BEYOND ACCESS: FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS' UTILIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES AT SELECTED HIGH SCHOOLS IN ADDIS ABABA – A SURVEY ANALYSIS

Abstract

Relevant studies showed the positive influence educational technologies have on students'
academic experience. This study examined how students in Addis Ababa's public, private, and
international high schools use Educational Technologies to improve their academics. Thirty
random schools were surveyed, and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive,
regression, and inferential statistics to address the objectives of the study. The online survey had
more than a thousand views per school, showing high accessibility of both the internet and
devices. Most of the respondents used educational technologies. 18.4% of students who didn’t
use edtech attributed it to a lack of guidance from their teachers. In Ethiopia and similar
countries, many studies, including this one, found that teachers were not using educational
technologies.

This study confirmed that using Edtech increased academic motivation. Interestingly,
educational technologies were used equally irrespective of whether students found their daily
lessons “applicable” or not. This contradicted other studies, which found that the use of elearning in developing countries was significantly affected by their perceived utility. Similarly,
there were only a few significant advantages or disadvantages of enrolling in any of the three
high school categories. For instance, students learning in public schools showed a significant
increase in social media use while international high school students got significantly better
guidance on using edtech compared to their public counterparts.