About Student’s Media Use for Learning in Tertiary Education Influence Factors and Structures of Usage Behavior

Abstract

The rise of the web 2.0 led to dramatic changes in media usage behavior of stu-dents in tertiary education. Services such as Google and Facebook are most accepted amongst students not only in pastime but also for learning. A representative survey was made at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). About 1,400 students were asked 150 questions to comprehensively explore their media use for study purposes. The survey produced several outcomes, such as a media acceptance ranking of 43 print, e-learning and web 2.0-services, a learning-related media taxonomy, a media user typology regard-ing the use of media for studies and classes, a description of possible factors influencing media use for learning, and an internationalized survey instrument measuring the relevant dependent and independent dimensions, factors, and variables, which can be applied to any university in any country. The interpretation of the results also gives rise to certain recommendations to improve media services at KIT and for institutions of higher education in general.