What technology students have this year

Smith, S., Salaway, G., and Caruso, J. The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009—Key Findings Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2009, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Quote

‘Since 2004, the ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology has sought to shed light on how technology affects the college experience. We ask students about the technology they own and how they use it in and out of their academic world. We also ask students about how skilled they believe they are with technologies; how they feel technology is affecting their learning experience; and their preferences for information technology (IT) in courses.’

Some key findings:

• students are switching from desktop PCs to laptops
• nearly half of all students contribute content to web 2.0 sites (wikis, YouTube, etc.)
• in general, students were lukewarm about their instructors’ use of IT
• students have been remarkably consistent in their preference for only a moderate amount of technology in courses
  (between 55% and 60% for the last four years)

Pots more interesting results – a report that should be essential reading for e-learning instructors