Student Use of IT from EDUCAUSE 2007 Survey Pat Burns, VPIT IAC Meeting Feb. 13, 2008

IAC - Student Use of Technology 2 At CSU - ISTeC Little enthusiasm for an IT Literacy (the use of IT) entrance requirement.  Individual colleges and departments have widely varying needs  Many already incorporate IT content in freshmen courses Widespread support for IT Literacy to the higher cognitive level of IT Fluency (how to think about, analyze, synthesize, and use data, turn it into information

Feb. 13, 2008 IAC - Student Use of Technology 3 Trends from EDUCAUSE Survey Students owning laptops as the platform of choice (> 75%)  Commensurate demand for wireless access. An increasing # of IT leisure devices (music, video, gaming), and elimination of the gender gap – now as many females as males. A trend away from PDA’s towards more powerful (cell phones that are data enabled. A trend towards 2+ devices (more than 98% own 2+, including desktop computers, laptop computers and mobile communication devices).

Feb. 13, 2008 IAC - Student Use of Technology 4 Trends (cont’d) Slight increase in the amount of time spent on line, averaging 18 hours per week. Students in more technically oriented disciplines, e.g. Engineering and Business, spend more time on line, on average. and word processing for courses have become ubiquitous, and the use of Library web sites is not far behind. Technology basics for courses, spreadsheets and presentation software, are now used by nine out of ten students, on average. The use of wikis is gaining ground.

Feb. 13, 2008 IAC - Student Use of Technology 5 Trends (cont’d) Younger students use emerging technologies, including Instant Messaging (IM), more than older students. Participation in social networks has grown dramatically during the past year, to more than 80% of students. Most students have access to high-speed Internet access, with only 8.4 percent still using dial up.

Feb. 13, 2008 IAC - Student Use of Technology 6 Trends (cont’d) Student preference for amount of technology in courses  Remains relatively unchanged, at “moderate.”  Only 2.8% prefer courses that use technology exclusively.  However, only 2.0% prefer courses with no technology.  Students want technology used appropriately in courses.  Over 95% of students have accessed content in a Course or Learning Management System (e.g. BlackBoard/WebCT).  Students rate all aspects of a Course or Learning Management System as “useful” or better.  Respondents are most positive about technology’s contribution to course-related research and in its ability to deliver information in a timely manner (especially grades), and point to communication with instructors as particularly helpful.

Feb. 13, 2008 IAC - Student Use of Technology 7 Major Opportunities Training instructors on how to effectively integrate technology and pedagogy, Improving the speed, reliability and support of the institution’s network, and Increasing instructors’ and administrators’ awareness of how their student’s facility or lack thereof, affects the impact of technology upon their learning ability.

Feb. 13, 2008 IAC - Student Use of Technology 8 But In the concluding section, the authors indicate that even though this was a technology survey, the overwhelming importance of curriculum and classroom instruction came through as major factors.