Student and Professor Perspectives on Exemplary Practices in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and E-Learning in Colleges

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33

Foreign Countries; College Students; College Faculty; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Best Practices; Information Technology; Electronic Learning; Student Motivation; Educational Technology; Preferences; Student Surveys; Gender Differences; English; French; Coding; Technology Uses in Education; Hypothesis Testing; Outcomes of Education

978-1-55016-994-2

Knowing that motivation is at the crux of learning, we examined students' motivation to engage--or not--in courses which include the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Although many college instructors use ICTs, there are no studies on the perspectives of professors identified as exemplary users of technology. This is why we interviewed 114 professors deemed by their students to be excellent in their use of technology in their teaching. We obtained our interviewees by first surveying 337 students, 95 of whom were immigrants, about their ICT likes, dislikes, suggestions and teacher nominations. Highlights of the student survey indicate that there were no significant differences between genders, the English and French colleges, and those born in and outside of Canada. An overwhelming majority of students liked it when their professors used ICTs in their teaching and were able to detail their views (e.g., wanting access to PowerPoints online). After coding what the students truly appreciated, we realized our take-home message is that it is preferable for professors to employ simpler and fewer ICTs well than to use many, complicated ones without a pedagogical purpose. Finally, in comparing the two perspectives, our results show that many students wanted to use their own technology in the classroom but that a majority of their professors did not allow them to do this, except for the exemplary professors where most of them did allow this. The following are appended: (1) Questionnaires for College Students; (2) E-learning Questionnaire for College Students; (3) Interview Questions for Professors; and (4) Computer Technology Checklist for Professors. [This document is based on the final report of a project funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec--Société et culture (FRQSC) and its partner the the ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur (MEES) for the program Actions concertées Persévérance et réussite scolaires.]

As Provided

20

2017

ED574860