IT Integration and Students

Surveying the university community taught us about the importance of the process as well as the survey results.

How would students answer the question, "What would your ideal education look like?" See for yourself in the student content showcase, produced in collaboration with Apple. Five Apple student representatives will informally respond to the question through short videos they have created, which they will present in the Rio Grande West Ballroom at various points in the program.

These "video poster sessions" will give you the chance to discuss with them their views on teaching and learning as well as the technical and creative processes behind their videos. This is a great opportunity to talk with students about their expectations for Learning 2.0 while learning some techniques and tips for creating your own videos.

In addition to conducting the showcase, these students will also capture and present their conference experience. Links to their videos, podcasts, blogs, etc., will be added to the ELI Web site as they become available, adding a student voice to our citizen journalism activity.

Members of a faculty learning community from a large urban research university will share the results of a study comparing expectations for technology use among faculty and students. Participants will engage in dialogue to address the presence (or absence) of a digital disconnect between teachers and learners and discuss the implications for instructional practice.

Additional contributors: Dina Bangdel, Teresa (Terry) J. Carter, Ed.D., and Frances (Fran) G. Smith, Ed.S., CVE, Virginia Commonwealth University.

The ELI Student/Faculty Questionnaire is designed to help you explore student and faculty experiences and expectations with technology in teaching and learning. Specifically, the questionnaire examines student and faculty

• Familiarity with learning technologies,
• Expectations for the use of technology in teaching and learning, and
• Views on how students prefer to learn.

This questionnaire provides insight into possible gaps that may exist at your institution, such as

• The difference between the learning technologies that are expected by today's students and those that your faculty feel comfortable using, and
• Students' self-described learning preferences contrasted with faculty perceptions of those preferences.

These are key findings from online research and discussion evenings held in June 2007 for the Joint Information Systems Committee. The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) commissioned Ipsos MORI to undertake research among prospective university students to understand a number of issues:

• current levels of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) provision at school/college
• expectations of ICT provision at university
• any difference between expectation of ICT provision and that which is provided by HE institutions

These objectives helped to explore the hypothesis that there is a mismatch between student expectations of what they will be able to do and what Higher Education (HE) institutions can and do offer in terms of ICT. This study will form part of an overarching piece of research being undertaken by JISC to examine this hypothesis and inform HE institutions of student expectations of ICT provision.

The use of iPods and similar devices is growing in education, but do students see the iPod as an educational tool or as "their" space, not to be invaded? Results from a yearlong study show that students may not want educational content on their "fun" media.

CMC\'s FITness program allowed faculty to rapidly integrate teaching with technology and help struggling students catch up. Grants from the Mellon Foundation and the Fletcher Jones Foundation funded specialized programs to help students meet faculty expectations of their technical knowledge, skill, and application.

We examined factors which increase the likelihood that students will use technology effectively. Research with a college population assessed the technological skills of students. Results suggest that learning orientation and perception of use of technology in future occupations predict students' perceived ability and intentions to use technology in college.

Since 2003, the NetDay (www.netday.org) Speak Up annual online survey has collected authentic, unfiltered feedback from K•12 students about their use of technology for learning and entertainment. Learn about students' expectations for technology use and their aspirations for a 21st-century learning environment as uncovered in the most recent survey data.