Assessing General Technology Competency and Use: Correlates of Confidence and Experience with a Range of Communications Devices

Virtual Paper ID: 54982
  1. Joshua DiPasquale
    University of Calgary
  2. aaa
    Bill Hunter
    University of Ontario Institute of Technology
  3. aaa
    Roland van Oostveen
    University of Ontario Institute of Technology
  4. William Goodman
    University of Ontario Institute of Technology
  5. Wendy Barber
    University of Ontario Insitute of Technology
  6. Maurice DiGuiseppe
    University of Ontario Insitute of Technology

Abstract: The increasing use of computer-based technologies in all sectors of modern economies requires that workers be not only capable of using existing technologies but also adept in learning to use emerging technologies and learn with them, as necessary. It is incumbent upon higher education institutions to develop programs that will prepare graduates to respond to these changing circumstances. In order to achieve this end, higher education faculty will be increasingly expected to be competent users of technology who adapt flexibly to changing requirements in society and the workplace. As a step in moving toward this future, there will be value in having measures of individuals’ competency with technology in general and ways of portraying their patterns of usage for various technologies. This paper will report on the history and the progress in developing an online instrument for assessing general technological competence in terms of the frequency with which various digital technologies are used, and the confidence users have in employing those technologies.

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