Digital learning tools in the classroom: comparing their impacts on student motivation to learn and academic achievement in post-secondary students from Canada, Germany, and India

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ABSTRACT Use of digital learning tools (DLTs) in classrooms has markedly increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Concerns exist that some DLTs were integrated without careful consideration of their impacts on student motivation to learn and/or academic achievement. Moreover, differences in student demographic profiles and the learning environment may also impact potential relationships. We surveyed post-secondary students from Canada, Germany, and India to determine if DLT use, effectiveness, and/or mode of course delivery differed across jurisdictions, and if any relationships exist between use of different types of DLTs and student GPA. Results indicate that although students from all countries examined preferred classes utilising particular types of DLTs, increased use of DLTs did not improve academic achievement. Nevertheless, it is crucial that DLTs continue to play key roles in modernising our pedagogical approaches given their impacts on course satisfaction and general appeal to the sensibilities of today’s students.