Students’ experiences of educational technology use to facilitate university learning: factors influencing their mediation of learning

Abstract

The ability to design effective technology-enhanced learning (TEL) experiences is a critical skill for university teachers. However, challenges endure on how best to develop university teachers in research-intensive universities to design TEL experiences that meet student, professional, and employer expectations. Having a greater insight of the varying ways students use educational technology in their learning benefits university teachers’ TEL design skills. To develop this insight, a qualitative case study comprising differentiated interview strategy was conducted to explore students’ use of educational technology for their university learning. This research drew on phenomenographic and sociocultural theoretical perspectives and analysis techniques to investigate university students’ experiences of educational technology use.The analysis of the research data collected found a variance in the way students used educational technology for their university learning with three distinct dispositions identified. This study identified that students’ varied dispositions influenced their educational technology use and were mediated by the task and social contexts of their learning. These findings aim to support university teachers further develop their TEL experience design skills.

Keywords

• learning dispositions
• higher education
• learning design
• learning contexts
• social contexts