Technology and Higher Education: The Impact of E-Learning Approaches on Student Academic Achievement, Perceptions and Persistence

Abstract

While e-learning, Web-enhanced instruction, and other forms of instructional technology have been touted as an effective way of addressing student withdrawal and academic performance, there are those (Carr, 2000) that report both program and end-of-semester course completion rates in distance education courses as merely acceptable compared to more traditional courses. This disagreement, coupled with the need to establish empirically-based instructional techniques, drives the desire to fully grasp the true impact of different forms of technology on retention and graduation rates among students. The purpose of this article is to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the literature concerning technology at the postsecondary level. We discuss studies that have examined the various uses of technology in the classroom, student perceptions of technology, student usage of technology, student attitudes toward technology, and the direction in which technology is heading. Specifically, the main objective was to highlight the findings with regard to the connection between technology and student learning, and between technology and student persistence.