High School Students Want More Technology in College

High school students place a high priority on colleges that mix technology into their instruction, according to a report released today. And college campuses are trying to meet that demand by adding digital content, virtual learning and online collaboration software to their toolboxes.

An online survey of 1,019 college students, faculty and IT staff*, called the CDW-G 2010 21st-Century Campus Report, shows that colleges are creating interactive learning experiences with these tools. The report also compares this survey's findings with those of the 21st-Century Classroom Report released last month.
 

Student college selection criteria

• 63 percent of current college students say technology on campus was important in their college search.
   
• 93 percent of today's high school students say campus technology is important in their college criteria.
   
• 95 percent of today's high school students expect to use technology in their college classes.

Current college students consider these top five technologies extremely important: a wireless network (77 percent), accessing the campus network from an off-campus location (57 percent), course management system (47 percent), digital content such as online textbooks and course material they can download (40 percent), and multimedia content streaming (23 percent).

While high school students also chose a wireless network as their top priority, campus computer labs made the second slot on the list followed by digital content, off-campus network access and interactive whiteboards. So far, college IT staff members offer the top four technologies that tomorrow's students want to see when they make it to campus.

The high school students want to use this technology to do class assignments, communicate with classmates and professors, and prepare for the technology expectations in their field.
 

Technology as a learning tool

• 82 percent of faculty say technology is essential to success in their class and is a useful tool for students
   
• 72 percent of IT staff say their institutions understand how faculty members want to use technology as a teaching tool
   
• 85 percent of college students say technology is important as they study for their future career
   
• 79 percent of IT professionals say their campus understands how students want to use technology
   

Technology in the classroom

Compared to last year's survey, colleges are supporting more technology infrastructure and applications.

• Videoconferencing access increased from 47 percent to 61 percent
   
• Web conferencing access increased from 46 percent to 55 percent
   
• Online chat access increased from 25 percent to 32 percent
   
• IT professionals now support laptops (81 percent compared to last year's 72 percent), smart phones (50 percent compared to 46 percent), interactive whiteboards (43 percent compared to 38 percent) and student response systems (stayed at 34 percent )
   

Collaboration tools

More than half of students use social media including Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis as educational tools. Sixty-four percent use them to study or work on projects with classmates at least several times per month.

• 70 percent of colleges and universities surveyed offer digital content
   
• 61 percent of colleges and universities provide virtual learning
   
• 58 percent of colleges and universities use online collaboration software
   

Tech support

• 44 percent of IT staff members say they need to refresh their IT infrastructure, specifically in storage and security areas
   
• Compared with faculty members, IT professionals hold a broader view of how technology can improve classrooms. Seventy-two percent of IT professionals say online collaboration software is essential, but 31 percent of faculty members agreed. Also, 68 percent of IT staff say virtual learning is a key part of higher education, but 35 percent of faculty members agreed.

To find out more about mixing tech tools into instruction, check out How to Teach with Tech Tools. And if you're looking into wireless networks to support these tools, check out School Districts Lay Foundation for Mobile Devices.

*Survey methodology:

1,019 full sample: +-3 percent margin of error
415 students: +-4.8 percent margin of error
303 faculty: +-5.6 percent margin of error
301 IT staff: +-5.6 percent margin of error

Conducted by O'Keeffe & Co. in June