Quality over frequency in using digital technology: Measuring the experienced functional use

Digital technology has a lot of potential in terms of teaching and learning. However, experimental and especially survey studies have provided mixed evidence on the impact of digital technology on educational outcomes. The correlation between students' reported use of digital technology and achievement has continually appeared to be of no significance or even negative significance. Instead of measuring the perceived frequency of using digital technology, we developed an instrument to measure the experienced quality of such use. Theoretically, we build on Martin Heidegger's conceptualisation of present-at-hand as a non-functional use of digital technology and ready-to-hand as a functional use of digital technology. Altogether, 203 secondary school students (aged 13-16 years) responded to the questionnaire. The structural equation model revealed that experience of non-functional use of digital technology had a statistically significant impact on perceived frequency of using digital technology at school, while experience of functional use of digital technology had a statistically significant impact on academic achievement. Like in previous research, the reported frequency of digital technology use did not have a statistically significant impact on academic achievement. We highlight that Heidegger's conceptualisation of present-at-hand and ready-to-hand helps us to understand the mixed results of international surveys. We conclude that, to better understand the role of digital technology in learning, in surveys as well as in the classroom, the focus should be on the experienced quality of learning -functional use- instead of the perceived frequency of the use of digital technology.