SU Student Technology Survey 2008 - Summary

The 2008 student technology survey was completed during the week of May 5, 2008. The web based survey was completed by 905 students, including 66 graduate students. The majority of respondents live in either campus housing or University Park (47.1%), followed by off campus residents (41.8%) or living at home with family (11.1%).

Findings:

1. The desktop computer is disappearing. Although 98.6% of respondents own computers. Of these 68.5% own laptops. This trend is marked by a shift in the purchases of underclassman. Over 87% of freshman own laptops, compared to 55% of seniors. Dell leads the way in the most selected computer vendor (41.4%), followed by Hewlett Packard (19.2%) and Apple (9.3%).

Mobile computing is a growing trend with the increased use of the current wireless network. Almost 62% of student respondents have used the wireless network in a campus building. There was a strong cry to add wireless in the residence halls in the open ended responses. This is scheduled for the summer and fall of 2008.

2. Any questions about student ownership of cell phones are over. Of the respondents completing the survey 99.4% own a cell phone. Almost 70% of these get their service through Verizon.

3. Students report that SU’s email system is still the best way to contact them (81.5%), followed by a call on their cell phone (7.6%) or a text message (7.1%).

4. Almost all students have internet access in their residence (97.8%) and 95% have high speed access at home. This includes both on campus and off campus students.

5. Most students are using the internet to obtain some class information directly from their faculty. Of the students surveyed 78% are using MyClasses (WebCT) in one or more classes this semester. About 60% of SU faculty are using MyClasses for a part or all of their classes.

6. Clickers (student response devices) were adopted by some faculty in the 2006-2007 school year. In the current term 28% of students are using these devices for in class real time surveys, quizzes, or to demonstrate attendance. The SU bookstore has already sold over 2,400 of the electronic devices.

7. Portable music players are even more popular this year with 71.5% of students reporting that they own an iPod, Zune or other music device. In 2007, this number was about 60%.
8. Social networking is still growing in popularity. Over 84% of the students reported that they use FaceBook, while 44% use MySpace. Of course this means that many use both. Less than 1% reported that they are using second Life, the virtual reality social networking site.

9. Although almost all students own computers (98.6%), they still regularly use computer labs on campus to do homework, check email, or surf the web. Over 87% reported using the labs at east once a week with 46% reporting that they use the labs either daily or three times a week. It seems that although students are buying more laptops, they are not carrying them around all day.

10. Students feel that technology is comparable to technology on other campuses (49.7%) or better than most other campuses (39.3%). In general they are quite satisfied.

11. Although it is often said that students don’t user their SU email account, 67.6% identify it as their primary email account. In 2007, 63.2% of students identified SU email as their preferred service.

May 5, 2008