Abstract:

The widespread diffusion of information and communication technologies is also changing the way students use systems and platforms for learning.

On the one hand, the shift to the Internet increases access to explicit learning resources such as learning modules, MOOCs or information sources like Wikipedia. On the other hand, tools for communication and interaction enable new or expanded forms of exchange and cooperation between learners. However, due to the very dynamic development of technologies and tools, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get an overview of the forms of technology support used by different student groups.

At the same time, universities and educational institutions are increasingly faced with the task of assessing, which forms and tools of learning support should be hosted and provided by the institution itself in order to offer privacy acceptable solutions and prevent "migration" of teaching and learning to commercial online platforms.

So which online platforms and software tools do students use for learning in concrete courses at a university?
What does the detailed "Digital Learning Ecosystem" of students look like?
What role do the university's IT systems play in comparison to commercial tools and platforms?

In order to answer these questions, several surveys of different courses were conducted at the Technical University of Munich in 2018. The aim was to allocate digital tools and platforms to the corresponding target groups on the basis of typical courses and learning tasks. The courses surveyed ranged from a very technology-oriented course entitled "Fundamentals of Databases" to a course with little technical relevance entitled "Project Management" to a part-time course for executives entitled "Leading virtual teams in a global environment". To visualize the results, insights into the modelling of ecosystems in general and digital ecosystems in particular were applied. In addition to this, findings for the clear categorisation of technologies were used and involved.

The paper first introduces the most important terms as well as the basics, characteristics and already existing visual representations of digital learning ecosystems. Afterwards, an overview of possible categories, tools and digital platforms is given, which can be used for learning scenarios at universities.

The focus of the presentation is the analysis and presentation of a newly developed overview model for the structured and detailed representation of digital learning ecosystems. With the help of the model, the various courses surveyed will then be analysed and visualised in detail. Both, the use at all (“Which tools do you use?”) and also the respective frequency of use (“If you use the tool, how often do you use it then?”) are worked out. In addition, the model shows which of the tools were used by the surveyed students for specific learning tasks.

Finally, the paper explores different ideas where the digital learning ecosystem of future students at universities could develop.

Keywords:

Digital Learning Ecosystem, Digital Tools for Learning, Usage Behaviour of Students with Technology.