Students' Perception of Technology Use in an Institute of Higher Learning in Malaysia

Abstract

This qualitative study was carried out in a Malaysian Institute of Higher Learning (IHL)
among a small group of pre-university students studying English as a foreign language.
Malaysian IHLs pride themselves on the level of technology integration within their curriculum,
and this was put to the test with the recent pandemic situation resulting in education transitioning
to online on a global scale. This research was conducted to analyse students’ perception of the
use of that technology with a view to determining whether students viewed technology use as
both sufficient and as a genuine aid to learning. Students were interviewed to ascertain what
technology they used, how good they were at using it, the challenges and impact of using
technology in learning, whether technology helped students to learn and whether it made
learning more engaging. The results of the study revealed firstly that students are generally
satisfied with the level of technology use in the curriculum, reinforcing the claims promulgated
by the IHL. Secondly, the research revealed that, generally, younger tertiary level students
perceived themselves to be considerably less IT literate than they are frequently given credit for.
The findings are that while the IHL is meeting its commitment in terms of technology use in the
curriculum, perhaps more could be done to support students in the application of technology in
learning and that the use of video should be increased.