As pressures mount to improve student outcomes in developmental education, colleges and universities turn to technology to boost student success, write Markeisha Grant, Rebecca Natow, and Vikash Reddy for EdSurge.
But despite their reputation as the most tech-savvy generation, today’s students have trouble adopting new technology in developmental education, finds a report by the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness (CAPR). Researches at CAPR interviewed 127 people from 42 colleges and 41 higher education systems on their development ed technology practices and challenges, the authors write.
Students frequently had difficulty using course technology, according to the interviewees. Some respondents cited a lack of technology training for users as a barrier to adoption, write the authors. Low-income students and institutions located in rural areas also lacked reliable internet access, a problem that often disrupted their learning, the authors add.
CAPR’s finding delivers another blow to the “digital native” stereotype. Older generations often generalize millennials as digital natives, assuming that they’re all experts, or at least fast learners, when it comes to technology, wrote Jenny Abamu for EdSurge in 2017.
Also see: 5 items on your students’ technology wish list
This discomfort with technology is even more pronounced with older students. In her work with low-income adult community college students, many students expressed frustration with their web-based developmental math, says Christina Hubbard, a community college expert at EAB. The students “felt like the technology was preventing them from demonstrating what they knew and most feared they would lose their financial aid eligibility before reaching college-level,” adds Hubbard.
As technology’s role in developmental education grows, educators can no longer assume students have the necessary skills to succeed, the authors argue. Instead, institutions should try mandating courses that teach students how to use technology to support their course work, they recommend (Grant et al., Edsurge, 1/9/18).
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