Investigation into Undergraduate International Students' Use of Digital Technology and their Application in Formal and Informal Settings

Digital technologies are being increasingly used in wider society including in educational settings. There are many examples that illustrate how universities embed technology enhanced learning within their educational provision. However there has been less research and evaluation of how these and other readily available technology based resources are being used in practice by students. This study aims to provide an in depth understanding of how a specific subset of higher education students, international STEM undergraduates in a large UK university are using digital technologies to support their studies. The results of a survey with a small group of students are reported. Initial findings show that students use technology in both formal and informal settings drawing on university resources but also other widely available resources. They are also routinely using more than one device to support their studies. Although they often use technology to support collaborative learning, more formal systems such as university provided discussion forums are not widely used. The results suggest that higher education should evaluate its use of digital technology and digital learning environments to determine if they are fully supporting their learners’ needs and are effective. Furthermore higher education should consider how students are already using other widely available digital technology resources to support their learning and what they can learn from this to inform their own programme design and delivery.