A Global Perspective of Classroom Technology Integration and Use

The Digital Age Of Communication

Fraillon, Schulz, Friedman, and Gebhardt (2013) contended that “in the digital age, information and communication technology plays a key role in creating and exchanging knowledge, and information around the globe and affects citizen’s everyday life” (p. 3). This impact may be particularly true for younger generations whose constant exposure to technology has been proclaimed to influence how they think and learn, which may be distinct from prior generations (Lai & Hong, 2014). Interestingly, in Lai and Hong’s (2014) study, they found that undergraduate and post-graduate students in New Zealand did not report differences in their usage of academic and social technological tools and applications. Likewise, Irian pre-service teachers in Teo, Yurdakul, and Ursavaş’s (2016) research characterized themselves as digital learners regardless of their age. Further, a study conducted by Wang, Hsu, Campbell, Coster, and Longhurst (2014) revealed that digital natives’ use of technology inside and outside of academic settings may be diverse and directly impacted by teachers’ lack of educational technology training.