Researching the Use of Communication Technologies in Higher Education Institutions in Portugal

Introduction

Currently, it is consensual the relevance of using Communication Technologies (CT) as a contribution to enhance teaching and learning in Higher Education (HE) contexts. Although there are numerous research works on this topic, very few comprehensively address the reality of Portuguese HE. In order to contribute to characterize the Portuguese reality, a nationwide study was developed with the main objective to identify and characterize the use of CT to support learning in Portuguese Public Higher Education Institutions (PPHEI).

This research focused on two distinct perspectives about the use of CT: the institutional perspective and the gender perspective. For this purpose, CT are the technologies which allow communication and are supported by the Internet.

The study of the institutional perspective concentrates on the perceptions that teachers and staff with institutional responsibilities have on the use of CT. The main objectives to be achieved related with the institutional perspective were:

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  Identify the CT used in PPHEI to support learning;

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  Characterize the use of CT by PPHEI, the perception of the difficulties encountered and the opportunities and challenges in providing learning support.

The study of the gender perspective paid specific attention to the perceptions of students and includes a special focus on how gender influences those perceptions. The main objectives of this perspective were:

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  Identify the CT used by students of PPHEI;

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  Identify the purposes and the frequencies of use and the locations of access of CT;

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  Characterize the value that students perceive of using CT in learning environment;

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  Understand the attitudes and preferences of students regarding the use of CT;

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  Identify differences between the use of CT in personal and in learning contexts.

The next section presents a literature review on the use of CT in HE, which supports the original model of analysis especially designed for this research. The document follows with a detailed description of the research methodology adopted and also of the study implementation process. Finally, the main results are described and discussed, and some conclusions are outlined. The results of this study are potentially useful in decision-making processes, particularly those involving the Higher Education Institutions (HEI), and the issues related to students.

Background

The technological environment, which characterizes our current society, offers a whole range of new opportunities and challenges for education and training (Conole & Alevizou, 2010). It seems to be clear that technologies play an important role in HE arena, both to teachers and students, in supporting teaching and learning activities, fostering the creation of enriched environments, with high levels of interpersonal communication, sharing, collaboration and participation (Dahlstrom, Boor, Grunwald, & Vockley, 2011; Lam, McNaught, Lee, & Chan, 2014).

Technology adoption creates new challenges and promotes changes in the institutional routines in HE. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been increasingly adopted by HEI to accomplish several different activities, such as: administrative tasks, institutional communication, research, and supporting teaching and learning processes as well (Bates & Sangra, 2011; Ehlers & Schneckenberg, 2010).

The use of technology in HE allows new pedagogical developments and enable the adoption of new approaches to education and training, characterized mainly by greater flexibility in space and time, openness to new audiences and learning styles, that are visible in the increasing availability of programs based on e-learning and b-learning modalities (Owston, York, & Murtha, 2013).