Technology and College Students

Today I was helping a colleague understand the results of the last class she gave her class of upper division college students. She kept telling me that she was not teaching well, she felt she did not do enough to prepare the class for the exam. We looked at the results of the exam and compared them to the scores on the first exam of the semester. The scores are supposed to drop off from the first exam, because of the difficulty of the course. It is a research methods course that students need to complete to graduate with their Bachelor’s degree.

Through the magic of blackboard, we did item analysis, statistics that give the percentage of correct answers and the percentage of each of the wrong answers. This was a multiple choice exam. The statistics essentially say that the student did not student enough. Some would get the correct answer, but many would choose all of the other wrong answers. Some of the questions were designed to be easy, but still they would get the wrong answer. It has to be that students are not reading their book, or reviewing the course content available to them on blackboard.

In doing an analysis of the usage of blackboard, the numbers peaked to the highest points on the day of the exam. Students were on blackboard on the day of the exam. On the other days, the number of visits to blackboard was very low. Are the students reading the book? Are students utilizing all of the information available to them to succeed in class? Do they know how to read?

“Blackboard Learn technology helps you make learning more effective in and beyond the traditional walls. Breathing life into educational content.  Bringing efficiency to day-to-day tasks. Empowering instructors with tools to engage every learner. Motivating them on the devices they rely on. Promoting collaboration and streamlining processes.”

-http://www.blackboard.com/platforms/learn/overview.aspx

Are students using blackboard in the way it is designed. Are students being motivated to learn “on the devices they rely on?” The grades from the class that I described earlier might say no.

Technology improves by the day and has been incorporated to teaching courses. Students can access from their home computer, laptop, tablet and Smartphone. Students can save money on books because eBooks are cheaper than textbooks. They can read, write assignments, and participate in some class activities from anywhere as long as they have internet access. Students do not always have to go to the classroom anymore.

Technology is nice, convenient and might be a good way to engage students to learn. This leads me to the thought, are all students ready for this type of new learning environment.  As an educator, I have to adjust to the ways that students are learning in the technology age. I just wonder are all students ready for this change in the learning environment. Will technology motivate all students to want to learn with the new techniques that are supposed to make it easier to engage? Are we missing anything from the old traditional way of learning? Could we incorporate the best of both, the old traditional method and the new technological method?

Either way, students will need to read the book, whether it is a textbook, kindle, Iphone, or any other device. Either way students will have to write papers, not cut and paste from Google. Technology can make it so easy to find the answers on the internet to put together assignments and papers. Yes, there are software programs to help catch plagiarism, but it is sad that we have to have that type of software. At times, I feel like I am educating students, when it comes to grading. Other times, I feel like I am a cop looking for those attempting to get away with something.

Educators have a responsibility to create an environment where students can learn, whether it is online or in the classroom. Students have a responsibility to read the syllabus, read the book, ask questions, and complete assignments that include original thought, critical thinking, creativity and to cite sources. Technology is changing the learning environment, are educators ready to use all available? Are students ready to use technology to their advantage to learn or will students use technology to just get by to get a college degree but not necessarily learn? I have seen students that do the work and learn. I have also seen students try to get by and essentially commit fraud. The exam results that I discussed at the beginning give us a preview of their future. Some are doing the hard work that it takes to get a college degree, like many have done in the past. Some students are doing the minimum amount of work to get by, or are just lazy.