Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Student’s Attitude (Case Study of Postgraduate Students of University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka)

Abstract

Today every individual has become education minded in changing the society and the world with the advancement of science, technology, education, culture and civilization. In this age of information, education plays a prominent role in everybody’s life. Everybody desires to acquire education and the emphasis on the best quality education is increasing day by day. In the age of revolution of Information Technology, it reconsiders and re-adapts to the changing environment of teaching and learning. New media technologies have revolutionized education and the learning process. It has made teaching easier and the teaching method, student centric. Information and communication technologies can be used to bridge the gap between students and teachers. Nowadays, many Sri Lankan universities are gradually using different types of information and communication technologies for teaching and learning process. As new technologies are growing in a rapid phase there is a digital divide between students, teachers and the university administration. In order to cope with the fast pace of students in understanding the technology, teachers will have to update different technologies fast in classroom teaching. This research mainly deals with present scenario of information and communication technologies which graduate students are using and how it impacts the attitude of the student. In this study, 57 questions were assembled based on the objectives and they were categorized in to four parts. First part (part A) containing socio-demographic economic profile of respondents. Second part (part B) dealt with the exposure to information and communication technologies. Third part (part C) dealt with the comparison and the forth part (part D) of the questionnaire was designed to measure the impact of information and communication technologies on students’ attitudes for their education purpose. Students in Universities extensively use information and communication technological tools for different academic purposes. From assignments to making notes, from alternate information to industrial content, their preference is new media. Gone are the days when students referred books in libraries for enriching themselves. In this era of e-generation with information and communication technologies tools and the phenomenal spread of information and communication technologies, going online has turned easy to clarify their doubts instantly and satisfy their learning instincts. It is encouraging an outreach learning concept and producing a positive and efficient set of students as confident individuals who are bound to be a better workforce in the future.