Análisis de las metodologías en los estudios de los nativos digitales en la universidad. Revisión de la literatura científica entre 2010-2015

Abstract

Popularization from the nineties in the Twentieth Century of digital natives term, it has led to the realization of multiple investigations in different countries in order to clarify the characteristics of this digital natives in the way they think, behave and learn and elucidate generational homogeneity. The aim of this contribution is to analyse different research methodologies used in recent empirical studies to improve knowledge of those characteristics at University context. To achieve this goal, this article is the result of the revision of eight scientific publications labelled with the highest h5 Google Scholar index in the subcategory Educational Technology among 2010 and 2015. The methodology used has combined documentary analysis with textual analysis of thirty-seven investigations which provide empiric evidence at University level and meet the inclusion criteria developed for this work. Results show that, despite of the common use of digital natives term and the usual allocation of specific and homogeneous characteristics, the terminological variety and the use of different methodologies and tools research do not facilitate the comparison of results in various investigations. They do not allow either a clear understanding of the phenomenon but they give us a better understanding of the complexity. Despite the difficulties identified, the different studies analyzed improve the understanding of digital natives while revealing a complexity not contemplated in the first investigations.