Student Opinion of Educational Technology

Educators and tech heads can muse all we want about computer-aided learning experiences but if students chafe against the method of delivery not much learning is going to occur. Columbus State and other community colleges have the added challenge of serving students with the most diverse experiences and learning goals. The technology comfort zone for our students runs the full continuum.

During the summer of '05 the TLRC posted a student opinion survey on the Blackboard entry page. About 320 students completed the survey and, if these were all purely distance learning (DL) students, would equal roughly 8% of DL enrollment. We asked a range of questions related to their experience taking classes on-line, their likes and dislikes, and their desires for educational technology. Detailed results can be seen here.

Here are the highlights:

83% of respondents have taken two or more DL classes, 41% five or more
87% have only taken Columbus State DL classes
45% identify as “adult returning” (returning after 4 or more years)
Analysis: A majority of respondents could be described as experienced DL students but their experience is limited to Columbus State.

Blackboard Features
88% were either very positive (56%) or positive (32%) about blackboard.
The only features rated “Not Useful” by more than 10% of respondents were:
17% Groups
15% Discussion Board
14% Chat
Analysis: The areas of dissatisfaction are centered around collaboration tools. Students also indicated these tools were the least used in DL courses. This indicates less experience among faculty and students in the use of collaboration tools and suggests this may be an area where more training is needed.

Teaching Tools
Of the teaching tools listed, only “Powerpoint as Web pages” received a “not useful” rating by more than 7% of respondents. The tools found “Very Useful” or “Useful” by most students are:
Word Documents -- 94%
Adobe PDF files – 78%
Powerpoint Files – 71%
Photos and Graphics – 64%
Analysis: Fortunately, the most used instructional tools are rated favorably. Multimedia tools were cited as the least used but none rated “not useful” in significant numbers. Most students only know CSCC courses and, given what they know, are mostly satisfied. We should target students exposed to more multimedia in their courses to better guage the effectiveness of multimedia.

Some annecdotal comments related to the use of Powerpoint pertained to the following: not having Powerpoint to view files; difficulty printing Powerpoint; and faulting powerpoint as a content delivery method. Other anecdotes reflected: difficulty receiving audio and video;
content file sizes too large; and difficulty opening attached files.

Learning experiences
Students ranked the following as either “very useful” or “useful:”
98% Working at your own pace
98% Working independently
93% Working according to course calendar expectations
87% Web research

Those rated not useful were:
17% Peer Review of work
15% Collaboration with other students
12% Personal sharing via email or discussion
11% Summarizing or presenting course content to others
Analysis: Not surprisingly, this group does not like collaborating or socializing. There is a possible contradiction in the strong desire for independence and self-pacing and working according to the course calendar. This could mean that students like course structure but enjoy independence when completing individual assignments. The comments revealed that students felt their discussion board posts were not read and responded to by the instructor or that other students did not post substantive comments that enriched the class. Again, this points to a need for training and sharing of best practices for use of collaboration tools.

Course Access
97% access courses from home and 40% access from work
83% have a DSL or better connection (25% DSL, 58% cable)
20% have dial-up access
29% cite cost as a chief obstacle to faster connections
10% said the quality of their connection was a limiter
Analysis: This sample indicates that most who take DL courses have invested in broadband. We do not know who might not be taking DL because of cost/availability of broadband. A majority (56%) felt no need to move to a faster connection, but we do not know how many dial-up users are in this group. We should be aware that broadband is an opportunity cost just like transportation. The value of broadband to DL is tied to the nature of course content – more audio and video requires greater bandwidth. We should be aware of the market for broadband as we diversify and expand DL offerings.

“Emerging” Technologies
The most cited technologies students “currently use” or “plan to use:”
Digital Camera 30%
Listervs 28%
Digital Video Camera 25%
Mobile Computing 24%

The most cited technologies students believe would be “Helpful to Learning:”
Web Video Conferencing 34%
Blogs 31%
Listservs 27%
Wikis 24%
77% said they would like the option of submitting an assignment in a multimedia format

Analysis: Surveyed students do not fit the profile of “digital natives.” While a majority appear to be aware of the listed technologies, no more than a third found any one technology to be desirable for education. This may reflect our demographic being older than the digital natives. Only one technology – listserv – appeared in the top four of both the “used” and “valuable” lists. This suggests there is an awareness of some technologies but perhaps not the opportunity or training to fully utilize them. We should be proactive in testing new technologies to evaluate their teaching and learning value. Additionally, if students are submitting work t9o be graded that is in a multimedia format, they will need techniical support those technologies and faculty will have to understand the technology and media enough to fairly evaluate that work.

Technical Support
20% felt the required skills for courses were not communicated
20% felt their familiarity or access to technology would prevent them from taking another class
Still, 95% felt they have the “technical skills, hardware and software” for DL
Additionally, only 14% said they did not receive technical support when needed

Analysis: Most appear to ready for DL and receiving support when needed, still a significant minority (20%) indicate problems. While we cannot draw an explicit connection between this and other data, it is interesting to note that 20% of respondents were taking their first DL course and 20% have dial-up. In the comments, most students noted they have not needed help. Of the students who indicated they needed help but did not receive it, some cited limited (in their view) help desk hours, some cited lack of knowledge on the part of the person helping them, others cited ignorance or indifference on the part of instructors. As always, efforts to minimize, anticipate and respond to problems create better learning experience for students.