Hospitality and Tourism Students Use of Technology Cary C. Countryman Michael Sciarini Matthew Roberts

Research Goals O Identify what type of technology is personally owned and used by students O Determine best method of social media interaction O Compare and contrast to other academic disciplines or institutions O See how technology usage evolves and changes over time

Previous Research O Specific forms of technology being used in hospitality and tourism education O Overall impact of ‘technology enhanced teaching and learning’ O The effects of emerging technology on planning in hospitality and tourism education

Ongoing Research O Educause Center for Applied Research O National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology. O Limitations: O General focus and therefor lacks specific insight into hospitality and tourism students or ‘our students’ O Leaves out other areas of interest such as social media interaction

Methodology O Survey was developed based on earlier efforts to assess the use of technology by undergraduate university students. These include simple surveys by faculty members and university information technology staff members. Additional questions were drawn from the 2011 study done by ECAR. O Pilot study during the 2012 summer session with students taking hospitality and tourism courses

Survey

Demographics Year in college: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior Gender: male, female Age: 18-20, 21-23, 24-26, 27-29, 30-33, 34-36, 37-39, 40+ Ethnicity: White, Black/African American, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaskan native, Asian, Pacific Islander, Other, Prefer not to answer Emphasis/Track: Lodging, Food & Beverage, Tourism, Meeting & Event, Other Knowledge and comfort with technology I am very knowledgeable about technology (strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree) I am comfortable in using technology (strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree)

Which of these devices do you own? (check all that apply) Laptop computer Desktop computer iPad Tablet computer (not an iPad) Kindle Nook iPod mp3 player/music device (not an iPod) Smartphone Mobile/cell phone Digital camera Digital video camera Do you plan to buy any of these devices in the near future? (check all that apply)

Preference – computer operating system/platform I have no preference I prefer Windows I prefer Mac I prefer another computer operating system/platform

Social Media – several times a day, once a day, a few times a week, less often, do not have an account Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Foursquare Pinterest I am comfortable with faculty interacting with me via social media (strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree) For those that strongly agree or agree, which type of social media would you prefer them to use (check all that apply) I am comfortable with the department interacting with me via social media (strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree) For those that strongly agree or agree, which type of social media would you prefer them to use (check all that apply)

Cell/Mobile Phone – If you own a cell/mobile phone Operating system: iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows, other smart phone, basic (not a smart phone) If you have a phone that supports text messaging, how often do you send text messages? many times a day, once a day, a few times a week, less than once a week, I don’t send text messages Do you have unlimited texting? yes, no, I don’t know

Course Content Management Systems and Online Education I like the use of course content management systems like Blackboard and WebCT (strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree) How many online courses (entire course is online) have you taken?­­ For those that have taken online course, “Overall I have been satisfied with the quality of online course.” (strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree) How many hybrid courses (significant parts of the course were online) have you taken?­­ For those that have taken hybrid course, “Overall I have been satisfied with the quality of online course.” (strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree)

Results from Pilot Study Sample Demographics 62 completed surveys Year in collegeEthnicity Freshman00%White % Sophmore34.80%Black/African American23.20% Junior812.90%Hispanic23.20% Senior %American Indian or Alaskan Native00% Asian11.60% GenderPacific Islander00% Male %Other11.60% Female %Prefer not to answer00% AgeEmphasis/Track %Lodging % %Food & Beverage69.70% %Tourism % %Meeting & Event % %Other914.50% Sample is not representative

Preliminary Findings O Almost all students are comfortable with technology while some do not consider themselves knowledgeable about technology O Most students own a laptop computer as compared to a desktop O Majority of the students own an iPod, smartphone, and a digital camera.

Preliminary Findings (Continued) O Most common future technology purchase is an iPad O Evenly split between Windows and Mac (24 students each) with 14 students indicating no preference O Most common form of social media use is Facebook with most student accessing it several times a day. Least common was Foursquare

Preliminary Findings (Continued) O Students with a meeting & event emphasis are more likely to use Pinterest than other emphasis areas. O Majority of students are comfortable with faculty and the department interacting with them through social media with the preferred source being Facebook O Most common phones are iPhones and Androids with iPhone being slightly more popular

Preliminary Findings (Continued) O Almost all students have unlimited texting and text many times a day. O The majority of students like using course content management systems. O Students appear to be slight more satisfied with the quality of hybrid course as compared to online courses. However, there were more online courses taken by the students than hybrid.

Future Research O Modifications to the survey based on pilot study and new research O Data collection during Fall Semester 2012 O Other institutions including international O Ongoing research – longitudinal study to track changes and the evolution of technology use by students

Questions/Comments Thanks! Cary C. Countryman