Tech-savvy students want real-life lecturers too, study finds by Sarah Cunnane

Photo: Sarah Cunnane

"Universities have been warned not to assume that “digital native” students will embrace all e-learning initiatives, or indeed prefer them to traditional forms of education." reports Sarah Cunnane in Times Higher Education. 

A new report released by the Canadian consulting firm Higher Education Strategy Associates warns that calls for curricula to be “radically overhauled” are sometimes based on evidence that “can sometimes be alarmingly thin”.

Read the new report here (PDF)

The authors surveyed nearly 1,300 students to determine views on e-learning, saying that there had previously been “precious little research” done in this area.

The results, detailed in The State of E-Learning in Canadian Universities, 2011: If Students are Digital Natives, Why Don’t They Like E-Learning?, suggest that students still consider a mix of traditional and high-tech learning to be “second-choice”.

The report concludes that the main problem with e-learning in Canadian institutions is with the quality of resources, with more investment needed in the integration between in-person and online learning.
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Source: Times Higher Education