The use of information technology among Turkish university students

Abstract

Recent advancements in information technologies have accelerated the use of different technologies for learning and teaching in higher education. Many attempts have been made to explore creative and productive uses of laptops, tablets, smartphones and other new technologies for university students who are already familiar with most of the existing technologies in their previous school life. This study intends to understand how university students perceive the new technological changes and their effect on learning and teaching. the study was carried out in a Turkish university with the participation of 286 students. the survey used in the study was adapted from EDUCaUSE Center for analysis and Research (ECaR) Study of Undergraduate Students and information Technology Survey, 2013 with the permission of EDUCaUSE Center for applied Research, A non-profit organization that supports technology use in higher education by providing different services. This paper presents only qualitative findings from this survey study. the results showed that students' traditional view of technology influence their expectations from their faculty and their university in terms of the effective use of the latest technologies for educational purposes. the study yielded comparative data that would make contributions to a large-scale research annually conducted by ECaR on several campuses in different countries for almost ten years.