Students not being able to access essential digital tools is still a problem

Jisc’s research draws on responses from more than 15,000 UK higher education students across 24 universities and six colleges. It should be noted that when comparing data year-on-year, the number of participating institutions varies – change needs to be seen as indicative rather than definitive.

The good news is that students’ views of their digital learning environments on the whole continues to improve. More than three quarters (77 per cent) rated the support they received for learning using technology as above average, a five per cent increase from last year.

The bad news is, for yet another year, a growing number of students not only do not have access to a suitable device and this rises to almost half (49 per cent) among international students. Significant portions of students surveyed (36 per cent) have avoided campus due to travel costs, two thirds reported wifi issues both on and off campus (up from 55 per cent last year) and nearly half (45 per cent) had trouble accessing vital digital systems needed to complete their learning. Both of the latter issues were more common among international students.

Like lots of aspects of the student experience, digital transformation has remained in the “nice to have” rather than the “essential” column as belts tighten and there’s little time, or energy, to invest in an overhaul of the digital learning environment.

Access to devices and digital tools was also uneven depending on demographic group. Barriers to learning often look like difficulties in acquiring suitable devices or often compounding cost of living pressures meaning study time is absorbed by part time work which the report tells us is more acute for students from minority ethnic groups.

For some these difficulties included struggling to access essential virtual learning environments (VLE) or course specific applications on outdated personal devices which were incompatible with modern learning platforms. In many cases, students said accessing university computers and software on campus was not an option as devices were rarely available or did not function efficiently, exacerbating the problem for an already cash-strapped group of students.

Others were completing most of their online learning entirely via a smartphone device.

“I cannot afford to upgrade my laptop from 5 years ago, this means access to Unreal Engine suffers when I’m not on campus/have access to campus computers with Unreal, as my laptop struggles to run the software”

“The library didn’t have enough laptops and I couldn’t afford a laptop. There were so many laptop-based assessments on my course and I just couldn’t complete them without one.”

For students in England, according to the B2 condition of registration, students should have access to appropriate devices, software, and technical infrastructure, including decent wifi at no extra cost. But as I pointed out last year, it seems these conditions are still not being met, raising serious regulatory concerns.

The repeated free text comments focus on the inconsistencies in how students experience digital learning.

A recurring concern was the inconsistency of how learning materials were organised across VLEs, as well as concerns about their quality. Students often struggled to locate slide decks, access assignment briefs due to unintuitive navigation, unclear folder structures, missing uploads or delays in content being uploaded. All of this suggests a lack of standardisation across modules is a real cause for concern that repeatedly comes up in student responses to the survey.

Students notice when things are not consistent. They may have one module where the content is all uploaded on time, in easy to navigate files that can be assessed remotely and compatible with assistive technology. But the module they remember, no matter how well organised the other modules were, is the one that they struggled to access the materials they need with ease.

Our natural tendencies are to remember the negative, i.e. the low quality lecture recordings, broken links, inaccessible files or outdated materials, rather than the otherwise positive learning experience a student may have. Crucially these issues, when compounded, can cause frustration and confusion when students are increasingly time poor.

After reading this report every year, it feels as though student expectations of their institution’s digital capabilities have increased. While more platforms and services may be on offer to students – 23 per cent said that they had access to AI tools to learn provided to them by their institution – it does not seem as though institutions have gotten the basics right.

My concern is twofold. On the one hand universities’ time, money and resources are all squeezed with no end in sight any time soon, making it difficult and, in some cases, an impossible ask to invest more in digital infrastructures, workspaces, get faster wifi or more laptop loan schemes.

Yet, it feels counterintuitive to accept this atrophy of student experiences as par for the course, not least given the regulatory incentive to ensure students can adequately complete their course. This shouldn’t be the new normal when it comes to the basics.

“The system is a nightmare. Everything is in different places… finding anything is impossible without expert support”

“Consistency and keeping things easily accessible in one local place instead of spread over multiple websites, services, login pages”

These are daily hassles of student life; not being able to hear what the lecturer is saying in their recording, broken links to preparatory reading or having to spend half an hour finding where the seminar materials are hidden on the VLE. They are seemingly small issues that gradually compound and contribute to an overall negative opinion of student life at institutions. These are the issues that drag down student survey scores.

Whilst there are seemingly bigger and more pressing issues at stake, we are in danger of accepting this subpar situation, in order to fight fires over there. As resources get tighter and pressure on staff at all levels increases, the likelihood of significant change in the coming months feels too optimistic.