A Survey of the University Students’ Perspectives about Using Digital Technologies in Education: Zimbabwean Case

Abstract

This study investigated the perspectives of university students on the use of digital technologies as tools for teaching and learning. Digital technologies are an essential asset for academic institutions as they can support strategic teaching and learning objectives for education institutions. Studies have shown that limited use of digital technologies could lead to a second order digital divide. This problem negatively impacts the Government and university efforts and initiatives of increased technological investment. There is therefore a need to uncover and obtain a deeper insight into university students' perspectives due to the sparse literature discussing this problem within the Zimbabwean context. Quantitative data on student perspectives was collected using 100 questionnaires administered to students at a single university of technology in Zimbabwe. Although the findings concur with existing literature that students highly value the integration of technology into their learning process, there were issues that appeared to be peculiar to the surveyed environment. For example, the surveyed students professed disappointment with the current traditional teaching methods despite the high availability and accessibility to digital technologies within the institution. They indicated their frustration emanating from the disconnection between commonly used teaching methods and the digital technologies effective for teaching and learning.