It doesn't matter what is in their hands: understanding how students use technology to support, enhance, and expand their learning in a complex world

Perspectives on the use of technology in teaching and learning have been increasing polarised, with positions entrenched around the efficacy of using technology in lectures, the distractions assumed to arise from social media and the temporality and ephemerality of knowledge located outside the academy. This paper presents the preliminary collective findings from several analytical projects arising from an innovative consultation project at the London School of Economics called LSE2020. This project was a central component of how we designed and delivered the strategic implementation of pedagogical change at the School. It sought to identify barriers and opportunities that can emerge from the integration of technology at a curricular and delivery level. The primary finding of the study is that students used and valued the effectiveness and benefit of the technologies that were provided to them by the institution and technology they chose to use themselves in different ways. The technology provided by the institution such as the Virtual Learning Environment and lecture recording facilitated actions aligned with the necessity to succeed, whilst their own technologies were part of wider approach to understanding and coping with the intersecting pressures of personal, professional and educational lived experiences.