What Do Students Want? Making Sense of Student Preferences in Technology-enhanced Learning

Ekaterina Pechenkina; Carol Aeschliman

doi:10.30935/cedtech/6185

Ekaterina Pechenkina ¹ ^* , Carol Aeschliman ¹

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CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 26-39

https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/6185

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Abstract

This article, with its focus on university students as intended recipients and users of technological innovations in education, explores student preferences across three dimensions of technology-enhanced learning: mode of instruction; communication; and educational technology tools embedded in learning and teaching activities. The article draws on results of an exploratory case study, where mixed (quantitative and qualitative) data was collected from a randomized student sample generated through the institutional learning management system. An online survey (N=66) gaged students’ engagement with educational technologies, online and blended learning and social media as a learning tool. The findings confirmed previous research arguing that students generally use educational technology in a narrow way, rarely engaging with technological tools, unless it is presented to them as integral to their learning or if they are already familiar with a particular tool and/or perceive it as useful. Despite a well-cited characteristic by proponents of ‘digital natives’ that students need constant entertainment, this study found no evidence that this was the case.

Keywords: educational technology, student preferences, blendid learning, social media

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Citation

Pechenkina, E., & Aeschliman, C. (2017). What Do Students Want? Making Sense of Student Preferences in Technology-enhanced Learning. Contemporary Educational Technology, 8(1), 26-39. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/6185

Pechenkina, E., and Aeschliman, C. (2017). What Do Students Want? Making Sense of Student Preferences in Technology-enhanced Learning. Contemporary Educational Technology, 8(1), pp. 26-39. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/6185

Pechenkina E, Aeschliman C. What Do Students Want? Making Sense of Student Preferences in Technology-enhanced Learning. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2017;8(1), 26-39. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/6185

Pechenkina, Ekaterina, and Carol Aeschliman. "What Do Students Want? Making Sense of Student Preferences in Technology-enhanced Learning". Contemporary Educational Technology 2017 8 no. 1 (2017): 26-39. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/6185

Pechenkina, Ekaterina et al. "What Do Students Want? Making Sense of Student Preferences in Technology-enhanced Learning". Contemporary Educational Technology, vol. 8, no. 1, 2017, pp. 26-39. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/6185

Pechenkina E, Aeschliman C. What Do Students Want? Making Sense of Student Preferences in Technology-enhanced Learning. CONT ED TECHNOLOGY. 2017;8(1):26-39. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/6185