Understanding web activity patterns among teachers, students and teacher candidates.

This study sought to understand generational and role differences in web usage of teachers, teacher candidates and K-12 students in a state in the USA ( n = 2261). The researchers employed unique methods, which included using a custom-built persistent web browser to track user behaviours free of sel...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. 588 - 597
Autores principales: Kimmons, R., Clark, B., Lim, M.
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Dec2017
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:This study sought to understand generational and role differences in web usage of teachers, teacher candidates and K-12 students in a state in the USA ( n = 2261). The researchers employed unique methods, which included using a custom-built persistent web browser to track user behaviours free of self-report, self-selection and perception bias. Results revealed that all three groups utilized a variety of resources daily, but with some noticeable differences. For instance, (1) teachers and teacher candidates used the Internet on school devices much more than students; (2) they accessed general, multimedia, search, entertainment, shopping and social resources at a higher rate than students; (3) students visited a higher proportion of educational websites than their teachers; and (4) teachers visited a higher proportion of search pages than teacher candidates. Results may be useful for researchers (1) to better understand generational differences between groups; (2) to expand educational technology research to better include non-pedagogical support tools for educators; and (3) to serve as a counterpoint for self-report data on web resource frequency of use, which may provide different results.