Monitor Digital Education - College in Digital Age - Students

The Digital Education Monitor (Monitor Digitale Bildung) creates for the first time a comprehensive and representative empirical database on the state of digitized learning in the various educational sectors in Germany - schools, vocational training, higher education and advanced training. The focus of the study covers: Use of digital media at universities. Digital forms of learning. Use of Open Educational Resources for learning, digital media in courses and digital testing.

Topics: 1. Technical equipment: media technology or hardware used for university or in leisure time (smartphone, cell phone, tablet, PC or notebook, digital camera, interactive whiteboard, beamer, other); allowed use of own devices such as smartphone or tablet in lectures and other courses; opinion on the use of own digital devices in courses (smartphones and tablets should be allowed for learning in a course, agreement on a ban of digital devices in the course due to distraction by WhatsApp or Facebook, conscious use of paper and pen for notes).

2. Use as digital learning forms: technologies and applications used for learning (e.g. chat services such as WhatsApp, digital presentation tools such as PowerPoint, etc.) and opportunities for use (use directly in events, use elsewhere for study, private use, no use).

3. Open educational resources - use for learning: free or paid use or non-use of internet resources for learning and testing (learning apps, learning management systems, e.g. Moodle or ILIAS, digital learning resources, e.g. e-books, learning videos, software, e.g. statistics and calculation programs, business games, literature management programs, e-assessment systems, examination systems).

4. Digital media in courses: attitude towards the use of digital media and applications in courses (good if lecturers use classical teaching aids, courses should only be conducted with digital media, motivation resp. more work by creating own learning videos or websites, like to learn for exams with learning apps or digital tests, learning apps or digital tests put students under pressure, thanks to digital media they can choose their own learning opportunities, they are overwhelmed by the range of digital media, it is better to receive anonymous feedback from a learning program than personal feedback from the lecturer, lecturers should try out new things with digital media more often, lecturers should focus on the subject matter, the media used do not matter, use of WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. only for private purposes).

5. Networking, communication: evaluation of digital applications in terms of their networking potential (digital applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp or Moodle improve the exchange with other students, with teachers, between the own university and partner universities or internship companies).

6. Digital forms of learning: evaluation of selected forms of learning with regard to one´s own motivation to learn (lecturer gives presentation with learning videos, presentation tools or uses whiteboard, lecturer uses pdf documents or e-books in his lectures, lecturer uses classic teaching and learning aids, such as blackboard or books, individual research on selected content, lecturer moderates discussions with the help of digital media, e.g. response systems, work with software independently, e.g. statistics or design programs, learning with a learning management system, using self-learning programs in the event, such as simulations, learning apps or learning games, preparing for the event with a video and deepening topics in the classroom, structuring the event in a blended learning format, a combination of face-to-face learning and e-learning, collaboratively creating presentations, web content or other projects with digital media.

7. Digital testing: participation during studies in an examination with computer assistance (examination or test as an entrance examination for a course, assignments and tests as a between course optimization examination, examination or test as a final examination of a course); type of digital procedure (visibility of the examination result only to the respondent or evaluation of the result by the instructor or by the computer).

Demography: sex; age (grouped); type of institution of higher education; public, private, or confessional sponsorship of the institution; subject group of the course; intended degree; semester of study.

Additionally coded were: respondent ID; college code; anonymous and voluntary survey noted; groups college size.