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New Undergraduate Academic Technology Survey

The impact of technology on college student learning is the subject of several recent studies, both at Rice and in Michigan. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) worked with the Center for Teaching Excellence to develop survey questions about student academic technology use and experience.  In June 2015, over 1000 new undergraduates received an invitation to complete the survey and about 75% responded.  Responses of 750 students in the class of 2019 regarding their experiences with — and future plans for — using technology in school reveal predominant use of laptops and smartphones.

 

Rice University Class of 2019: 98% will bring laptop and smartphone.

survey graph 1

  • 98.1% of students responded that they would bring a laptop
    • 49% Windows operating system
    • 48% Mac operating system
  • 97.8% plan to bring a smartphone.
    • 69% iPhone
    • 28% Android phone
  • 23.2% of students are bringing a tablet or iPad
  • 12.7% are bringing a dedicated e-reader, like a Kindle.
  • 16.5% of students will bring their own printer.
  • Fewer than 3% (20 of the 750 survey participants) plan to bring a desktop computer.

Rice University Class of 2019: 97% use laptops for both academic and non-academic purposes.

cropped-survey-graph-2-20wkl0bBy the time Rice’s new undergraduates matriculate, most of them have already integrated technology into their daily assignments and classwork.

  • 96.7% of students have used their laptops for both academic and non-academic purposes.
  • 85.7% of students said that they use their phones for both personal and academic reasons.

Rice University Class of 2019: 89% feel laptops are very important to learning.

survey graph 3

The majority of incoming students already rely on laptops to complete their learning goals.

  • 89% of students believe that a laptop is “Very Important” to their learning.
  • 75% of students feel smartphones are also important.
    • 30% indicated smartphones are “Very Important” to learning.
    • 45% said smartphones are “Moderately Important” to their education.
  • Other devices? Some students use desktops and iPads for learning, but the majority don’t use e-readers
    • 23% of students feel a desktop computer is “Very Important”
    • 28.0% of students ranked desktops as “Moderately Important”
    • 25% said their iPads were “Moderately Important.”
    • 10% rated iPads as “Very Important” to their learning.
    • 76% do not use an e-reader, or don’t use it for learning.

Rice University Class of 2019: 82% comfortable using learning systems.

survey graph 4

The majority (82%) of Rice’s new undergraduate students have frequently or sometimes used learning management systems, such as a school website with access to resources for multiple classes.

  • 82% of Rice’s new undergraduates use LMS resources frequently or sometimes:
    • 57% frequently used LMS resources over the last two years.
    • 25% sometimes used LMS resources over the last two years.
  • 11% rarely used LMS resources.
  • 7% did not know about LMS resources or did not use them.
  • 81% of Rice’s new undergraduates are familiar with the use of online collaboration tools like Google Docs, Blackboard Collaborate and Adobe Connect:
    • 55% of students frequently used online collaboration tools
    • 26% of students sometimes used online collaboration tools sometimes.
  • 12% rarely used online collaboration tools.
  • 6% Did not know about online collaboration tools or never used them.

Classroom device integration: 66.7% students familiar with integrated laptop use in classroom.

survey graph 5

Many of the incoming undergraduates are comfortable integrating laptops in the classroom, but one-third of the survey respondents have NOT used laptops in class.

  • Two-thirds (66.7%) of the new students are familiar with integrated use of laptops in their classrooms.
    • 34% of the new students reported frequent integrated use of their laptops in class.
    • 32% sometimes integrated use of laptops in class.
  • 33% rarely or never experienced the integrated use of laptops in class.

Low clicker familiarity:  only 11% of the new students have frequently used clickers in class.

survey graph 6

The frequent integration of mobile devices (other than laptops) in the classroom is less common across the Class of 2019.

  • Clickers
    • Only 11% frequently used clickers in class.
    • Another 29% have some experience using clickers in class.
    • Most (60%) never or rarely used clickers in class.
  • Smartphones
    • Only 8% frequently used smartphones in class.
    • Another 25% have some experience using smartphones in class.
    • Most (67%) never or rarely used smartphones in class.
  • Tablets
    • Only 7.6% frequently used tablets in class.
    • Another 16% have some experience using tablets in class.
    • Most (76%) never or rarely used tablets in class.

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