Technology Applications Used by First Year Undergraduates in a Malaysian Public University

摘要

Malaysia has embarked Malaysia has embarked on several ICT programmes since 1996. These programmes have contributed to developing the ICT skills of the digital natives in the institutions of higher learning. This study was aimed at determining the technology applications which digital natives in the first year undergraduate studies in a Malaysian public university had utilized. A survey of 50 undergraduates in their first semester in the Faculty of Education showed that social media in the form of microblogs like Facebook, was used by all the undergraduates. Popular applications are repositories for video, mainly Youtube; website development, namely blogs; discussion tools, as well as maps and location applications. File sharing, online games and digital materials were used by some of the undergraduates but were less popular. The findings show that microblogs, discussion forums, content repositories and blogs were used by digital natives. The significance of this study is that these undergraduates were more likely to use these applications for learning, and in their careers when they graduate.