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New Study of Undergraduate Students
& Information Technology
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Results for CCRI students vs. students at other institutionsEducause Center for Applied Research
The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007
EDUCAUSE, an organization focusing on higher education information technology, has studied student uses of information technology for several years.
The student survey conducted this year (2007) by the Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) seeks to contribute to this growing body of knowledge by gathering information from a national sample of studentsto gain a better understanding of:
- what kinds of information technologies these students use, own, and experience
- their technology behaviors, preferences, and skills
- how IT impacts their experiences in their courses; and
- their perceptions of the role of IT in the academic experience.
The study, which reports noticeable changes from previous years, is based on quantitative data from a spring 2007 survey and interviews with 27,846 freshman, senior, and community college students at 103 higher education institutions.
For the past two years, CCRI has participated in the ECAR study. Our contribution to the national sample is important not only because it benefits a national study, but also because it entitles us to some useful information comparing our technology-related behavior to that of students at other institutions. This year 756 students contributed to the survey from CCRI.
Below are key findings from students at CCRI:
- 83% own a personal desktop computer
- 86% prefer the institution would communicate with them electronically
- 78% prefer taking courses that use moderate level of IT to exclusively IT
- 61% indicated that use of technology in the classroom improved their learning
- 92% find the use of the WebCT course management system is useful to extremely useful
View the ECAR Survey of CCRI Students report depicting responses from students at Community College of Rhode Island versus students at the other institutions. The full national ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007 is also available on the EDUCAUSE web site as are the reports from 2004 and 2005 and 2006.
We hope you find this information useful.
