Collaborative communication technologies and learning in college courses: which are used, for what purposes, and to what ends?

Web-based communication technologies that enable collaboration and sharing of information among users – such as podcasts, wikis, blogs, message boards, and others – are used commonly in contemporary organizations to increase and manage employee learning. In this investigation, we identify which of these collaborative communication technologies are used in relation to college courses, and with what frequency; we report student evaluations of their use and reasons why students indicate using them. Next, using Keller's ARCS theoretical framework, we examine the role of course-related communication technology use in four dimensions of course-specific motivation. Results indicate that in courses where students perceive that technology is used effectively, motivation to learn is higher than in courses where students perceive technology is used ineffectively – and that technology-related motivation is substantially related to course-specific learning outcomes. Importantly, students reported higher levels of cognitive learning for courses in which technology was perceived as being used effectively than for courses in which communication technology was perceived by students as ineffectively implemented.

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