Abstract:

In the developed world, first year university students begin their studies with skills and experiences using a variety of digital technologies. These students are sometimes assumed to feel empowered with respect to learning because of their familiarity with and access to ICT. Most of the academic research on this topic shows that students have a superficial understanding of digital technologies, use them for very limited and specific purposes, and have superficial information-seeking and analysis skills. However, the same cannot be said for students in many developing countries like Peru, where access to digital technologies is much more limited. In addition, most research on digital technologies has been conducted in developed countries, which may limit the relevance of the conclusions to developing world contexts.

The aim of this study was to determine how digital technologies are used for social and academic purposes by first-year Peruvian students enrolled in online instructional modality at a private university. An interpretivist approach was used to understand the subjective world of human experience. This study was conducted at a private university located at the Mantaro Valley of Junin Region, in the central Andes of Peru. Students come from a variety of backgrounds (cultural, social and economic) within Peru.

Semi-structured interviews were the primary instrument for data collection that contained 13 questions centred on:
(a) how and where students use digital technology for academic and social purposes,
(b) how they decide which technologies to use at virtual campus, home and work, and
(c) how they feel about their affinity and tendency to use it. The instrument was adapted from an interview guide by Bullen and colleagues. It was translated into Spanish language and then content-validated by Peruvian experts. Thematic analysis was employed to examine the semi-structured interviews.

All first-year students enrolled in online instructional modality were invited via email to participate in this international study in the 2017 academic year. The sample consisted of 20 students of the Faculty of Engineering (70%), Faculty of Law (5%), Faculty of Humanities (5%) and Faculty of Business Sciences (20%). The majority of study participants were male (60%), their age ranged from 23 to 45 (Mean age= 29.7).

Findings show that learners were using digital technologies at a fairly basic level in their everyday lives and mainly used them in areas such as personal communication, entertainment, academic and social interaction. There is a significant overlap in students’ use of at least some digital technologies. Technologies that were used primarily for social purposes (e.g., Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter) were also used to communicate with classmates on academic issues. In particular, Facebook and WhatsApp are being integrated into formal and informal learning settings – as tools to support communication and collaboration in and outside the virtual classroom, facilitating the crossing of physical and virtual boundaries. Future studies should further investigate the potential of digital technologies to cross boundaries between formal and informal learning to take place within and across various contexts, different settings and communities. This research could be of particular relevance for rural Andean areas where technology infrastructure is still unstable.

Keywords:

Social networks, digital technology, digital competence, higher education, qualitative method.