ICT in undergraduate university programs: assessment of their use in distance education pupils

Introduction. Currently, the discussion on the use of ICTs in higher education has turned into a key issue. One of the universities that stand out their use is the university at a distance. Our study examined a group of students at distance university center to know the degree of knowledge and use of ICT, as well as the need to learn how to handle them to pursue undergraduate degrees. This helps us to identify the different needs required by students in order to design and propose proactive measures. Method. A total of 178 students from UNED participated in the study. 100 of these students, were enrolled in Psychology and 78 in Social Education for 2009-2010 academic year at the partner institution of the UNED from Elche. They were given a 22 items questionnaire to investigate the use and experience about ICTs (information and communication technologies). Data were analyzed by Chi square statistic. Results. Results indicate statistically significant differences in the use and knowledge of ICTs between groups, showing that most students do not feel prepared to use technological resources in their studies. Conclusion. In conclusion, the main results of the present study indicated that students studying at the distance university do not use ICT frequently. Due to this lack of training, its application to the teaching and learning process does not reach the same level as in traditional universities.