Smart classroom preferences and information literacy among college students

Abstract

In recent years, smart classrooms have been widely constructed in colleges and universities. To help the design of student-centred smart classroom in compliance with students’ information literacy levels and enable all students to adapt to the smart classroom smoothly, this study utilised a quantitative method to investigate the information literacy and preferences for smart classroom learning environments (PSCLE) of 873 Chinese college students. The results indicated statistically significant effects of college students’ information literacy on the eight dimensions of students’ PSCLE (student negotiation, inquiry learning, reflective thinking, usefulness, ease of use, multiple sources, connectedness, functional design). In addition, three profiles could be identified regarding students’ information literacy. Students with a high level of information literacy obtained significantly higher scores on four of the critical dimensions of PSCLE (student negotiation, inquiry learning, reflective thinking and functional design) than those students with medium or low levels of information literacy. Based on the results, we suggest that college students’ information literacy and their PSCLE should be considered by researchers and education practitioners when designing, constructing and evaluating smart classroom learning environments. Implications for practice or policy: Schools should evaluate students’ information literacy and equip smart classrooms with various information communication technology devices to cater to students’ varying levels of information literacy. Instructors or curriculum designers should develop differentiated instruction strategies and activities for students, in alignment with different levels of information literacy. Institutions and organisations should reconsider evaluation criteria for smart classrooms and incorporate the improvement of students’ information literacy as an important indicator.