Educause just released their 2009 study of undergrad technology use. Here are some highlights that caught my attention:
Personal use of web 2.0 technologies is pretty strong:
Compare this to how actively these same technologies are used for instructional use:
It is not clear why the use is so much lower in instructional settings, but perhaps the low opinion of instructors effective use of technology has bearing here.
The study also finds a sharp rise in communication via mobile texts and social networking sites. Around this time of year I always wonder how the new class of students are communicating with each other electronically, and how that has changed over time. With the increased use of mobile text messages, plus tools like Facebook and Twitter, how important is email? We have had a student list-serve mailing list since 2004. Has use of this list changed over that time? The short answer is no as far as total messages are concerned, but those are being sent by fewer people — details are below. I have differentiated messages sent by staff/faculty from those which are student-to-student. I wanted to see if perhaps student use dropped while staff/faculty use rose.
| Total email messages sent to list by type | ||||||
| Messages | Business | B% | Student | S% | ||
| Sept-20004 | 235 | 83 | 35% | 152 | 65% | |
| Sept-20005 | 200 | 89 | 45% | 111 | 56% | |
| Sept-20006 | 194 | 90 | 46% | 104 | 54% | |
| Sept-20007 | 192 | 65 | 34% | 127 | 66% | |
| Sept-20008 | 238 | 77 | 32% | 161 | 68% | |
| Sept-20009 | 200 | 58 | 29% | 142 | 71% | |
| Total Author count by type | ||||||
| Authors | Business | B% | Student | S% | ||
| Sept-20004 | 87 | 23 | 26% | 64 | 74% | |
| Sept-20005 | 85 | 20 | 24% | 65 | 76% | |
| Sept-20006 | 88 | 26 | 30% | 62 | 70% | |
| Sept-20007 | 71 | 21 | 30% | 50 | 70% | |
| Sept-20008 | 76 | 19 | 25% | 57 | 75% | |
| Sept-20009 | 68 | 19 | 28% | 49 | 72% | |
Note that only 25 – 30 % of our students actively email to the list. But as the results show, email is still as popular for our student-to-student communication as it was 5 years ago, but fewer people are actively participating. So maybe they are communicating more, but email is still a strong part of that. Almost every student at the school is subscribed to the list. My guess, (and with quick look over the email subject lines supporting), is that the list is being used for school business (lost/found, get-your-tickets-for, etc), and not classroom or socializing purposes.
The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009 | EDUCAUSE
Since 2004, the annual ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology has sought to shed light on how information 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… In addition to studying student ownership, experience, behaviors, preferences, and skills with respect to information technologies, the 2009 study also includes a special focus on student ownership and use of Internet-capable handheld devices.
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