Abstract:

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) by students has been extensively studied. New innovations, including multimedia tools, wikis and even micro-blogging networks have been continuously used and implemented over time.

The use of audience response systems (ARS) or clickers began in the sixties although it was not until the end of last century that they were commonly used in higher education. Numerous studies have demonstrated how these tools reinforce the quality of education, promote student involvement in the classroom and thus improve student academic performance. However, few studies explore the factors that influence and determine whether or not students intend to continue using these systems in their classes. This issue is addressed in this paper.

The paper is structured in three sections. It begins by analyzing the current state of electronic voting systems, or clickers as tools, that complement traditional classroom teaching methods. Next, the operation and implications of these tools in university teaching are discussed. Finally, the factors that positively influence student decisions to use the tool in future classes are analyzed.

To conduct this study, a written questionnaire was administered to 162 students at the University of Granada who used the interactive system during the 2011/2012 academic year. The SPSS version 18 was used to conduct data analysis. Various statistical techniques (exploratory factor analysis and linear regression) were applied.

The results show that confidence, the attitude towards the interactive system used, perceived usefulness and the influence of third parties determined 71.5% of the intention for future use of the ARS or clicker. Academic improvement, perceived risk, the effort associated with using these systems and ease of use of such tools were not relevant to student decisions about whether or not to use the tool in the future.

Keywords:

ICT, Clickers, University Teaching.