International students? use of technology and the implications for pedagogy: A case study

The pervasiveness of digital technology in all aspects of society generally, has raised concerns in the higher education sector as to the implications for pedagogy especially with the exponential influx of Gen Y students (those coming of age between 1998 and 2006) whose use of such technology is already a seamless part of their daily lives. Understandably, their expectation may well be that such technology will also be embedded in their academic lives as undergraduates and later as postgraduates. On the other hand, pressures on the universities ? cost-effectiveness, increasing diversity and volume of the student body ? are making educational technology appear a ready solution, if not panacea. In the midst of such an academic landscape, international students have their own specific challenges in adapting to the western style, English-language-based Higher Education (HE) environment. This paper aims to investigate international students studying in a commercially operated pathway program at a Sydney-based university and their relationship to technology against the current challenges of using technology to facilitate academic achievement. Key areas of focus include: the disconnect between digital exposure and digital literacy, the use of online tools such as e-dictionaries and students? attitudes to e-learning. Pedagogical implications are explored.