Students’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Technology Use by Professors

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TECHNOLOGY USE BY PROFESSORSIT 635

Natalie CainaruAlaa AlfarooqiHong Yang

Our Research Questions

• What are SUNY Potsdam students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of technology use by their professors?

• What are SUNY Potsdam students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the technologies that they (the students themselves) are using?

The Research Process

1. Define Research Questions2. Conduct Faculty & Staff Interviews3. Design Surveys4. Pre-test Survey5. Redesign Survey Questions6. Distribute Survey by Email7. Collect Data8. Analyze Data

Results

Demographics

Freshmen21%

Sophomores15%

Juniors19%

Seniors28%

Graduate Students16%

Other1%

Percentage of Survey Participants by Class Year

Figure 1. Percentage of Survey Participants by class year (n=238).

Total TotalAnthropology 6 French 3Archaeological Studies 1 Geology 1Archaeology 9 History 13Art Education 1 History Education 2Art History 2 Literacy 2Art Studio 9 Literature/Writing 1Biochemistry 3 Mathematics 9Biology 19 Mathematics (GRAD) 1Business Administration 16 MST 5Business Economics 1 Music 4Chemistry 4 Music Composition 2Childhood Education 4 Music Education 20Childhood Education (GRAD) 8 OPLT 12Communications 5 Performance Music 8Community Health 9 Physics 4Computer Science 9 Politics 5Creative Writing 7 Psychology 30Criminal Justice 8 Secondary Education 4Criminal Justice Studies 1 Sociology 6Curriculum & Instruction 3 Spanish 2Early Childhood 9 Special Education (GRAD) 1Economics 2 Speech Communication 2Education 2 Student Initiated Interdepartmental

Major1

Educational Technology Specialist

10 Theater 6

English 3 Visual Arts 2English & Communication (GRAD)

1 Women's Studies 1

English Education 1 Undecided 11Environmental Studies 3 Did Not Indicate 4

n=287

Table 1. Survey Participants Majors (n=287).

Tech Usage Compared with Tech Desire

OtherImage sharing sites

BlogsVideo conferencing

Mobile appsCourse webspace

i>ClickersSpreadsheet software

Social mediaCloud storage

SmartboardText processing software

Digital mediaVideo Streaming

MoodlePresentation software

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Kinds of technology students want that would better support the curricu-lum/course material compared with technology use by professors in class

Technology Students Want Technology Professors Use

Percentage of Survey Participants (%)

Kind

s of

Tec

hnol

ogy

Figure 2. Comparing two questions: For this semester, in general, what kinds of technology do your professors use in your class? (n=236) and What kinds of technology would you like your professors to use that would better support the curriculum/course material? (n=212).

Effectiveness of Tech Use by Professors

Other

Mobile apps

Image sharing sites

Blogs

Social media

Video conferencing

Smartboard

Course webspace

i>Clickers

Cloud storage

Spreadsheet software

Digital media

Moodle

Video Streaming

Text processing software

Presentation software

71%

28%

32%

33%

37%

38%

39%

52%

58%

62%

69%

74%

79%

85%

89%

92%

29%

72%

68%

67%

63%

62%

61%

48%

42%

38%

31%

26%

21%

15%

11%

8%

Students' Opinions on Effectiveness of Professors' Technology UseEffectively Ineffectively

Figure 3. For this semester, in general, based upon your experiences, do your professors use the following? (n=230).

Opinions on Absence of Tech

Technology specifically linked to the lessons is unavailable

Other

There is not enough time for professors to use technology.

More students than technology

Teaching space is inadequate for the use of technology

Hardware/software malfunctions when used.

Lessons are not compatible with the use of technology

The professor has strict preferences about the technology they use

Professors are unable to use technology

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Students Opinions on the Reasons Behind Professors' Use of No Technology


Reas

ons

Figure 4. In general, what do you think are the reasons behind the professor’s use of no technology? (n=222). Purple bars indicate aspects that professors can control .

Opinions on Appropriate Uses of Devices in Class

Other

Using social media

Checking communications from others

Sending communications to others

Taking pictures

Calculations

Recording lecture

Looking up information relevant to lecture

Taking notes

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Students' Opinions about appropriate uses of electronic devices in the classroom


Scen

ario

s

Figure 5. What do you feel are the appropriate uses of electronic devices in the classroom? (n=220).

Tech that Students Use on Their Own

SCVNGRFoursquare

OtherLinkedIn

Image sharing sitesBlogs

TumblrMobile apps

DropboxHelios

Video conferencingGoogle+

TwitterGoogle DocsDigital media

Electronic library resourcesMoodle

Facebook

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Technology That Students Use on Their Own


Type

s of

Tec

hnol

ogy

Figure 6. Do you yourself (without initiative of the professor) use the following? (n=216).

Opinions about Improvement with Tech

Other

Blogs

Digital media creation/editing software

Cloud storage

Spreadsheet software

Windows-based devices

Video Streaming

Social media

Presentation software

Text processing software

Mac-based devices

75%

19%

26%

36%

41%

43%

43%

45%

55%

56%

60%

25%

81%

74%

64%

59%

57%

57%

55%

45%

44%

40%

Students' Opinions About Their Improvement with TechnologyImproved Not Improved

Figure 7. Since taking classes at SUNY Potsdam, do you feel your skills in the following technology have improved? (n=208).

Conclusion

• Professors are effectively using the most popular and most desired technologies in their classes.

• Training could help improve the effectiveness and adoption of many technologies in the classroom.

• Students do not feel they are improving with regards to certain technology

• Students already acknowledge what could be considered “appropriate” uses of their own technology in the classroom

Suggestions for further study

• Suggestions for future research could be to generate a more in-depth survey regarding students’ expectations about what technologies they think professors should be using in their courses. Such a survey could be general or could go deeper into technology use by specific academic departments.

Documents

Students’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Technology Use by Professors