Students Say More Instructors Are Using Technology Effectively, ECAR Study Finds

Students are giving their instructors high marks for using technology effectively. Results from latest annual technology survey by Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) found that 68 percent of the more than 100,000 students surveyed said that most or all of their instructors effectively use technology to advance their academic success. That’s up from 47 percent just two years ago.

ECAR has surveyed undergraduate students annually since 2004 about technology in higher education. Key findings from this year’s ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology include:

• Blended-learning environments are the norm; students say that these environments best support how they learn.
• Students want to access academic progress information and course material via their mobile devices, and institutions deliver.
• Technology training and skill development for students is more important than new, more, or “better” technology.
• Students use social networks for interacting with friends more than for academic communication.

The entire ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2012 including recommendations from ECAR based on the findings and a list of participating institutions can be downloaded from the Educause website.