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Vol. 18, No. 22 |
March 4, 1999 |
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Vol. 18, No. 22 |
March 4, 1999 |
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UD students are connected and computer wise. The majority of students own or share computers with roommates. They use them to conduct their academic business, to interact with faculty and to pursue coursework and research, according to Susan Foster, Information Technologies.
Since 1993-94, the Student Computing Initiative Committee, chaired by Susan Allmendinger, Information Technologies, with the assistance of Institutional Research and Planning, has conducted a yearly survey of seniors, juniors and sophomores to see how students are using and taking advantage of computer resources available to them on campus.
Student use of computers and technology is on the rise, Allmendinger said. For example, in 1993-94, 37 percent of students owned computers. Last year, the number rose to 65 percent, and this year it is 72 percent.
Virtually all students (98 percent) use e-mail to communicate with professors, rising from 42 percent in 1993-94, she pointed out.
The way students use computer sites has changed, Allmendinger said. Many drop into campus computer sites to catch up with their e-mail during the day. Although students use their own computers, many prefer the sites' printers.
Student use of computers will continue to increase in the future,
Foster predicted. "The trend is clear. In the future, students will
be mobile computer users and carry and use laptops in classrooms, in
the library and other locations as routinely as they do notebooks and
textbooks today. Students find technology useful and valuable to
conduct their campus business and for interactions with faculty and
their courses, and expect to be able to access information online
from many different sources,"
she said.
The 1998-99 survey was sent to 2,000 sophomores, juniors and seniors with almost one third (650) responding. In the future, freshmen will be included as well, according to Foster.
The student survey indicated that
* 72 percent own a personal computer;
* 53 percent use computer sites daily or weekly;
* 93 percent use computers to produce papers and reports;
* 95 percent use electronic mail;
* 83 percent use student services from the computer;
* 87 percent browse the web;
* 98 percent said they use e-mail to communicate with professors;
* 83 percent said some or many of their professors use information technologies in the classroom; and
* 97 percent knew about the Electronic Community Citizenship Exam.
The trends indicate that sophomores use computers even more extensively than upperclassmen and that incoming students in future classes will take increasing advantage of the University's information technology environment.
