Survey report: Students perceptions of the use of ICT in university learning and teaching

A project partially funded in the framework of the SOCRATES Programme MINERVA Action of the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission

Survey Report

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 1
1. THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY AND STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS.............................. 2 1.1 A PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS........................................................................ 2 1.1.1 Age .................................................................................................. 2 1.1.2 Subject of study................................................................................. 3 1.1.3 Gender............................................................................................. 3 ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM STUDENTS................................ 4 2.1 STUDENT ICT ABILITIES, EXPERIENCES AND ATTITUDES ............................................. 4 2.1.1 Ability with ICT applications ............................................................... 4 2.1.2 Experience of e-learning methods ...................................................... 6 2.1.3 Perceptions of the use of ICT versus the use of traditional education methods............................................................................ 7 2.1.4 Opportunities offered by use of ICT.................................................... 9 2.2 THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STUDENTS SKILLS, EXPERIENCES AND THEIR ATTITUDES ... 10 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ............... 13

2.

3.

APPENDIX 1 DETAILED STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND EXPLORATION OF SURVEY DATA ................................................................................................ 14

1. BI-VARIATE CORRELATIONS................................................................................ 14 1.1 BI-VARIATE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ABILITY, EXPERIENCE AND ATTITUDES.................. 14 1.2 BI-VARIATE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ABILITY, EXPERIENCE AND PERCEPTIONS OF OPPORTUNITIES ........................................................................................ 15 REGRESSION ANALYSIS ...................................................................................... 15 2.1 POSITIVE PERCEPTION OF THE DIFFERENT ADVANTAGE ICT CAN BRING TO LEARNING AND EDUCATION .......................................................................................... 15 2.2 POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING WITH TRADITIONAL METHODS AND NEGATIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING WITH ICT ........................................................... 17 2.3 FACILITATING CONTACT AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE ....................................... 18 2.3 PROMOTING ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION ..................................................... 19 2.4 CHANGING THE LEARNING PROCESS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES ............................ 20

2.

APPENDIX 2 SPOT PLUS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE .......................................... 22 APPENDIX 3 RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS 3 & 4 .............................................. 26 APPENDIX 4 FACTOR ANALYSIS FOR QUESTION 3 .......................................... 28 APPENDIX 5 - TABLE OF CORRELATIONS ........................................................ 30

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

II

Survey Report

INTRODUCTION

This document describes a European wide SPOT+ survey research on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), defined as audio-visuals, computer programs and Internet, in university learning and teaching. About two thousand students from different universities in Europe participated in this study. First, a description will be given of the context of the study, the rationale of the research and the research design. In the second part, the results of the study will be presented followed by general conclusions and recommendations for further research in the third part.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

Survey Report

1.

THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY AND STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS

For the quantitative study, questionnaires (Appendix 2) were distributed to students in the middle years of their undergraduate degrees in different European universities participating in the SPOT+ project. The distribution of the questionnaires was done in two ways, either directly during class time or in an electronic format (on-line survey) to reach students on and off campus. A total of 1998 valid questionnaires was obtained, indicating an acceptable response rate. The distribution of the respondents over the different participating universities is presented in Figure 1. The category other includes a small number of respondents from non SPOT+ participating universities such as the Free University of Brussels (VUB), the University of Copenhagen, and the University of Southern Denmark.
400
number of respondents

397

300 200 133 100 0 168 190 163 82

255 151 151

144 87 46 10

ap es Ed t in bu rg h Er la ng en G da ns k G ra na da G ro ni ng en Kr ak ow Le uv en Pa do va

Ab o

hu s

ge n

Aa r

Be r

Figure 1: Number of questionnaires collected at different universities

1.1
1.1.1

PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS

Age

Just over half the respondents were 21-25 years old, and 30% were 16-20 years old. Since all respondents were students at rather similar universities of an older and research-oriented type which largely recruit directly from schools, this distribution is likely to be representative of their undergraduate populations.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

Bu d

th

er s

Survey Report

1.1.2

Subject of study

The students subjects of study were collected in four broad domains to make it easier for them to complete the form (the total list of possible subjects was too large to provide tickboxes and handwriting could not be captured electronically). 50% of the students gave Humanities as their main domain of study, 38% were in Social Sciences, 35% in Science and Technology and 10% in Clinical and Para-clinical subjects. These domains of study were not mutually exclusive since students could mark more than one domain. The distribution again is similar to that obtained in the SEUSSIS study. However, as noted above, some universities were much more oriented towards science and technology than others, for example Budapest, Padua and Krakow and some have no medical school (bo for example).

1.1.3

Gender

Just over half of the respondents were female (52%), indicating that there is a good balance of gender in the sample. At most European universities female students are becoming the majority except in science and engineering. At some of the universities in this study the sample was even more female-rich, for example bo, Edinburgh and Erlangen where the number of female students were twice those of males. More men than women were studying Science and Technology (329 males versus 232 females) whereas for Humanities, Clinical and paramedical subjects and Social sciences, the opposite was true (respectively 403 females versus 257 males, 88 versus 66, and 385 versus 237). The sample of students in this study were similar to those obtained in much larger samples from four of the universities (bo, Bergen, Edinburgh and Groningen) during an earlier study of student ICT skills (SEUSSIS URL) which were found to have good representation of age, gender and subject of study of the population as a whole. This suggests that the samplings in this study, at least at these universities, were fairly representative of the whole student population.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

Survey Report

2.

A N A LY S I S O F I N F O R M AT I O N C O L L E C T E D FROM STUDENTS

This part is divided into two subsections: a descriptive one and an explanatory one. In the first part, descriptive statistics are presented about the ability to use several technologies, the amount of experience with different technologies, and perceptions of the use of ICT in university teaching and learning with traditional education methods compared with perceptions of opportunities of ICT for learning and teaching. In the second part, possible explanations are given for students perceptions and preferences with regard to ICT. A more detailed statistical analysis is presented in Appendix 1.

2.1

STUDENT ICT ABILITIES, EXPERIENCES AND AT T I T U D E S

Ability with ICT applications

2.1.1

Collecting information about the competence of students in use of ICT applications is problematic if they cannot be directly observed. One approach is to ask students to rate themselves in terms of their own skills and to achieve maximum standardisation by giving the respondents an example of a use of each software to guide them to the level of skill one wishes to know about (for example, create a CV with a word-processor). Four well-known standard software applications (word-processor, presentation software, e-mail, on-line bibliographic databases) were offered for self-rating. The questions concerning ability to use different applications were answered on a threepoint scale, ranging from 1 (I have never done this type of task) through 2 (I would need some help to do this) to 3 (I can do this by myself). These were a subset of the questions used in the SEUSSIS project in seven universities with a total of 13,000 respondents and which proved highly reliable. In general, the students in our sample reported good skills with different applications (Figure 2). The highest abilities were with e-mail and word processing with which over 80% students reported being able to use without help. A slighter lower ability to use on-line bibliographic databases was reported. Presentation managers were the software with which students had least skill, one third of the respondents indicated that they would need some help to create a short talk with slides using them and the highest percentage of students reporting that they had never used the application.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

Survey Report

100.0
number of respondents

80.0 60.0 40.0 20.0 0.0

em ai l tio n so r es en ta ic db

alone with help never done

w or dp

pr es

Figure 2. Student self-reported abilities with four applications Overall there was rather little variation between the students at the participating universities in terms of their self-reported ICT skills, although those few that were found were quite important. Students at Groningen reported the highest skills in three softwares, but the lowest self-rated skills in students varied more by university (Table 1). Table 1: Some examples of the differences in skills with ICT between students at several universities
university Groningen Granada Groningen Gdansk Groningen Edinburgh Aarhus Krakow % can use alone 100 70 100 69 76 28 92 53 % never done 0 13 0 14 13 41 2 26

application Word-processor Email Presentation manager Online bibliographic database

It would seem likely that these differences reflect not student attitudes but their access to software or equipment needed to use them, especially in the case of presentation managers. The important message for the universities is to note the extent to which other universities are enabling their students to acquire important skills and the need in some cases to make progress quickly.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

bi bl io

gr ap h

ro c

Survey Report

2.1.2 Experience of e-learning methods

The questions with respect to experience of e-learning methods were answered on a fourpoint scale; 1 (never heard of this); 2 (used this once); 3 (never used this); 4 (used it several times). As with the previous questions, these were a subset of the questions used in the SEUSSIS project, answers to which had proven to correlate well with the actual provision of e-learning within universities. Students at the different universities reported most experience of academic support and advice from a teacher using e-mail, followed by on-line discussion forums and a website with interactive features. In contrast, students had less experience with virtual learning environments and even less experience with video-conferencing (Figure 3). 80% of the respondents signal that they have never been involved in video-conferencing though most of them have heard of it (96%). Given the known high use of email for support and low use of videoconferencing in undergraduate teaching at many of these universities these patterns are to be expected and confirm the reliability of the students responses.

number of respondents

100.0 80.0 60.0 40.0 20.0 0.0

vi fo de ru oc m on fe re nc in g ai ls up po rt eb si te VL E

alone with help never done never heard of

ac tiv e

on l in e

in te r

Figure 3. Experience of e-learning methods As might be expected, the variation between students experiences with e-learning applications was quite large, demonstrating the extent to which universities vary in their use of such tools. The most consistent finding was the almost complete lack of use of videoconferencing across all the universities for undergraduate classes. Table 2 shows the highest and lowest reported experiences by university.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

em

Survey Report

Table 2:

Some examples of the differences in experiences with e-learning between students at several universities
university Budapest Krakow Budapest Padua Groningen Erlangen Aarhus Granada % used several times 86 0 80 15 82 1 80 14 % never used 7 74 12 57 6 57 11 50

e-learning system Interactive course website Online discussion forum Virtual learning environment Teacher support by email

For virtual learning environments, a substantial percentage of students at most universities had not heard the term before, even though the question included the names of some common systems. Groningen University has substantial use of Blackboard across the university. Budapest students came from a technical university which probably explains their high experiences with some interactive tools but they reported little experience or knowledge of VLEs, showing clearly the different routes e-learning developments can take. It is clear that some students are only just beginning to experience use of ICT for educational purposes (a point that becomes important later when we explore their views), even in simple ways such as interacting with teachers through email.

2.1.3 Perceptions of the use of ICT versus the use of traditional education methods
The first part of the questionnaire gave us some baseline view of the students skills and experiences which provided a degree of reality check against both the SEUSSIS results and the project teams experience of their students and the activities taking place within many of the universities of the sample. The second part of the questionnaire was targeted at gaining information about an area of which much less was known and which was core to the SPOT-PLUS project, namely the views of students about the value of ICT and its actual and potential role in education. Twenty-four questions, measured on a four part scale (I totally agree; I mostly agree; I mostly disagree; I totally disagree) were provided with randomization of order to prevent contrasting questions appearing next to each other. A fifth category (I dont know) was added for those students who lacked the information or experience needed to answer the question. The 24 questions from this part could be grouped into two groups or scales. The first scale was named positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education;

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

Survey Report

The second scale was named positive attitude towards learning with traditional methods and negative attitude towards learning with ICT. Both scales were highly reliable internally, that is students responded to questions in the same group in the same way, i.e. generally positively or generally negatively. (Appendix 3 shows the results of the factor analysis obtained from a principal component analysis with Varimax rotation, and lists the parts of Question 3 on the questionnaire that were included in each scale.) Figure 3 shows that university students in our sample held a fairly positive view of the different advantages that ICT can bring to learning and education. However, this positive view of ICT was accompanied by a rather positive attitude towards learning with traditional education methods and one which questioned the value of ICT in education. A closer inspection of the answers on the individual questions reveals that university students were especially interested in the use of ICT for purposes of information exchange, such as to ask questions of experts and relevant people no matter where they are and to share information and ideas with people who have similar interests. With respect to explicit learning purposes the students expressed a stronger preference for traditional education methods (defined as printed text and a classroom setting) than for ICT-based methods. If ICT is to be used in an educational context, students specifically expressed doubts about the quality of the human interaction when there is no face-to-face contact. Also the item working on a learning task with people from different countries was less preferred by these students though still viewed positively. However, inspection of the I do not know responses puts these results in a somewhat different perspective. The percentage of I do not know answers for questions about learning with ICT was higher than for other questions. For example, 21% of the respondents indicated that they did not know whether small-group learning may become disorganized in online courses, 14% did not know whether learning with ICT is very time-consuming, and 13% did not know whether ICT can improve their learning. This might indicate that, due to the lack of experience with ICT, students expressed themselves rather cautiously about its use in education, leading them to state a higher preference for traditional education methods, which are well known to all students. This interpretation is analysed in more depth in the explanatory part of the results.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

Survey Report

The number of I do not know answers for each question can be found in Appendix 3.
Mean 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 Positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education Positive attitude towards learning with traditional methods/negative attitude towards learning with ICT

3.27 2.69

Figure 3: Mean values of student responses on the two scales measuring attitudes towards ICT compared with traditional methods. (Higher scores are more positive, minimum score is 1 and maximum is 4.)

2.1.4 Opportunities offered by use of ICT

This part of the questionnaire contained 17 questions, offering a list of opportunities that might be enhanced by ICT. The respondents were asked to indicate how important in their opinion each item was on a scale from 1 (no importance at all) to 4 (very important), with a fifth option of I do not know. The questions could be grouped into three scales. The first scale was labelled Facilitating contact and information exchange, the second scale, Promoting access to higher education and the third scale, Changing the learning process and learning outcomes (the grouping was again based on a principal component analysis with Varimax rotation, the results of which can be found in Appendix 3). Analysis of the scales (see Figure 4) showed that students attached importance to all the opportunities that were offered, though the first scale facilitating contact and information exchange received most support. Students especially supported the opportunities of ICT to This is consistent with the results of the previous part in which it was found that students especially wanted to use ICT for information exchange. There was a strong positive correlation between the scale positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education and this scale, indicating that students with positive views of the advantages ICT can bring to education were also positively disposed towards its use to facilitate information exchanges. University students were also positive about the use of ICT to promote access to higher education and to change the learning process and learning outcomes.

find out about higher education institutions in their own and other countries before going there to study and to widen the range of sources and knowledge available to students.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

Survey Report

employability skills such as teamwork, problem solving, self-learning capability, presentation skills, etc.. However, they attributed less importance to use of ICT in order to develop a more collaborative and less individual approach to learning. In general,

With respect to the last scale, students thought it important to use ICT in order to develop

attaching importance to these three categories of opportunities was positively related to a positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education and negatively related to positive attitude towards learning with traditional methods and negative attitude towards learning with ICT. This implies that students with a more positive attitude towards the use of ICT in education attached more importance to the different opportunities ICT can offer in all three domains. In contrast, students with a more negative perception of ICT, and who adhered more to traditional methods, agreed less with the three categories of opportunities offered here.
4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 Facilitating contact and information exchange Promoting access to higher education Changing the learning process and learning outcomes 3.3 2.87 2.85

Figure 4. Mean values of the student responses for the three scales measuring opportunities which might be enhanced by ICT (Higher scores are more positive, minimum score is 1 and maximum is 4).

2.2

T H E R E L AT I O N S H I P S B E T W E E N S T U D E N T S SKILLS, EXPERIENCES AND THEIR AT T I T U D E S

The statistical analyses on which this section is based are presented in Appendix 1. Students who held a more positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education held a less positive attitude towards learning with traditional methods and a negative attitude towards learning with ICT. This suggests that students viewed learning with traditional methods as excluding learning with ICT, and vice versa.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

10

Survey Report

A positive perception of ICT in learning and education was positively related to ability to use ICT and experience with e-learning technologies. In particular, students who knew how to use e-mail and how to create a short talk with slides by means of presentation manager, were more positive about the use of ICT in education. As was seen above, this positive perception pertains mainly to exchanging information, which might explain this positive relationship since e-mail is an important communication medium allowing quick exchange of information while presentation manager allows for structuring information in order to convey it more easily. In contrast the lack of ability to use ICT as well as the lack of experience with ICT led to more hesitation in using ICT in education and a stronger preference to adhere to traditional methods in education. Higher self-reported ability to use ICT and more experience with e-learning technologies was positively related to students belief in the possibility of enhancing contact and information exchange through ICT and also its value in promoting access to higher education. However, in the scale changing the learning process and learning outcomes, there was only a modest relationship with ICT abilities while stronger relationships were found with experience with e-learning, especially on-line discussion forums and virtual learning environments. However, the latter relationship was negative, meaning that more experience with a virtual learning environment led students to believe less in the possibility of ICT changing the learning process and learning outcomes for the better. Various factors could contribute to these findings, for instance the age or gender of the students, the subjects they were studying or the university they were attending. Students of Budapest and Gdansk were most positive about the use of ICT in education whereas those from Leuven were least positive, although even they were on average slightly positive rather than neutral or negative. The oldest students (40 years and above) were the most positive age group (although quite small in number, see Fig X) with students of the next age group (35-40 years) being least positive. Students in clinical and para-clinical subjects were somewhat less positive about the value of ICT in education to those in other subjects, perhaps due to their need for face-to-face skills and also the conservativism of some medical curricula. The results indicate that the higher the ability to use ICT and the more experience students had with e-learning, the more positive they were about the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education. This may mean that in order to encourage students to accept working with ICT in their university curricula, it is important to develop their ICT skills and to provide them with the means to gain experience with e-learning through use of a virtual learning environment or through academic support and advice from the teacher by e-mail. In their views of the relative value of traditional and ICT-based education, students above the age of 40, who reported the highest preference for ICT, showed the lowest adherence to traditional methods and the least negative attitude towards the use of ICT in education. The opposite case was true for the students of age 35-40 years, who showed the lowest preference for ICT in education and the highest preference for traditional methods. The youngest respondents (16-20 years) showed a similar pattern of preferences.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

11

Survey Report

This means that students leaving secondary school and entering the university have a stronger preference for traditional education methods and a more negative attitude towards using ICT than students who are a few years older and have already passed some years at the university or in work. Also in line with results for the previous scale, students in clinical and paramedic subjects have greater preference for traditional education methods than students in social sciences and science and technology. Views on the value of ICT for facilitating contact and information exchange varied somewhat between students at different universities (Bergen and Groningen students were most positive, Gdansk, Leuven and Padua students least) although it is difficult to see any logical reasons behind these small differences. Females were slightly more positive about ICT as contact and information channel than males, which is in line with findings on gender differences in communication, and those students who had had support from teachers by email or experienced VLEs were also more positive, perhaps because of these very experiences. The views of students about the power of ICT to change the learning process and its outcomes were strongly influenced by subject domain of study, with science and technology students regarding this much more highly that other students. Those who had experienced on-line discussions also felt that ICT could be used in this way but those who had experienced VLEs took the opposite view, which appears contradictory. However, VLEs can be used in very different ways and some of the universities may have very widespread use but for rather administrative purposes (course notes, lecture handouts, assignments etc) and not for interactive or communicative purposes where their educational impact is likely to be greater.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

12

Survey Report

3.

C O N C L U S I O N S A N D R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

In general, the results of this study show that students from different European universities have a rather high ability to use different technologies and have at least some experience with the use of ICT in education. Also, students are positive towards the use of ICT in education and learning. However, at the same time, students also report a relatively strong preference for learning with traditional education methods such as printed materials and classroom settings. Whereas in this study both dimensions were measured as independent components, a follow-up study could focus more on possible combinations of the two media, ICT and traditional methods, and directly measure students preferences for different combinations. This could lead to more precise guidelines on how to complement ICTlearning with traditional education methods. This study also showed a positive relationship between experience with different technologies and a positive perception of the use of ICT in education and learning. Although this finding is very interesting from the perspective of enhancing students perceptions of ICT in education, it is the result of a cross-sectional study, which does not allow us to draw conclusions on the specific direction of the relationship. Indeed, it is possible that a more positive perception of the use of ICT in education, leads students to experiment more with these technologies, leading to more experience with it rather than the other way around. More precise results could be obtained from a longitudinal study in which students are followed for some period of time. In such a longitudinal design, it would be possible to provide students with experience with particular technologies and measure the effects of this on their perceptions at some later point in time. This would allow more precise conclusions to be drawn on the direction of the relationship between experience and perception. With respect to the opportunities that might be enhanced by ICT, students believe in all three opportunities, namely facilitating contact and information exchange, promoting access to higher education and changing the learning process and learning outcomes. However, there are differences between students on the basis of demographical variables and in terms of ability to use ICT and experience with ICT. A remarkable finding was that sometimes more experience or a higher ability have the opposite effect, in the sense that they reduce the belief of students in the opportunities that might be enhanced by ICT. This could refer to the realistic estimation of the opportunities ICT offers to education and learning, balancing the advantages and disadvantages of technology compared with faceto-face and more traditional methods. This observation strongly supports the need for students to participate in hybrid or blended learning environments that represent a mix of measures and support in accordance with conditions for optimal use of the most powerful components of a learning environment.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

13

Survey Report

APPENDIX 1 D E TA I L E D S TAT I S T I C A L A N A LY S I S A N D E X P LO R AT I O N O F S U R V E Y D ATA

1.

B I -V A R I AT E C O R R E L AT I O N S

In this first part, Pearson correlations are calculated between ability and experience on the one hand and the scales that were constructed on the basis of the factor analyses on the other.

1.1

BI-VARIATE

RELATIONSHIPS

BETWEEN

ABILITY,

EXPERIENCE AND ATTITUDES Students who hold a more positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education, hold a less positive attitude towards learning with traditional methods and a negative attitude towards learning with ICT. This suggests that students view learning with traditional methods as excluding learning with ICT and vice versa. A positive perception of ICT in learning and education is positively related to ability to use technologies, especially e-mail (r = .13, p = .000) and presentation manager (r = .13, p = .000) and experience with technologies, especially on-line discussion forums (r = .23, p = .000) and academic advice by e-mail (r = .17, p = .000). This means students who know how to use e-mail and how to create a short talk with slides by means of presentation manager, are more positive about the use of ICT in education. As was seen above, this positive perception pertains mainly to exchanging information, which might explain this positive relationship since e-mail is an important communication medium allowing quick exchange of information while presentation manager allows for structuring information in order to convey it more easily. In contrast the lack of ability to use ICT, especially presentation manager (r = -.18, p = .000) word processor (r = -.13, p = .000) and on-line bibliographic databases (r = -.13, p = .000) as well as the lack of experience with ICT, especially with on-line discussion forums (r = -.17, p = .000) leads toward more hesitation in using ICT in education and a stronger preference to adhere to traditional methods in education. The correlation matrix can be found in Appendix 4.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

14

Survey Report

1.2

BI-VARIATE

RELATIONSHIPS

BETWEEN

ABILITY,

EXPERIENCE AND PERCEPTIONS OF OPPORTUNITIES Also these correlations can be found in Appendix 4. The results show that higher ability to use ICT, especially on-line bibliographic databases (r = .10, p = .000) and more experience with ICT, especially experience with academic advice from a teacher by e-mail (r = .16, p = .000) increase the believe of students in the possibility to enhance contact and information exchange through ICT. Also for the second scale promoting access to higher education, positive relationships are found with ability to use ICT, especially presentation manager (r = .13, p = .000) and experience with ICT, especially on-line discussion forums (r = .14, p = .000). For the last scale changing the learning process and learning outcomes, only a moderate relationship is found with ability to use e-mail (r = .06, p = .029) while stronger relationships are found with experience with ICT, especially on-line discussion forums (r = .12, p = .000) and virtual learning environments (r = -.16, p = .000). However, the latter relationship is negative, meaning that more experience with a virtual learning environment leads students to believe less in the possibility of ICT to change the learning process and learning outcomes to the better.

2.

R E G R E S S I O N A N A LY S I S

In order to explain some of the previous findings, hierarchical regression analyses were executed. In an attempt to explain variance in the dependent variables (the different scales), demographic variables were entered in the first step, followed by the questions about ability and experience in the second step.

2.1

POSITIVE
ADVANTAGE EDUCATION

PERCEPTION

OF

THE TO

DIFFERENT AND

ICT

CAN

BRING

LEARNING

Table 1 shows the results of the hierarchical regression analysis. For the demographic variables, a significant effect was found for university (Beta = -.158, p < .01), age (Beta = .074, p < .05) and clinical and paramedic subjects (Beta = -.08, p < .05). Students from the university of Kerdoiv-Eredmeny are most positive (M = 3.57, SD = 3.34) about the use of ICT in education, followed by students from the university of Gdansk (M = 3.36, SD = .38). Although none of the universities show means below the average, the lowest mean is found for students from the university of Leuven (M = 3.00, SD = .45). The most positive perception about the use of ICT in education and learning was found for the older university students, above the age of 40 (M = 3.40, SD = .44) whereas the lowest preference for ICT was found for students of 35 to 40 years (M = 3.07, SD = .43).

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

15

Survey Report

Most of the respondents were between 21 and 25 years of age, showing a mean preference of 3.28 (SD = .40). Students who do not have clinical and para-clinical subjects as their main domain of study are more positive about the advantages ICT can bring to learning and education than students in the clinical and para-clinical domain itself (M = 3.237 versus M = 3.11). It could be that these students experience a clear need for face-to-face contacts while working with patients. For the questions about ability and experience, the results indicate that the higher the ability to use ICT and the more experience one has with ICT, the more positive the student is about the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education. For ability, the ability to use presentation manager leads to a significant more positive perception about the use of ICT in education (Beta = .123, p < .01). For experience, experience with virtual learning environment (Beta = .110, p < .01), experience with on-line discussion forum (Beta = .11, p < .01), experience with academic support and advice from a teacher by e-mail (Beta = .105, p < .01) and experience with videoconferencing (Beta = .077, p < .05) are all significant predictors of this scale. This means that in order to have students accept working with ICT in their university curriculum, it is important to teach them how to create a short talk with slides by means of a presentation manager and to provide them with means to gain experience with a virtual learning environment, as for example Blackboard, with on-line discussion forums, to provide them with academic support and advice from the teacher by e-mail and to a lesser extent to provide the opportunity to gain experience with videoconferencing. Table 1. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis on positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education.
Predictors University Gender Age Employment or voluntary work Science and technology Humanities Clinical and paramedic subjects Social sciences Ability to use word processor Ability to use email Ability to use presentation manager Ability to use online bibliographic databases Experience with a course with a website with interactive features Experience with online discussion forum Experience with videoconferencing Experience with virtual learning environment Experience with academic advice and support by email F-change R R adjusted
All values are standardized beta-coefficients (*: p < .05; **: p < .01)

Step 1 -.130** .046 .049 -.049 .006 -.022 -.093* -.023

4.203** .039 .030

Step 2 -.158** -.007 .074* -.029 -.019 -.001 -.080* -.028 .009 .041 .123** -.032 -.044 .108** .077* .110** .105** 8.311** .121 .102

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

16

Survey Report

2.2

POSITIVE

ATTITUDE

TOWARDS AND

LEARNING

WITH

TRADITIONAL

METHODS

NEGATIVE

ATTITUDE

TOWARDS LEARNING WITH

ICT

Results of the hierarchical regression analysis are presented in Table 2. For the demographic variables, a significant effect was found for age (Beta = -.101, p < .01) and having Social sciences as main domain of study (Beta = -.112, p < .05). In line with the results for the previous scale, in which students from above the age of 40 reported the highest preference for ICT, again this group of respondents shows the lowest adherence to traditional methods and a negative attitude towards the use of ICT in education (M = 2.51, SD = .66). For the previous scale, the lowest preference for ICT was found for respondents between 36 and 40 years and again this group shows the highest preference for traditional methods (M = .72, SD = .55) together with the youngest respondents of 16 to 20 years (M= 2.72, SD: .46). This means that students leaving secondary school and entering the university, have a stronger preference for traditional education methods and a more negative attitude towards using ICT than students who are some years older and already passed some years at the university (M = 2.69, SD = .46).Also in line with results for the previous scale, students in clinical and paramedic subjects adhere more to traditional education methods (M = 2.79, SD = .45) than students in social sciences (M = 2.67, SD = .45) and science and technology (M = 2.68, SD = .46). For the questions about ability and experience, in order to reduce negative attitudes towards ICT and adherence to traditional methods, again it seems important to let students gain ability and experience with ICT, be it that the technologies in particular different somewhat from the previous section. Especially the ability to use word processor (Beta = -.118, p < .01), ability to use presentation manager (Beta = -.103, p < .05) and the ability to use email (Beta = -.089, p < .01) can lower negative attitudes towards ICT and adherence to traditional methods. Also providing students the opportunity to gain experience with online discussion forums is important in order to lower their negative attitude towards ICT (Beta = -.088, p < .05). Table 2: Results of the hierarchical regression analysis on positive attitude towards learning with traditional methods/negative attitude towards learning with ICT
Predictors University Gender Age Employment or voluntary work Science and technology Humanities Clinical and paramedic subjects Step 1 .030 -.056 -.089* .063 -.112* .040 -.008 Step 2 .046 .005 -.101** .037 -.085 .020 -.026

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

17

Survey Report

Predictors Social sciences Ability to use word processor Ability to use email Ability to use presentation manager Ability to use online bibliographic databases Experience with a course with a website with interactive features Experience with online discussion forum Experience with videoconferencing Experience with virtual learning environment Experience with academic advice and support by email F-change R R adjusted
All values are standardized beta-coefficients *: p < .05; **: p < .01

Step 1 -.108*

4.386** .044 .034

Step 2 -.112* -.118** -.089* -.103* -.021 .030 -.088* -.057 -.049 -.028 7.569** .124 .104

2.3

FACILITATING
EXCHANGE

CONTACT

AND

INFORMATION

Results of the hierarchical regression analysis are presented in Table 3. For the demographic variables, a significant effect was found for university (Beta = -.16, p < .01) and gender (Beta = .10, p < .01). For university, especially students from Bergen find it important to use ICT in order to facilitate information exchange and contact with other universities (M = 3.41, SD = .38), followed by the students from Groningen (M = 3.39, SD = .31) . Although students from all universities find this opportunity important, the lowest score is found for Gdansk (M = 3.17, SD = .41), Leuven (M = 3.17, SD = .41) and Padua (M = 3.15, SD = .38). Females (M = 3.33, SD = .38) believe more in the possibility of ICT to enhance information exchange and facilitate contact with other universities than males (M = 3.26, SD = .40). For the questions about ability and experience, only more experience with a virtual learning environment (Beta = .10, p < .01) and more experience with academic support and advice from a teacher by email (Beta = .079, p < .01) lead to a higher believe in the opportunity of ICT to enhance information exchange and facilitate contact with other universities.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

18

Survey Report

Table 3: Results of the hierarchical regression analysis on facilitating contact and information exchange
Predictors University Gender Age Employment or voluntary work Science and technology Humanities Clinical and paramedic subjects Social sciences Ability to use word processor Ability to use email Ability to use presentation manager Ability to use online bibliographic databases Experience with a course with a website with interactive features Experience with online discussion forum Experience with videoconferencing Experience with virtual learning environment Experience with academic advice and support by email F-change R R adjusted
All values are standardized beta-coefficients *: p < .05; **: p < .01

Step 1 -.129** -.086** .011 -.035 -.007 .036 -.023 .058

5.318** .037 .030

Step 2 -.164** -.101** .010 -.024 -.014 .036 -.021 .054 -.010 .004 .034 .036 -.035 .010 .036 .103** .079* 3.363** .062 .048

2.3

PROMOTING

ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION

Results of the regression analysis can be found in table 4. For the demographic variables, university (Beta = .21, p < .01) and having science and technology as main domain of study (Beta = .083, p < .01) are significant predictors. In the first step of the regression analysis, also having clinical and paramedic subjects as main domain of study reaches a significant level, but not in the second step. For university, students from the university of Kerdoiv-Eredmeny attach the highest importance to providing access to higher education (M = 3.24, SD = .43) as compared to the other universities. Students with clinical and paramedic subjects as domain of study attach less importance to providing access to higher education by means of ICT (M = 2.69, SD = .49) than other students. Students in science and technology attach the highest importance to it (M = 2.94, SD = .41).

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

19

Survey Report

For the questions about ability and experience, students who report a higher ability to use presentation manager (Beta = .163, p < .01) attach more importance to promoting access to higher education while students who report a higher ability to use online bibliographic databases (Beta = -.076, p < .05) attach less importance to promoting access to higher education. Table 4. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis on promoting access to higher education
Predictors University Gender Age Employment or voluntary work Science and technology Humanities Clinical and paramedic subjects Social sciences Ability to use word processor Ability to use email Ability to use presentation manager Ability to use online bibliographic databases Experience with a course with a website with interactive features Experience with online discussion forum Experience with videoconferencing Experience with virtual learning environment Experience with academic advice and support by email F-change R R adjusted
All values are standardized beta-coefficients *: p < .05; **: p < .01

Step 1 -.166** .047 .043 -.042 .101* -.022 -.082* -.044

9.873** .069 .062

Step 2 -.206** .008 .057 -.017 .083* -.003 -.068 -.050 .026 -.004 .163** -.076* -.039 .040 .028 .067 .030 4.817** .106 .091

2.4

CHANGING
OUTCOMES

THE LEARNING PROCESS AND LEARNING

Results of the hierarchical regression analysis can be found in table 5. For the demographic variables having Science and technology (Beta = .117, p < .01) and Humanities (Beta = .135, p < .01) as main study-domain are significant predictors of this scale. Students in Science and technology (M = 2.81, SD = .54) and Humanities (M = 2.85, SD = .55) believe more in the possibility of ICT to change the learning process and learning outcomes than students in other study domains.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

20

Survey Report

For the questions about ability and experience, the more experience one has with on-line discussion forums (Beta = .116, p < .01) and videoconferencing (Beta = .076, p < .05) the more one believes in the opportunities of ICT to change the learning process and learning outcomes. For experience with a virtual learning environment (Beta = -.125, p < .01), the relationship is in the opposite direction. The more experience one has with virtual learning environments, the less one is convinced that ICT can change the learning process and learning outcomes. Table 5. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis on changing the learning process and learning outcomes
Predictors University Gender Age Employment or voluntary work Science and technology Humanities Clinical and para-clinical subjects Social sciences Ability to use word processor Ability to use email Ability to use presentation manager Ability to use online bibliographic databases Experience with a course with a website with interactive features Experience with online discussion forum Experience with videoconferencing Experience with virtual learning environment Experience with academic advice and support by email F-change R R adjusted
All values are standardized beta-coefficients *: p < .05; **: p < .01

Step 1 -.042 -.103** .046 .026 .140** .156** .031 .058

4.465** .033 .025

Step 2 .005 -.124 .040 .032 .117** .135** .031 .049 -.012 -.028 -.032 .036 .018 .116** .076* -.125** .026 4.006** .065 .050

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

21

Survey Report

APPENDIX 2 SPOT PLUS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

SPOT PLUS Survey

Students' Perspective On Technology in Teaching and Learning in European Universities Participation and Learning of University Students Dear fellow student Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) are leading to shifts in teaching and learning methods in both distance and traditional education. Computer- and video-conferencing, interactive video and the internet are all changing the way students learn. The SPOT Plus Project aims to discover how students from all over Europe use ICT in their studies and to collect their views about the potential of ICT to help them learn. Your answers to these questions will be of great benefit in helping to shape the use of ICT in education. They will be kept confidential and used only for SPOT Plus research purposes. Thank you for giving us your valuable time to complete this questionnaire. Alex Bols, Secretary General ESIB - the National Unions of Students in Europe

Co-funded by the European Commission (Socrates, Minerva Programme) You can find out more about the project at www.spotplus.odl.org
Please mark boxes with a cross :

Q1

Please indicate your ability to use the following programs to carry out the types of tasks shown (mark one option per program)
I can do this by myself I would need some help to do this I have never done this type of task

Word processor, e.g. to create a well formatted CV Email program, e.g. to send an attached document or image Presentation manager, e.g. to create a short talk with slides Using an online bibliographic database, e.g. to search for a specific publication

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

22

Survey Report

Q2

Please indicate how often, if ever, you have used or been involved in the following (mark one option per program)
Several times Once Never Never heard of this

A course with a website with interactive features, such as assessment, online tasks or learning materials Online discussion forum Video-conferencing Virtual learning environment such as WebCT or Blackboard Academic support and advice from a teacher by email

Q3

Tick the relevant boxes to indicate your level of agreement with the following (*) : (*)Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) include audio-visuals, computer program and Internet.
ITEMS I totally agree I mostly I mostly I totally I do not agree disagree disagree know

1. I want to be able to ask questions of experts and relevant people, no matter where they are 2. In general, learning with ICT is very time-consuming 3. Good access to a tutor requires face to face contact 4. I would like to discuss topics with people from different backgrounds 5. I prefer reading from a printed text 6. I think that ICT can improve my learning 7. Quality information is hard to find on the web (WWW) 8. I would like to study with a computer, even if it is complicated 9. I like to learn in teams or small groups 10. If a task becomes too difficult, I am likely to drop it 11. I would like to share information and ideas with people who have similar interests 12. I think audio and video material can improve my learning 13. I think that In online courses, small-group learning may become disorganised 14. I prefer to learn on my own 15. ICT allows for effective sharing of experiences 16. I prefer to study with traditional education methods 17. If studying with a computer turned out to be too complex, I would like to return to traditional education methods 18. Learning with ICT requires highly developed study skills 19. I would like to cooperate on a learning task with people from different countries 20. I prefer to choose the specific topics to study within a course 21. I like to work with a computer in small groups 22. Learning via the Internet alone is acceptable to me 23. I like being taught in a classroom setting 24. Computer-based teaching/learning is lacking in human interaction, since there is no face to face contact

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

23

Survey Report

Q4

Below is a list of opportunities that might be enhanced by ICT. Please indicate how important you think each of these is (mark one option per program)
ITEMS Very Important Important Not very important No importance at all I do not know

1. Enabling European students to take courses and modules via the Internet from higher education institutions in their own and other countries 2. Enabling European students to find out about higher education institutions in their own and other countries before going there to study 3. Enabling students to collaborate on academic work with other students in their own and other countries 4. Enabling students to contact professors in their own and other countries for advice on academic questions and problems 5. Making it easier for students to study abroad by keeping in contact with home 6. Enabling students with physical disabilities to access higher education more easily 7. Enabling students from less-favoured social backgrounds to access higher education more easily 8. Enabling students from remote geographical regions to access higher education more easily 9. Enabling students from developing countries to access higher education more easily 10. Developing employability skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, self-learning capability, presentation skills, etc 11. Developing a more autonomous and learner-centred approach in university teaching 12. Developing a more collaborative and less individual approach to learning 13. Enabling more effective and systematic feed-back from students on quality of learning and teaching 14. Widening the range of sources of information and knowledge available to students 15. Mobilising students to participate in university activities within local communities 16. Allowing graduates easier access to continuous professional development 17. Providing more effective and/or frequent feedback to students on their learning progress 18. Other (please specify) 19. Other (please specify)

Q5

Do you have any suggestions about how universities should support students in their use of ICT in learning ?

Now, please tell us something about yourself:

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

24

Survey Report

Q6

Where is your permanent home? Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Ireland Italy Netherlands Portugal Spain Sweden United Kingdom Non EU Country (please specify): ..

Q7

Your gender?

Female

Male

Q8

Your age?

16-20

21-25

26-30

31-35

36-40

>40

Q9

Do you have employment or voluntary work of more than 8 hrs per week during the academic year?

Yes

No

Q10 Which is/are the main domain(s) of study of your degree? Mark as appropriate Science & technology (eg engineering, mathematics, computing, biology, chemistry) Humanities (eg arts, history, languages, media) Clinical & para-clinical subjects (eg medicine, dentistry, nursing) Social sciences (eg economics, business, law, psychology, politics)

Q11 Which are the main subjects of study for your degree? (Please write in English) Subjects (maximum of 3) 1. 2. 3. Office use only

Thank you very much for your help. Your views will contribute to our insight into the best way to use ICT in learning and teaching. They will help us to develop more effective learning environments.

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

25

Survey Report

APPENDIX 3 RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS 3 & 4

Table 1. Percentage of students giving I do not know responses in each element of Questions 3 and 4 of the survey
Question 3 I want to be able to ask questions of experts and relevant people, no matter where they are In general, learning with ICT is very time-consuming Good access to a tutor requires face-to-face contact I would like to discuss topics with people from different backgrounds I prefer reading from a printed text I think that ICT can improve my learning Quality information is hard to find on the web I would like to study with a computer, even if it is complicated I like to learn in teams or small groups If a task becomes too difficult, Im likely to drop it I would like to share information and ideas with people who have similar interests I think audio and video material can improve my learning I think that in online courses, small-group learning may become disorganized I prefer to learn on my own ICT allows for effective sharing of experiences I prefer to study with traditional education methods If studying with a computer turned out to be too complex, I would like to return to traditional education methods Learning with ICT requires highly developed study skills I would like to cooperate on a learning task with people from different countries I prefer to choose the specific topics to study within a course I like to work with a computer in small groups Learning via the internet alone is acceptable to me I like being taught in a classroom setting Computer-based teaching/learning is lacking in human interaction, since there is no face-to-face contact % of I dont know answers 2.9 14.3 3.6 5.2 2.4 12.8 8.5 5.6 3.3 3.1 2.8 5.5 20.8 3.3 16.5 7.7 7.3 14.9 8.5 8.5 11.5 4.1 3.5 6.6

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

26

Survey Report

Question 4 enabling European students to take courses and modules from higher education institutions in their own and other countries enabling European students to find out about higher education institutions in their own and other countries before going there to study enabling students to collaborate on academic work with other students in their own and other countries enabling students to contact professors in their own and other countries for advice on academic questions and problems making it easier for students to study abroad by keeping in contact with home enabling students with physical disabilities to access higher education more easily enabling students from less-favoured social backgrounds to access higher education more easily enabling students from remote geographical regions to access higher education more easily enabling students from developing countries to access higher education more easily developing employability skills such as teamwork, problem solving, self-learning capability, presentation skills, etc. developing a more autonomous and learner-centred approach in university teaching developing a more collaborative and less individual approach to learning enabling more effective and systematic feedback from students on quality of learning and teaching widening the range of sources of information and knowledge available to students mobilizing students to participate in university activities within local communities allowing graduates easier access to continuous professional development providing more effective and/or frequent feedback to students on their learning progress

% of I dont know answers 4.3 1.4 2.2 1.1 1.8 3.0 4.0 2.3 3.7 4.7 9.7 9.6 5.5 2.1 5.1 5.2 4.6

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

27

Survey Report

APPENDIX 4 FA C T O R A N A LY S I S F O R Q U E S T I O N 3

Table 1: Results of the factor analysis for Question 3

Items 19. I would like to cooperate on a learning task with people from different countries. 4. I would like to discuss topics with people from different countries. 12. I think audio and video material can improve my learning. 11. I would like to share information and ideas with people who have similar interests. 1. I want to be able to ask questions of experts and relevant people, no matter where they are. 15. ICT allows for effective sharing of experiences. 6. I think that ICT can improve my learning. 8. I would like to study with a computer, even if it is complicated. 20. I prefer to choose the specific topics to study within a course. 16. I prefer to study with traditional education methods. 24. Computer-based teaching/learning is lacking in human interaction, since there is no face to face contact. 13. I think that in online courses, small-group learning may become disorganized. 23. I like being taught in a classroom setting. 3. Good access to a tutor requires face to face contact. 2. In general, learning with ICT is very time-consuming. 5. I prefer reading from a printed text 17. If studying with a computer turned out to be too complex, I would like to return to traditional education methods. 7. Quality information is hard to find on the web (WWW). factor 1 0.636 0.618 0.580 0.562 0.555 0.555 0.553 0.543 0.531 0.673 0.613 0.552 0.540 0.504 0.486 0.452 0.446 0.440 factor 2

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

28

Survey Report

Table 2: Results of the factor analysis for Question 4

Items 2. Enabling European students to find out about higher education institutions in their own and other countries before going there to study. 4. Enabling students to contact professors in their own and other countries for advice on academic questions and problems. 14. Widening the range of sources of information and knowledge available to students. 3. Enabling students to collaborate on academic work with other students in their own and other countries. 16. Allowing graduates easier access to continuous professional development. 17. Providing more effective and/or frequent feedback to students on their learning progress. 5. Making it easier for students to study abroad by keeping in contact with home. 13. Enabling more effective and systematic feedback from students on quality of learning and teaching. 1. Enabling European students to take courses and modules via the Internet from higher education institutions in their own and other countries. 7. Enabling students from less-favoured social backgrounds to access higher education more easily. 8. Enabling students from remote geographical regions to access higher education more easily. 9. Enabling students from developing countries to access higher education more easily. 6. Enabling students with physical disabilities to access higher education more easily. 12. Developing a more collaborative and less individual approach to learning. 11. Developing a more autonomous and learner-centered approach in university teaching. 10. Developing employability skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, self-learning capability, presentation skills, etc. 15. Mobilizing students to participate in university activities within local communities. factor 1 0.653 0.647 0.647 0.610 0.548 0.538 0.480 0.441 0.432 0.829 0.809 0.800 0.739 0.752 0.651 0.633 0.615 factor 2 factor 3

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

29

Survey Report

A P P E N D I X 5 - TA B L E O F C O R R E L AT I O N S
Correlations TRADITI_ positive attitude towards learning with traditional methods/neg ative attitude towards learning with ICT -,335** ,000 863 1 , 1070 -,183** ,000 957 -,076* ,017 995 -,165** ,000 944 -,131** ,000 1067 -,121** ,000 1068 -,180** ,000 1066 -,128** ,000 1068 -,107** ,000 1067 -,173** ,000 1061 -,063* ,039 1064 -,054 ,079 1059 -,089** ,004 1066 POSICT_ positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education POSICT_ positive perception of the different advantages ICT can bring to learning and education TRADITI_ positive attitude towards learning with traditional methods/negative attitude towards learning with ICT INFORMA_ facilitating contact and information exchange Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N 1 , 1233 -,335** ,000 863 ,514** ,000 1100 ACCESS_ promoting access to higher education PROCESS_ changing the learning process and learning outcomes Q1A_ ability to use word processor Q1B_ ability to use email Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N ,549** ,000 1129 ,264** ,000 1105 ,062* ,028 1231 ,126** ,000 1231 ,125** ,000 1230 ,096** ,001 1231 ,142** ,000 1231 ,233** ,000 1226 ,067* ,019 1227 ,032 ,268 1224 ,165** ,000 1229 Q2A_ experience with a course with a website with interactive features ,142** ,000 1231 -,107** ,000 1067 ,048 ,057 1611 ,073** ,005 1479 ,020 ,429 1582 ,201** ,000 1987 ,205** ,000 1986 ,218** ,000 1981 ,166** ,000 1983 1 , 1988 ,330** ,000 1976 ,090** ,000 1978 ,250** ,000 1973 ,313** ,000 1980

INFORMA_ facilitating contact and information exchange ,514** ,000 1100 -,183** ,000 957 1 , 1615 ,243** ,000 1262 ,411** ,000 1427 ,062* ,013 1610 ,062* ,013 1610 ,024 ,338 1610 ,104** ,000 1610 ,048 ,057 1611 ,044 ,079 1603 ,003 ,912 1605 ,059* ,019 1598 ,159** ,000 1605

ACCESS_ promoting access to higher education ,549** ,000 1129 -,076* ,017 995 ,243** ,000 1262 1 , 1482 ,202** ,000 1252 ,043 ,097 1479 ,097** ,000 1480 ,125** ,000 1476 ,004 ,886 1478 ,073** ,005 1479 ,136** ,000 1472 ,061* ,018 1475 -,022 ,409 1471 ,071** ,006 1477

PROCESS_ changing the learning process and learning outcomes ,264** ,000 1105 -,165** ,000 944 ,411** ,000 1427 ,202** ,000 1252 1 , 1587 -,040 ,116 1581 -,055* ,029 1581 -,030 ,237 1578 -,002 ,924 1580 ,020 ,429 1582 ,122** ,000 1572 ,059* ,020 1576 -,160** ,000 1570 ,028 ,269 1577

Q1A_ ability to use word processor ,062* ,028 1231 -,131** ,000 1067 ,062* ,013 1610 ,043 ,097 1479 -,040 ,116 1581 1 , 1990 ,326** ,000 1989 ,265** ,000 1983 ,210** ,000 1985 ,201** ,000 1987 ,139** ,000 1976 ,060** ,007 1978 ,127** ,000 1973 ,223** ,000 1980

Q1B_ ability to use email ,126** ,000 1231 -,121** ,000 1068 ,062* ,013 1610 ,097** ,000 1480 -,055* ,029 1581 ,326** ,000 1989 1 , 1990 ,271** ,000 1982 ,305** ,000 1985 ,205** ,000 1986 ,209** ,000 1975 ,076** ,001 1977 ,129** ,000 1972 ,272** ,000 1980

Q1C_ ability to use presentation manager ,125** ,000 1230 -,180** ,000 1066 ,024 ,338 1610 ,125** ,000 1476 -,030 ,237 1578 ,265** ,000 1983 ,271** ,000 1982 1 , 1984 ,265** ,000 1979 ,218** ,000 1981 ,249** ,000 1970 ,172** ,000 1972 ,158** ,000 1967 ,193** ,000 1974

Q1D_ ability to use online bibliographic database ,096** ,001 1231 -,128** ,000 1068 ,104** ,000 1610 ,004 ,886 1478 -,002 ,924 1580 ,210** ,000 1985 ,305** ,000 1985 ,265** ,000 1979 1 , 1988 ,166** ,000 1983 ,187** ,000 1972 ,084** ,000 1974 ,145** ,000 1969 ,254** ,000 1978

Q2B_ experience with online discussion forum ,233** ,000 1226 -,173** ,000 1061 ,044 ,079 1603 ,136** ,000 1472 ,122** ,000 1572 ,139** ,000 1976 ,209** ,000 1975 ,249** ,000 1970 ,187** ,000 1972 ,330** ,000 1976 1 , 1977 ,171** ,000 1968 ,071** ,002 1963 ,208** ,000 1970

Q2C_ experienc e with videoconf erencing ,067* ,019 1227 -,063* ,039 1064 ,003 ,912 1605 ,061* ,018 1475 ,059* ,020 1576 ,060** ,007 1978 ,076** ,001 1977 ,172** ,000 1972 ,084** ,000 1974 ,090** ,000 1978 ,171** ,000 1968 1 , 1979 ,148** ,000 1965 ,097** ,000 1972

Q2D_ experience with virtual learning environment ,032 ,268 1224 -,054 ,079 1059 ,059* ,019 1598 -,022 ,409 1471 -,160** ,000 1570 ,127** ,000 1973 ,129** ,000 1972 ,158** ,000 1967 ,145** ,000 1969 ,250** ,000 1973 ,071** ,002 1963 ,148** ,000 1965 1 , 1974 ,160** ,000 1969

Q2E_ experience with advice by email ,165** ,000 1229 -,089** ,004 1066 ,159** ,000 1605 ,071** ,006 1477 ,028 ,269 1577 ,223** ,000 1980 ,272** ,000 1980 ,193** ,000 1974 ,254** ,000 1978 ,313** ,000 1980 ,208** ,000 1970 ,097** ,000 1972 ,160** ,000 1969 1 , 1982

Q1C_ ability to use presentation manager Q1D_ ability to use online bibliographic database Q2A_ experience with a course with a website with interactive features Q2B_ experience with online discussion forum Q2C_ experience with videoconferencing Q2D_ experience with virtual learning environment Q2E_ experience with advice by email

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Financial Agreement n. 90310-CP-1-2001-1-MINERVA-M

30