Technology use and learning characteristics of students in higher education: Do generational differences exist?
As digital technologies form an inextricable part of young people’s everyday lives, some commentators claim that the current generation of learners think and learn differently from their predecessors. This study investigated the validity of this claim by surveying 799 undergraduate and 81 postgradu...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
British Educational Research Association
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10556/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10556/1/Technology%20use.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848836805315526656 |
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| author | Lai, Kwok-Wing Hong, Kian Sam |
| author_facet | Lai, Kwok-Wing Hong, Kian Sam |
| author_sort | Lai, Kwok-Wing |
| building | UNIMAS Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | As digital technologies form an inextricable part of young people’s everyday lives, some commentators claim that the current generation of learners think and learn differently
from their predecessors. This study investigated the validity of this claim by surveying 799 undergraduate and 81 postgraduate students at a large research-intensive university in New Zealand to document their use of digital technologies on university and social activities and comparing three age groups of students (under 20, 20–30 and over 30) to see whether there were any differences in their learning characteristics. The findings of the study showed that while students spent a large amount of time on digital
technologies, the range of digital technologies they used was rather limited. There were also no practical generational differences in the technology use pattern and learning characteristics found in this study. The results of this study suggest that generation is not a determining factor in students’ use of digital technologies for learning nor has generation had a radical impact on learning characteristics of higher education students. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T06:29:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | unimas-10556 |
| institution | Universiti Malaysia Sarawak |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T06:29:36Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | British Educational Research Association |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | unimas-105562022-01-26T08:42:37Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10556/ Technology use and learning characteristics of students in higher education: Do generational differences exist? Lai, Kwok-Wing Hong, Kian Sam L Education (General) T Technology (General) As digital technologies form an inextricable part of young people’s everyday lives, some commentators claim that the current generation of learners think and learn differently from their predecessors. This study investigated the validity of this claim by surveying 799 undergraduate and 81 postgraduate students at a large research-intensive university in New Zealand to document their use of digital technologies on university and social activities and comparing three age groups of students (under 20, 20–30 and over 30) to see whether there were any differences in their learning characteristics. The findings of the study showed that while students spent a large amount of time on digital technologies, the range of digital technologies they used was rather limited. There were also no practical generational differences in the technology use pattern and learning characteristics found in this study. The results of this study suggest that generation is not a determining factor in students’ use of digital technologies for learning nor has generation had a radical impact on learning characteristics of higher education students. British Educational Research Association 2015 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10556/1/Technology%20use.pdf Lai, Kwok-Wing and Hong, Kian Sam (2015) Technology use and learning characteristics of students in higher education: Do generational differences exist? British Journal of Educational Technology, 46 (4). pp. 725-738. ISSN 1467-8535 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262026636_Technology_use_and_learning_characteristics_of_students_in_higher_education_Do_generational_differences_exist doi:10.1111/bjet.12161 |
| spellingShingle | L Education (General) T Technology (General) Lai, Kwok-Wing Hong, Kian Sam Technology use and learning characteristics of students in higher education: Do generational differences exist? |
| title | Technology use and learning characteristics of students in
higher education: Do generational differences exist? |
| title_full | Technology use and learning characteristics of students in
higher education: Do generational differences exist? |
| title_fullStr | Technology use and learning characteristics of students in
higher education: Do generational differences exist? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Technology use and learning characteristics of students in
higher education: Do generational differences exist? |
| title_short | Technology use and learning characteristics of students in
higher education: Do generational differences exist? |
| title_sort | technology use and learning characteristics of students in
higher education: do generational differences exist? |
| topic | L Education (General) T Technology (General) |
| url | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10556/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10556/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10556/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10556/1/Technology%20use.pdf |