4.3 Nursing students’ experience of using ICT for education
The study respondents showed few clear patterns in their response to the use of ICT in education. This is of particular
importance in view of the previous research findings that context has a strong influence on attitudes to using computers [47].
While the respondents recognised the place of ICT in education there appeared to be ambiguity about the exact form that
this should take. The study respondents were surprised by the level of computer use in their programmes and feared that it
would mean less face to face interaction with nurse educators. Nursing students entered university with very varied ICT
skills and little expectation of using ICT in education. Indeed, a number of respondents indicated that they were initially
surprised or unhappy about the need to engage with technology enhanced learning. This view is apparently widespread in
the student population, at least for the youngest age group, and was confirmed by a JISC/IPSOS Mori survey [41] of 17-19
year old student expectations and experiences of ICT and Levett-Jones et al. [38]. The JISC/IPSOS Mori [41] study found
that 17-19 year old students, while familiar with ICT and the Internet, expected to receive support with using it at
university. Levett-Jones et al. [38] also found that nursing students had a narrow range of skills and were confounded by the
uses of ICT expected at university. Despite the much wider age range in the current study there were similar proportions
struggling with ICT which may have implications for their educational progression. Further contemporary support for this
finding emerged from a British Library/JISC study [48] which found that, although students owned and were familiar with
using technology, they lacked higher level information literacy and interpretative skills. Thus a consistent pattern is
emerging of students who as they enter university are not prepared for the educational or professional use of ICT.