Study on Problems and Needs of Master’s Degree Mahidol University International College Students in Using Educational Technology

Abstract

         This research has an aim to study problems and needs of Master’s Degree students in using educational technology at the Graduate Center, Mahidol University International College, to find the difference between the general information and the needs in using educational technology and to find the relationship between problems in using the educational technology and the needs in using the educational technology. The research population was the Master’s Degree students of Mahidol University International College in the academic year 2013-2014. The researcher applied survey research method to conduct the study by using questionnaires to ask 84 respondents. The data was analyzed by using SPSS program for percentage, mean and standard deviation. The difference between general information and the needs in using educational technology was analyzed by using t-test independent and One-way ANOVA while the relationship between the problems in using educational technology and the needs in using educational technology was analyzed by using Pearson’s Correlation with the statistical significance at 0.05.

          The research results showed that the number of females in the research population is more than the number of males. 61.9% of the research population are female and 38.1% of the research population are male. 53.6% of the research population have aged between 26 -30 years old, followed by 45.2% of the research population have aged below 25 years old and 1.2% of the research population has aged between 34-35 years old. 61.9% of the research population are studying in the MBA program, followed by 38.1% of the research population are studying in the MM program. 65.5% of the research population are 1st year students and 34.5% of the research population are 2nd year students. The study results showed that the problems in the educational technological devices/educational communication devices are at high level. The mean () is at 3.04 and the standard deviation (SD) is at 1.31. On the needs to use educational technological tools/educational communication devices, the study showed that the needs in this area are at high level. The mean () is at 3.76 and the standard deviation (SD) is at 0.99. This result is coherent with the problems in using educational technological tools/educational communication devices which are also at high level. The analysis on the difference between general information and the needs in using educational technology showed that needs to use educational technology between males and females are not different. The research population with different study level has the different needs to use LCD Projector and 3D Projector while the research population from different study program also has different needs to use educational technology which are Internet: LAN and Intranet: LAN. The difference in needs to use PC among the research population is statistically significant at the 0.05 level. From the relationship analysis, it found that the problems in using educational technology do not cohere with the needs to use educational technology. According from this research results, Mahidol University International College and the relevant persons should firstly consider solving problems in using the educational technological tools/educational communication devices. The signal of Wi-Fi should be fixed since the signal strength is low and Wi-Fi is hard to connect. The virus scanning in PC runs constantly. The speed of internet and the number of printers should be increased