Students’ engagement patterns with digital learning technologies: An empirical case of lecture recordings
2022
Nkomo, Larian
In education, research on student engagement is neither new nor original. However, student engagement with various digital learning technologies continues to be a central and complex phenomenon, since higher education institutions are increasingly employing various digital learning technologies to support teaching and learning. Understanding how students engage with the various forms of digital learning technologies is critical to innovation in pedagogy and student learning.
Work presented in the thesis examines students’ engagement with a set of digital learning technologies and the extent to which this engagement contributes to their learning experience. The study begins with a systematic review of the contribution of various digital learning technologies to teaching and learning practices over a period of ten years. The study then employs three empirical studies on a selected digital learning technology utilising three different but interrelated datasets. The first empirical study of the research focuses on examining students' perceptions of the value of engaging with recorded lectures and how such engagement contributed to an enhanced learning experience. Findings in the first empirical study, indicate that engagement with lecture recordings is likely to enhance the learning experience. In addition, the provision of lecture recordings can foster an inclusive learning environment and offer flexible and timely access to learning.
The second empirical study of the research analysed students’ transcripts of discussions on social media relating to the value of lecture recordings to learning. Findings suggested that students used lecture recordings for note taking, preparing for exams, and so on, and mostly view lecture recordings as resources for supplementing live lectures rather than replacing them.
The third empirical study of the research analyses students' engagement patterns by examining data traces of students extracted from a university's lecture recording system. Results show that the various engagement patterns with lecture recordings provide flexible access to learning materials and that such flexibility adequately met students' diverse learning needs. More specifically, findings indicate that students primarily engaged with lecture recordings at various times during the day, with frequent access to these materials being in the evening and at night. Students also use different playback speeds when engaging with lecture recordings. This outlines some of the flexibility offered, and the ability to self-regulate learning when necessary. This can help students personalise their learning experience.
Synthesising outcomes of the analysis of the four studies (systematic, survey, social media transcripts and trace data) indicates that digital learning technologies such as lecture recordings can provide more adaptable, highly flexible, and convenient access to learning materials. This is crucial in enabling students to achieve an enhanced learning experience. Students also regard lecture recordings as supplementary learning resources, not a replacement for lectures. They generally engage with lecture recordings for various reasons, such as preparing for exams, revising, and comparing their notes taken in class, mitigating language barriers, and catching up with missed classes. This variation in engagement is pivotal in enhancing students’ learning experience.
In summary, the work presented in the thesis contributes to a better understanding of how digital learning technologies can enhance student engagement. This can be crucial for designing pedagogical innovations that increase engagement and lead to improved outcomes. The study also provides a reconceptualization of student engagement with digital learning technologies. This reconceptualization of student engagement incorporates the interrelation of the core dimensions of student engagement and acknowledges the role of students as self-enhancers to their learning experience, customising their learning to their needs. An additional contribution of this thesis is the deployment of the multiple methods of inquiry. These can enable educational researchers to explore different data sets, to examine engagement from different perspectives, triangulating the results and providing more holistic perspectives into the nature of student engagement with digital learning technologies in Higher Education.
↧