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.

Researcher 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

to Emergency Remote Learning”

during the Annual Teaching and Learning Week of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching in Learning (CETL) last June.

She explained, “With social media, you get caught up because of the never-ending scrolling. With e-learning there’s scrolling, but it’s a static scrolling down; so there is a disconnect I’m finding with that transition from the use of social media. It’s a different skill set, I believe. They [students] have to come here and learn, it seems, all over again how to do that in the online environment.” The survey also looked at the students’ study habits and learning preparedness. Study habits focused on their ability to use new applications for coursework, whether they had a private space to study, and if they had adequate time to focus on coursework. Learning preferences looked at the students' ability to study alone, meet assignment deadlines, and their preference for the structure of a classroom environment.

Dr. Glenda Gay Lecturer in Management Studies The UWI, Cave Hill Campus

As a result of her findings, Dr. Gay used the flip classroom approach. She created short videos, supplemented by reading material, and implemented a series of online review quizzes to constantly test students. In her lectures, she was able to review content that students were unsure about, go through tutorials, and apply additional exercises to provide support. WhatsApp and emails were used for communication.

After the national lockdown in March 2020 due to COVID-19, Dr. Gay conducted another survey to determine the most effective way to complete her teaching and conduct final assessments. In that survey, she sought to confirm the geographical location of the students, their network connectivity, the technology in their possession, installation of applications to continue their coursework, ability to complete online assessments from their location, and perception of their time management skills. She learnt that 13 foreign students had returned to their home country and the same number did not have privacy to complete their online assessments. Additionally, a further ten did not have internet access at home and had to use data on their iPad or mobile phones. Nine of these ten students were deemed not e-ready. In contrast, those who were deemed to be e-ready had significantly higher technical readiness, better online study habits and management skills, preferred an online modality, and even completed their final assessment earlier than those who were not e-ready. Interestingly though, both categories of students had similar final grades: “It seems there was a sense of a levelling out where those who were ready suffered, in a way, and those who were not [ready] were able to gain a little traction and do better.”

The majority of those surveyed Dr. Gay remains concerned that (139) said they preferred online a significant number of students teaching as it allowed them to review do not appear to be prepared for the course material at any time, since studying in a tertiary environment. many were unable to attend daytime She has since made several lectures due to work commitments recommendations, including that and transportation problems. On the those who are not e-ready seek other hand, those who preferred assistance from the Office of face-to-face classes said they needed Student Services on study habits the lecturer to explain details and and time management skills, and preferred the environment of a she continues to provide various lecture room/theatre as it removed learning modalities such as videos, distractions and allowed them to audio, hands-on exercises, and focus. tutorial questions. l