Students’ Views about Learning with Technologies: A Literature Review

There is a paucity of recent, formal education research that listens directly to students’ views of learning with technologies. Much of the research that has been conducted has tended to focus on evaluating students’ current experiences within a specific course, or concerned with tangible issues such as frequency of computer use, access to computers and the Internet, and evaluations of technical skill levels. Available research has tended to use quantitative or mixed method approaches, with data collected through surveys using convenience samples, Likert scales and free response questions. These methods are sometimes supplemented with interviews and observations. To establish an understanding of existing research, and to provide a foundation for the chapters that follow, this chapter reviews a selection of studies published since 2005 that collected data directly from students. It is apparent from this chapter that there is room for more formal research that listens to students’ views of learning with technologies.