Abstract:

The aim of this study was to explore pre-university students’ experience in using digital technology and to assess whether they might reasonably be classified as Digital Natives and examine the nature of their classification. Data was collected through an online survey in which 191 pre-university students participated. The sample study consists of 84 males, 107 females; 135 from business/science school and 56 from engineering school. It was found that students are spending more time on-line on entertainment than on academic pursuits. Smartphones and mobile computers are the two most popular electronic devices among the students and they spend more than six hours per day surfing the Internet, calling and messaging. Surprisingly, female and science/business students were characterized to be more digital native compared to male and engineering students. Female and science/business students spent more time on entertainment. This study has found that pre-university students in Malaysia were ‘being’ digital natives because they were born after 1980 and ‘doing’ the digital native activities.

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