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Research on the Digital Learning and E-learning Behaviour and Habits of the
Early Z Generation

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 INES 2018 • 22nd IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems • June 21-23, 2018 • Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

Research on the Digital Learning and E-learning

Behaviour and Habits of the Early Z Generation
Andrea Tick*
*
Department of Methodology
College of International Management and Business
Budapest Business School, University of Applied Sciences
Budapest, Hungary
Tick.Andrea@uni-bge.hu

Abstract— Modern digital technologies shift educational
practice and methodologies toward collaborative and
computer-supported learning. On the one hand, the attitude
and approach of students in higher education raises the
questions whether the Z generation fully accepts
technologies, uses fully self-directed online learning, or
requires the blended learning approach. On the other hand,
educational methodologies are going through reforms and
focuses on the integration of digital technologies available in
the digital society. This paper firstly investigates the
computer usage, the digital learning behaviour and habits of
the early Z generation among Hungarian students. Beyond
the e-learning courses offered in Hungary by universities
either as stand-alone courses or part of blended learning, it
must be considered how Z generation students, opposite to
earlier generations, who used mostly professional literature
and libraries, gather and gain information and knowledge
from the web. Secondly, this paper analyses whether the
members of the early Z generation form a transitional
generation between the Y and the Z generation being rather
digital immigrants and not digital natives.
Keywords—e-learning, Z generation, blended learning,
digital learning, cultural and social factor, transitional
generation, digital natives, digital immigrants
I. INTRODUCTION
The digital boom in the information society in the first
decade of the 21st century resulted in a shift in educational
practices in tertiary as well as in secondary education. The
integration of the vast-scale opportunities of the worldwide
web, the proliferation of the mobile and cellular digital
devices such as smartphones or tablets as well as
establishing massive online educational platforms trigger
that students as well as adults will, to a great extent, turn to
these online platforms, will utilize self-directed learning
using their own smart and mobile devices. On the other
hand, a new generation, the digital natives, step into higher
education, whose approach and attitude toward the usage of
online and social platforms are totally different from earlier
generations, even already from their parents.
Higher educational institutes in Hungary have also
turned to expand its educational practices and are focusing
on implementing online e-learning systems that provide
students with online access and content (such as Moodle,
Coospace, and KMOOC). In parallel, the traditional
methods like face-to-face lectures, seminars and mentoring
still remain dominant in higher education, keeping blended
learning a transitional methodology in higher education.
Hungary’s e-learning readiness was ranked thirtieth
having a score of 6.09 out of 10 in the world based on a
report of the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2003 (EIU) [1],
following the Czech Republic, and at the same preceding
most Eastern-Central European countries. “The recent
introduction of broadband technology in the Czech
Republic (29th), along with efforts to reduce Internet access
costs and extend connections to every public institution in
Hungary (30th), has put these countries ahead in Eastern
Europe.” [1] Meanwhile Hungary stands the 31st in the
education category having a score of 5.42 out of 10 in the
report, in which category the equal internet access is
measured in urban and rural areas in schools ranging from
primary to tertiary education. The study states that a lot of
countries outstanding in e-readiness also excel in e-
learning, eventhough e-learning has its own requirements
and “demands a targeted response by government and
industry” [1]. In response to the digital and e-readiness
developments in all fields of professions and business EIU
changed its concepts in the methodology of ranking by e-
readiness and e-learning and at present it ranks countries by
digital economy including both e-learning and education.
Seven years later in 2010 the Digital Economy Ranking
placed Hungary 35th in the world having an overall score of
6.06 [2], while social and cultural environment including
education and Internet literacy too reached a 6.27 score out
of 10. This ranking puts Hungary 6 places behind Slovenia
and 4 places behind the Czech Republic. This implies that
even tertiary education in Hungary still needs to put more
effort in expanding digital and e-learning facilities,
improve on the internet and web literacy and thus fostering
digital and e-learning motivation and usage, which can be
conducted more efficiently if student needs are better and
in more details explored.
Still there are many universities and colleges who face
difficulties in achieving success in delivering these types of
courses partly due to some inexperience on the lecturers’
side, or lack of efficient business strategies or merely
failing to achieve the successful delivery, effectiveness and
acceptance of such courses [3]. The universities in Hungary
are also under pressure to integrate online e-learning
possibilities for their students and to organize advanced
courses and training for their own lecturers to become
experts and be involved in developing course materials and
redefine the strategies and structures of the academic
learning environment [3].
The analysis and evaluation of the digital and e-learning
behaviour and usage of today’s active university student
society, the Z generation is justified by the above
mentioned facts, and that tertiary education is continuously

978-1-5386-1122-7/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 000033

A. Tick • Research on the Digital Learning and E-learning Behaviour and Habits of the Early Z Generation
shifting its education programmes to some form of e-
learning to a larger and larger extent, either as entirely self-
standing e-learning courses or in the framework of blended
learning. Lecturers and course developers need to
understand more how these students perceive and react to
the elements of e-learning, what can hinder or enhance the
learning process. In parallel, it can be noticed that
nowadays young adults gain information from the Net,
replacing the earlier information gathering and knowledge
gaining practices such as reading from specialised books,
studies, lexicons and literature. In the digital type learning
process there are subjective and objective factors that must
be included in the research model.
Therefore, it is of high significance to analyse the
computer-, and online e-learning- usage of this stratum of
the youth in order to understand, explore and to familiarise
with their information and knowledge gaining and learning
processes.
Furthermore individual differences cannot be ignored.
As stated by [4] “based on the experiences of the last years
within the frames of mass education, deviation is implicitly
higher regarding the number of excellent and lagging
students, but the reason for this is not only the increased
number of students [and] the difference is often caused by
that added value which is the consequence of the effective
way of knowledge management application”. It implies that
efficient e-learning strategy at a university can lead to the
success of the students in knowledge and information
gaining at universities and later in the labour market.
The survey conducted with approx. 600 students
studying various majors at two different type Hungarian
universities strives to explore the relationships of the
computer usage and learning habits of today’s university
students with the help of mathematical and statistical
methods.
II. THE SURVEY
A. Study objectives and goals
The primary goal of this study was to analyse and
explore the relationship of the early Z generation
Hungarian university students’ e-learning and digital
learning behaviour and usage, to see how different this
generation is from the earlier ones who were not born in the
digital era.
Regarding these students the hypothesis arises whether
they rather study using digital tools, online e-learning
courses, MOOC courses or they are still tend to study in the
more traditional way thus forming a transitional generation
between the Y and the Z generation. These students were
born after the internet boom in the middle of the last decade
of the 20th century but earlier than the digital boom in the
middle of the first decade of the 21st century. A second
hypothesis has also arisen namely, if the first one is to be
rejected then a transitional method of education, namely
blended learning is still the preferable educational
methodology for the members of the early Z generation.
B. Survey methodology
The primary, exploratory and empirical survey was
conducted using non-probability, convenience type
sampling, which sampling allowed us to reach university
students of the two selected universities. Convenience type
survey is accepted in the field of social science [5], a cheap
000034
and less time-consuming type of sampling method.
Consequently, the sample cannot be considered
representative, but due to the large number of applicants,
the survey results can be accepted for the target group, and
conclusions and responses can be given rather to the
behavior of the specific sample. The usage of this type
sampling is also justified by the fact that the researcher
wanted to analyse the behavior of Hungarian students since
such external factors as cultural and national factors (here
social factor) have also been proved to influence the
preference of e-learning, traditional or blended learning.
Social norm (here social factor) is “defined as the person’s
perception that most people who are important to him or
her think he or she should or should not perform the
behavior in question” [6], [7], [8].
The rational to use the cultural and social factor in case
of Hungarian students is based on the cultural index
proposed by [9], which seems to be controversial as stated
by [9] (Fig.1). Reference [9] states that “there are cultural
differences of age groups everywhere, but this is especially
important in Central and Eastern Europe since the political
and economic changes in 1989 [and] that Hungarian
cultural characteristics reflect our dual cultural character –
eastern and western features have always been present in
Hungarian culture throughout the country’s history”.
Figure 1. Hungary’s cultural index by Hofstede [10] and Varga [11]
The survey included online and paper questionnaires
distributed at two universities of applied sciences (Óbuda
University – a technical university, Budapest Business
School (BBS) – a university in Economics) at different
faculties and to students of different majors studying at
bachelor or master courses.
The full survey was split into three main parts, the first
part including questions for learning preferences, usage of
different e-learning systems and statements about e-
learning studying. The responses given to these questions
are under scrutiny in this paper. The questions regarding e-
learning and traditional type of learning required answers
on the Likert scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly
agree).
C. Data management
The gathered data needed some cleansing and
modifications, in the course of which the hardest task was
to find those replies that did not give relevant answers. In
case of responses where more than 6 questions were not
answered or the same answer was marked for all the
questions were eliminated as well as responses in which
case the respondent had not used any e-learning system
before but at the same time answered the questions about
the usage of e-learning systems. In case of missing data
 INES 2018 • 22nd IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems • June 21-23, 2018 • Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

with the Likert scale answers, the missing data were Female 161 3 27 2 13 1 2 1 210
replaced by their Median [12]. There were no extremely a
FSZ is a vocational education in tertiary education (colleges and universities)
peaked distributions so no questionnaire needed to be Bulk of the students in the survey study International
excluded for this reason. After data management not more Economics, Commerce and Catering, Mechanical and
than 30 questionnaires had to be excluded leaving approx. Safety Engineering, and surprisingly in each major there
578 questionnaires to analyse and evaluate. were more males answering the questionnaires than
females.
III. SURVEY RESULTS
A. University e-learning system usage results
In the course of the evaluation the researcher found that
students who answered the questions were at the beginning The next large group of questions regarding the usage of
of their studies so conclusions can be drawn about their e-learning systems and the questions about the preference
digital and e-learning behaviour and habits (Table I.). of e-learning, traditional or blended learning systems. 96%
of these students have broadband internet access at home.
Most of the students (79%) reach the e-learning system on
TABLE I. AGE AND LEVEL OF STUDY DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS
ON THE SURVEY their laptops while almost 70% use the e-learning platforms
on smart phones (Fig. 3), and surprisingly only 17% of the
Level of Number of students use tablets for online learning. Students could
Age (avg) Column n %
study Students (n)
BSC/BA 21 510 92.2
mark more than one device.
FSZa 20 3 0.5 The results imply that e-learning system software
MSC/MA 25 39 7.1 developers or online course developers must focus on
PhD 26 1 0.2 mobile app developments, since there is a significant shift
Total 21 553 100 from desktops and tablets to smart phone usages in case of
a
FSZ is a vocational education in tertiary education (colleges and universities) such courses among the Hungarian students.
Considering the gender distribution, one third (36.51% ) The 30% of university computer access is acceptable
of the respondents were females while two-thirds (63.49%) since students work on assignments, projects, tasks in pairs
were males. This ratio shifted further to the male side or groups so they come to the university to work together.
towards higher level of studies, which could be explained
by the fact that in technical majors male students tend to
finish their studies in more semesters than prescribed in the
curriculum (Fig. 2, Table II).

Figure 3. Device usage for e-learning platforms

The answers to the questions about e-learning, traditional

and blended learning gave a bit surprising results opposing
the expectations, since the researcher would have expected
the early Z generation students to prefer individual
Figure 2. Distribution of respondents by level of study, number of
learning, without mentoring.
semesters and gender Independently from university, level of study and major,
87.9% of the respondents prefer blended learning, that is,
they expect e-learning and individual learning in parallel
TABLE II. DISTRIBUTION BY LEVEL OF STUDY, NUMBER OF with traditional type learning (Table III.). Only 5.7% of
SEMESTERS AND GENDER them reject e-learning that is integrating any kind of e-
In which semester are you studying in? learning is a must in tertiary education.
Level of study
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total
Male 173 4 44 5 46 5 27 30 334 TABLE III. TEACHING / LEARNING FORM PREFERENCE
BSc/BA
Female 155 3 20 2 13 1 2 1 197
FSZa Male 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Which teaching/learning method Freq. Distribution
Male 11 2 15 0 0 0 0 0 28 would you prioritize? (n) (%)
MSc/MA
Female 6 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 13 Traditional type of learning: teaching in
PhD Male 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 the traditional way (lecturer, without 33 5.7
Total Male 187 6 59 5 46 5 27 31 366 multimedia and e-learning)

000035
A. Tick • Research on the Digital Learning and E-learning Behaviour and Habits of the Early Z Generation

Blended learning: teaching in the TABLE VI. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRESENT AND EARLIER USAGE
traditional way, supplemented with 507 87.9 OF E-LEARNING SYSTEMS
multimedia and e-learning material. E-learning Pearson Kendall’ Gamma Cramer’s V Pearson’s r P value
system CHI-Square s tau-b
Self-studying form: multimedia and e-
37 6.4 Moodle 224.53 0.473 0.640 0.323 0.519 0.000
learning / teaching without a teacher
Coospace 208.96 0.354 0.622 0.317 0.372 0.000
Total 577 100 KMOOC 169.83 0.401 0.861 0.307 0.449 0.000
Other 193.03 0.409 0.679 0.304 0.417 0.000
79% of students still require teacher assistance and
57.6% of them would be more motivated if they got support
from the lecturers through e-learning systems (Table IV.
and V.). These answers justify the existence of blended
learning in tertiary education, teacher support gives
confidence and motivation to Hungarian university
students.

TABLE IV. THE NECESSITY OF TEACHER ASSISTANCE IN THE

COURSE OF E-LEARNING

Dou you feel the need of teacher's help

Freq. Distribution
and assistance when learning
(n) (%)
multimedia /e-learning material?
Did not answer 15 2.6
Yes 456 78.9
No 107 18.5
Figure 4. Relationship between present and earlier usage of Moodle e-
Total: 578 100
learning system.

TABLE V. ONLINE TEACHER ASSISTANCE AND SELF-STUDY

MOTIVATION B. Traditional vs Digital Learning
Would your self-paced learning be Students who responded in the survey still prefer
motivated if you got teacher Freq. Distribution traditional type learning as it can be seen in Fig. 5 57% of
assistance through the e-learning (n) (%) the students prefer solving tasks from simple to more
system?
Did not answer 3 0.5
complex in order, 54% of them prefer classroom
Yes 333 57.6
consultation and 53% of them need personal consultation
No 31 5.4 and even more, namely 60% of them prefer face-to-face
Partly 211 36.5 learning.
Total: 578 100

The above answers support that channeling these

students of the early Z generation to solely self-directed e-
learning courses might end up with failure since teacher
support can give positive feedback and motivation to
students.
The universities included in the survey use different e-
learning systems (Coospace at BBS, KMOOC at Óbuda
University [13]), while Moodle is used at both institutions.
Ref. [14] outlines some new and innovative teaching
strategies including complex e-learning as well as
experimental subjects for the Z generation that prepares
students for real businesses and at the same time satisfy the
current industrial needs. From the survey it turned out that Figure 5. Preference of traditional learning
students who had already used an e-learning system used
and would use the system in the future, in each case there It is a bit controversial that only 37% of the surveyed
was a relationship between earlier and present usage. Table prefer studying from books but, at the same time, 54% of
VI. shows the significant relationships between earlier and them like printing out the electronic learning material. It
presents usage of the different e-learning systems, while means that these students turn hypertext into books that also
Fig.4 presents the usage of the Moodle system since this support sequential type learning, thus solving problems one
system is used at both universities. The high number of 0-0 after the other, successively. It is important to note that
pair in Fig. 4 is due to the fact that at BBS two e-learning students of the early Z generation, who are called digital
systems run parallel, so the non-usage of one system does natives and are expected to prefer digital type learning and
not exclude the usage of another system. who are accustomed to smart devices, browsing, using
hyperlinks, still return to traditional type of learning and
behave as digital immigrants. It is also important to note
that changing students’ attitude toward learning methods,
namely traditional vs digital should start at elementary
school education, and it is difficult to change the way how
these students were taught to study in their childhood.

000036
 INES 2018 • 22nd IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems • June 21-23, 2018 • Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Hopefully, the digital natives entering tertiary education in
the next couple of years will bring their digital attitude, thus
the usage of solely e-learning courses will become more
common and effective.
In parallel, the responses to the questions on e-learning
also support the preference of the traditional type learning
(Fig. 6), 73% of the surveyed students had not finished
exclusively e-learning courses yet, 53% of them still do not
like doing self-study e-learning courses, 66% of them do
not complete extra e-learning courses related to the topic
learnt and only 33% of them think that self-paced,
individual learning is more efficient (Fig. 6). On the other
hand, the responses of these students in the survey show the
characteristics of digital learning, namely they like short
videos and quickly solvable tasks, which are typical
features of digital learning – the basic characteristic of
MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) courses - and at
the same time characteristics of the early Z generation.
According to [15] the members of the digital natives
become shallow-brained, their brain plasticity, cogitation
and concentration change. Their brain becomes as
fragmented as the pieces of information on the Net. The
long and deep concentration on one topic ceased and
students’ focus skips from one bit of information to another
within a few seconds. These features appear in the course
of e-learning, long videos, long texts and sequential tasks
cannot engross the students’ attention [16]. Their way of
studying and learning is continuously getting scattered,
padded with hyperlinks.
Figure 6. Features of e-learning type learning
However, this feature of the early Z generation does not
exclude that they still prefer studying together with peer
students and prefer face-to-face classroom education.
All in all, these students belong to a “transitional
generation” between the Y and the Z generation since they
bear the characteristics of students preferring traditional
learning but the characteristics of digital natives can also be
identified.
IV. CLONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
After evaluating and analyzing the survey results the
researcher can state that the members of the early Z
generation at these Hungarian universities still like the
traditional type of learning combined with e-learning
possibilities that is they like classroom activities, face-to-
face education but at the same time doing e-learning
courses on their smart phones.
It can be stated that for the Hungarian universities the
application of blended learning is a possible transition in
000037
today’s educational shift, tertiary education should and
must invest in providing e-learning courses, either offering
them as supplementary courses to existing courses or as
self-standing courses for self-paced and self-timed studies.
Leaving these students to exclusively self-paced and self-
directed learning might not give the expected success at
tertiary education.
Moreover, for these Hungarian students “it is important
to note that despite perceptions of students being digital
natives, quite often they (together with lecturers) are in fact
digital immigrants with varying degrees of computer
literacy” [17]. The students participating in the research
showed that they were in favour of digital learning, they
bear the characteristics of digital learners, liking short
educational videos, short exercises, that they can gain with
their “scattered brain”.
All in all, it is to note that in a couple of years, the real
digital natives enter tertiary education and will demand a
more powerful shift towards digital learning either meaning
e-learning courses or MOOC courses but the charisma of a
lecturer, the appeal of a full lecture hall and a fascinating
and enjoyable face-to face lecture or seminar cannot be
replaced. Throughout the 20th century the radio, television,
cinemas, tapes, video tapes, DVDs, Blue-rays, internet, the
worldwide web and smart phones emerged with its
fascination, and enable the anytime, anywhere
communication and access to artistic performances, and
still the theatres are full and could keep their raison d’étre.
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