Student Use Of Technology And Academic Activities In Community Colleges
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Date
2017
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Community College Leadership Program
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Doctor of Education
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This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.
Abstract
This quantitative study was guided by the Student Engagement Theory (Kuh, 2001). This study examined the differences in the number of academic activities performed among community college students reporting use of various types of technology (handheld mobile smartphone devices and mobile apps). This study analyzed secondary data provided by the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis Research (ECAR) 2011 survey of a nationally representative sample of community college students (N =1110). Descriptive statistics described the demographic characteristics of the community college students, the types of academic activities students performed, the types of handheld mobile smartphone devices used, and the types of mobile apps used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the differences in the number of academic activities performed among community college students reporting use of three types of handheld mobile smartphone devices as well as between students who used handheld mobile smartphone devices and reporting use of seven different types of mobile apps. A significant but small effect size was found in the number of academic activities performed by community college students reporting use of the three different types of handheld mobile smartphone devices. In total, android users performed a higher number of academic activities than those using other handheld mobile smartphone devices. However, iPhone users were the same as android and other handheld mobile smartphone device users in the number of academic activities performed. Similarly, a significant but medium effect size was found in the number of academic activities performed by community college students who used handheld mobile smartphone devices reporting use of seven different types of mobile apps. Students who used handheld mobile smartphone devices and who reported using social media apps performed a higher number of academic activities than those using educational and productivity apps. Conversely, students using handheld mobile smartphone devices and who reported using the other four apps (entertainment, communication, internet browser search, and miscellaneous apps) were the same as those using social media, educational, and productivity apps in the number of academic activities performed. Seventy-three percent of students reported using the apps that facilitated communication (i.e., texting and emailing) between students and students or students and instructors. The researcher attempted to offer insight into the concept of technology use as it is used in the literature and made recommendations for future studies.