“Technophobes, or the Nintendo Generation? A Study of
the Use of ICT in Teaching and Learning in Modern Languages”
Claire
Warwick
University of Sheffield, UK
Introduction
This paper discuses the results of the application of a methodology typical to information science to humanities computing. User studies are widely performed in the library and information science community. However, although some research has been carried out into the information needs of researchers in the humanities, very little research has been done into the actual use of electronic resources. (Warwick, 2000). Modern languages is an area in which the usage of electronic resources in teaching is known to be widespread. Yet the recent HEFCE report (1998) found that over one third of universities felt that computer-assisted learning (CAL) and information and communication technology (ICT) resources were being under-utilised. It concluded that there is a need for more research into their use in HE and recommends a "focus on the information and knowledge needs of the real end-users". This paper seeks to address this need, and considers the way that both teachers and students of Modern Languages use electric resources, and what their perceptions about them are. It is based on work conducted in the department by myself and a Masters student as part of her dissertation. (Pine-Coffin, 1999). We argue that such research is an important contribution to the area of humanities computing, since without an accurate idea of the way in which resources are used and perceived it is impossible to tell whether computer methodologies are useful and successful in aiding teaching and learning. Without this type of user study it is difficult to plan for possible future developments. Methodology Research was of a mainly qualitative nature, and was undertaken by means of structured interviews and questionnaires. Questionnaires were given to students and both students and academics were interviewed. Three university Modern language departments were chosen as a sample, all of which were identified as having links with humanities computing projects, Sheffield (Humanities Research Institute), Hull (CTI Modern Languages) and Exeter (Project Pallas).Results and discussion
Use of ICT: We found a surprisingly small amount of computer use by students. They used computers mainly for Word Processing, reading foreign newspapers and accessing the internet. Despite the advice available from the excellent CTI centre at Hull, the use of CAL packages at all universities surveyed lagged behind all these generic applications in terms of frequency of use. Despite promotion by libraries, there is also a worryingly low level of use of library web pages and of subject gateways, of BIDS and other bibliographic packages. Attitudes to ICT usage: Preferences in terms of computer use (ie what applications the students liked using) do not always mirror frequency. For example, students found they often needed to use Word Processors, but did not especially enjoy doing so. We also found that despite what academics tend to assume, their students do not necessarily enjoy using electronic resources. The 'Nintendo generation' is, it appears, still technophobic and surprisingly conservative in its preference for paper resources. We also found that students make 'tactical' use of resources. Despite the perception amongst lecturers that students will enjoy playing with computers, once introduced to them, we found that they tended to use them only to the extent that they had been convinced of the necessity of doing so. If they became convinced that they could pass an assignment by limited use of an electronic resource, they were often unwilling to explore further or practise the use of it, even when some packages had been specifically designed for certain courses.Departmental and academic attitudes
A constant theme of the research was that student reluctance to use electronic resources can be combated, at least to some extent, by the recommendations of their lecturers. This is not always easy to achieve, however, as the attitude of academics themselves is vital. We found some interesting and imaginative use of ICT, whether in the form of internet usage or of CAL tutorials. It is perhaps not surprising that CAL is what academics used most enthusiastically, since it could be used in a unique fashion which printed resources could not replicate. However, we also found a lack of awareness of ICT amongst academics, many of whom were also wary of computer use. Many felt there was little incentive to use ICT when traditional resources were adequate for the job in hand. With multiple demands on their time, computer sceptics were also unwilling to give up time to learn new ICT skills. Even those who were enthusiastic about the use of computers were wary of publishing their research in e-journals. They expressed anxiety about whether conservatism on RAE panels would lead to electronically published articles being dismissed as insufficiently prestigious. Some expressed a view that older, more established scholars who tended not to use computers were likely to be on RAE and promotion panels, and so computer enthusiasts might find their work was undervalued. This all led to a sense of conservatism in research, even if in teaching they tended to use ICT more widely.Support
Even if students felt that the department was encouraging them to use ICT, the most important factor in its successful use was support. However, awareness of what support was on offer was still low, as was takeup of it. Students often hesitated to ask for help, even when aware of it, and chose always to ask friends for help in the first instance. They tended to prefer human advice to online help and would rather receive help from their academic tutors than computer support professionals. They tended to assume that lecturers were more important than 'some bloke from the computing services' who came in to show them how to use a package. Thus, if a lecturer could demonstrate use of ICT him/herself, students tended to presume that this was indeed important. The opposite assumption was also made, although lecturers were often unaware of the messages they were involuntarily delivering. We also found a large discrepancy between the level of support which students perceived they needed, and which academics thought was acceptable. Academics tended to assume that most students would cope easily with computer use, because they thought that all teenagers were computer enthusiasts who has been trained to a high level of ICT skill at school. Many students, however, felt that the amount and level of support was too low, and that they needed far more help than they received. In general the level of confidence which students expressed in the use of ICT was surprisingly low. Some students also felt that they lacked skills in important areas such as internet searching. The librarians we interviewed were aware of this problem, but the university lecturers tended not to be. Unfortunately, the librarians were pessimistic about their role in the official teaching of such skills, since they felt that students and academic staff alike tended to undervalue the skills they had to offer, and there seemed to be few channels of communication from librarians to academics.Conclusions
The paper will discuss various conclusions which may be drawn from this data. The most important one, however, seems to be that despite enthusiasm about the potential of ICT in modern languages on the behalf of some academics and many humanities computing professionals, there are several problems in its practical implementation. It is only when user surveys are performed that such problems come to light, and we discover the reality of the situation, as opposed to what we think ought to be happening. Another strength of the technique is to discover attitudes that users have to the technology available, and we will argue that this is vital, since attitudes must shape the way in which computers are used. Our research has also uncovered a significant discrepancy between assumed and actual levels of usage and enthusiasm. It is clear that despite the expectations and assumptions made by lecturers, students do not necessarily enjoy using ICT, nor do they always find it easy to use. This has important implications for the use and support of ICT in the field of modern languages, and we will end the paper by discussing how our findings might be used to improve the experience of students and academics alike.References
HEFCE. An evaluation of the Computers in Teaching Initiative and Teaching and Learning Technology Support Network. : , 1998.
H. Pine-Coffin. “An investigation into the use of electronic resources
in the field of Modern Languages.” University of Sheffield, 1999.
C. Warwick. “English literature, electronic text and computer
analysis: an impossible combination?.” Computers and the Humanities. 2000. : .