction
Blended learning
title_short Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities
title_full Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities
title_fullStr Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities
title_full_unstemmed Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities
title_sort Beyond the net generation debate: A comparison of digital learners in face-to-face and virtual universities
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gros Salvat, Begoña
García González, Iolanda
Escofet Roig, Anna
author Gros Salvat, Begoña
author_facet Gros Salvat, Begoña
García González, Iolanda
Escofet Roig, Anna
author_role author
author2 García González, Iolanda
Escofet Roig, Anna
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Tecnologia educativa
Aprenentatge electrònic
Aprenentatge mixt
Educational technology
Web-based instruction
Blended learning
topic Tecnologia educativa
Aprenentatge electrònic
Aprenentatge mixt
Educational technology
Web-based instruction
Blended learning
description In the last decade, an important debate has arisen about the characteristics of today"s students due to their intensive experience as users of ICT. The main belief is that frequent use of technologies in everyday life implies that competent users are able to transfer their digital skills to learning activities. However, empirical studies developed in different countries reveal similar results suggesting that the"digital native" label does not provide evidence of a better use of technology to support learning. The debate has to go beyond the characteristics of the new generation and focus on the implications of being a learner in a digitalised world. This paper is based on the hypothesis that the use of technology to support learning is not related to whether a student belongs to the Net Generation, but that it is mainly influenced by the teaching model. The study compares behaviour and preferences towards ICT use in two groups of university students: face-to-face students and online students. A questionnaire was applied to a sample of students from five universities with different characteristics (one offers online education and four offer face-to-face education with LMS teaching support). Findings suggest that although access to and use of ICT is widespread, the influence of teaching methodology is very decisive. For academic purposes, students seem to respond to the requirements of their courses, programmes, and universities. There is a clear relationship between students" perception of usefulness regarding certain ICT resources and their teachers" suggested uses of technologies. The most highly rated technologies correspond with those proposed by teachers. The study shows that the educational model (face-to-face or online) has a stronger influence on students" perception of usefulness regarding ICT support for learning than the fact of being a digital native.
publishDate 2012
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2012
2013
2013
2013
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/45447
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/45447
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 2012, vol. 13, num. 4, p. 190-210
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by (c) Gros Salvat, Begoña et al., 2012
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by (c) Gros Salvat, Begoña et al., 2012
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 21 p.
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Athabasca University Press
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Athabasca University Press
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Teoria i Història de l'Educació)
reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,812455

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