Exploring Students’ use of ICT and Expectations of Learning Methods

This study investigates changing patterns in students use of electronic tools over a four year period, mapping changes in social communications with expectations in formal learning. The data, collected from 2001 to 2004, reflect the views of 2215 university entrants, the majority of whom were aged between 17 and 20 years across a range of disciplines (Business, Science and Engineering) on their first day at university. Although the data was collected prior to the emergence of the contemporary social technologies, it tests an underlying assertion that students expectations of learning are strongly influenced by their prior experiences. Results show no correlation between the extent of university entrants use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and their expectations of how they will learn. Despite a dramatic increase in students use of ubiquitous technologies over a four-year period, their expectation of how they might learn at university remained relatively static over the same timeframe.