Are we ready for undergraduate educational technology programs? Lessons and experience from student satisfaction in China

Whether or not offering undergraduate educational technology (EdTech) programs has been discussed in the field of educational technology. Some researchers suggested offering EdTech programs at the undergraduate level. This study answered this question by examining how Chinese undergraduate EdTech students perceived their satisfaction with their programs and what factors affect their satisfaction. We conducted a survey investigation with more than 3000 undergraduate EdTech students from more than 100 Chinese universities that offered bachelor’s degrees in EdTech. We performed descriptive and inferential analyses (Multiple Regression Modeling and Multilevel Linear Modeling). The results indicated that (1) the overall undergraduate EdTech students’ satisfaction with their programs has much room for improvement; (2) students were generally less satisfied with the resources or facilities that their programs provided and with their employability; (3) students’ career goals after the undergraduate study were highly centralized to teaching in K-12 schools or obtaining a higher degree; (4) their satisfaction was affected by multiple factors such as region, universality level (ranking), university funding status, students’ academic grades, their willingness to enroll in EdTech programs, and their educational internship experience. Implications are discussed, and suggestions for the program satisfaction improvement are provided.