TECHNOLOGY, TEACHING & LEARNING
Tech-savviness Not Revealed on E-Learning Platforms Many Generation Z and millennial students deemed tech-savvy by their use of social media are not showing a similar propensity in their use of technology for higher education learning.
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CHILL NEWS
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esearcher Dr. Glenda Gay has drawn that conclusion after analysing data collected over several years from hundreds of students attending the Cave Hill Campus of The University of the West Indies. She disclosed that an anonymous survey of 228 students conducted in January 2020 found that not only were 65.8 percent of them not e-ready, but almost 90 percent of those 29 years and younger were also not technologically ready. Technological readiness focused on the student’s technological literacy, their device set-up, whether they had a dedicated network connection, access to the internet and knew how to contact the Campus IT Service Desk. “It seems like even though our young people are technologically savvy and so on, they can’t translate or seem to bring it over
to the learning environment. They were not technologically ready. This is the highest percentage [in all the categories]. They didn’t have the software and the hardware to function properly.” The data was collected as part of an ongoing study by the Lecturer in Management Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The award-winning researcher has published numerous articles in several peer-reviewed journals on managing large online classes and readiness for online teaching and learning. She was honoured by the campus for her role in the institution’s transition from faceto-face classes to emergency remote teaching in 2020. The lecturer presented her initial findings while delivering on the topic “Together Apart During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evaluating Students’ Preparedness for Transitioning
