Dive Brief:
- A new survey by McGraw-Hill suggests an overwhelming number of college students believe higher education is enhanced with the use of technology in teaching and learning.
- According to the survey, more than 80% of students believe using technology can help to improve grades by allowing them to dedicate more time to independent study beyond the classroom. They also say incorporating technology increases their learning efficiency.
- The total percentage of students who care about technology use in the classroom has increased from 56% in 2015, to 61% in the 2016 survey.
Dive Insight:
Technology is not only a welcomed asset for the college learning experience, but its use is expected by today's students. They expect to be able to communicate with faculty, to receive study materials and instructional content via a variety of devices, and for a majority of work in research and assignments to be done without much deviation from location and effort perspectives.
Most schools already recognize these expectations, and are growing learning modules around the principles of technology infusion. But for students, could this mean extra costs and fees? And for institutions, what happens if the shift towards distance learning grows beyond expectations? The new era of higher education requires for leaders to not just be adaptive, but nearly predictive about students desires and investment goals in degree completion.