Native or Novice?

Abstract

Access to and use of technology by students deemed to be ‘Digital Natives' studying in the Higher Education (HE) sector has been an area of much interest, speculation and publication. This chapter reports on a small-scale exploratory study that aimed to uncover the digital technology access and practices in both everyday life and academic study of ‘new' international first-year ‘pathway' students at the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT). The purpose of this study was to contribute to the debate on digital natives by providing a ‘piece of evidence' on the access to and use of digital technologies by a group of pre-university pathway students. This exploratory study stemmed from the realisation that EIBT lecturers could better meet the needs of the current generation and cohort of 20+ ethnically diverse students, and help them acculturate and transition as lifelong learners who are able to adapt to an evolving information landscape in Australian HE and upon their return home.