Exploring Preferences and Attitudes: A Study on Digital Device Usage among Learners in Diverse Educational Settings

Abstract

This study examines the preferences and viewpoints of undergraduate learners across different educational settings with regards to their residence (urban or rural), gender, and course study. The investigation is aimed at identifying learners’ device habit, total hours used on digital device, and learners’ attitude gaps possible among rural and urban, male and female, science and humanities learners. Quantitative methodology was used where 100 learners from Nadia district answered a 33-item in-house instrument developed questionnaire to obtain the data. According to the research, smartphones are the most frequently used digital devise, followed by the laptops, tablets, and the desktops, and significant differences were visible between the localities and academic subjects. Statistically meaningful differences in frequency of use of digital devices were reported according to the data, on the one hand between rural and urban learners, while on the other there was no difference between male and female learners. The research also revealed that, technology learners use digital devices more than humanities learners. The research shows that approximately 45% of learners use digital devices for 1-2 hours daily; that is, a moderate dependence of the learners on their digital devices while studying. Looking at these findings, we obtain valuable insights into the variety of usage of digital devices in educational settings, which prompts the need for targeted initiatives to fill existing gaps.

Keywords: Digital technology, UG learners, digital device, digital educational tool, attitude