| Home | HI-ED Technology | Student Technology |
The student technology surveys have been run at seven institutions. Below are short profiles of all of these institutions. Pseudonyms have been used throughout.
Compton University is a small liberal arts and sciences university that, like Harrison, has approximately 2,000 students. Located in a small town approximately half of these students live in residence. This residence population is proportionately similar to that of the larger Johnston and Silverstone institutions. Compton has a centralized comprehensive campus wide technology policy with network connections in all residence rooms, offices, and classrooms. Despite the comprehensive technology infrastructure the people side of the implementation of technologies has been laissez-faire. There is no push for faculty or students to use technologies and few classrooms have termination equipment to take advantage of the wiring.
Compton has been the subject of the most detailed data gathering of any of the institutions in this study. Surveys of the entire undergraduate student body were conducted in 1998, 2000, and 2001. In addition, like Silverstone, Compton had some surveys on student technology use conducted before the beginning of this study. The 1998 survey was conducted using paper, the 2000 survey used parallel paper and web versions, and the 2001 survey was conducted entirely using email prompts and web forms.
Although there has been some development of the instrument, most of the questions in 1998, 2000, and 2001 are common. The Compton case also spans the development of the technology of survey administration from the use of paper surveys to the use of the web. This longitudinal data provides rich opportunities for analysis.
Harrison University is a small university that, like Compton, has approximately 2,000 students. Like many other small urban universities in Canada, Harrison shares a campus with a larger institution and has a restricted range of exclusively undergraduate programs. There are a small number of residence students. Like some other older small universities in Canada, Harrison retains an element of its religious past. Harrison's technology infrastructure is uneven. Although offices are network connected the residences are not and the labs and classrooms are not consistently connected or equipped. There is some reliance on the adjacent larger university for some its technological infrastructure.
Harrison was surveyed in 2001 using email prompts and web forms. All students with email accounts were sent the email invitation.
Johnston University, like Compton and Silverstone, is a small university with a sizable residential population in a small town. Larger than Compton, it is similar in size to Silverstone with about 3,500 students. Like some other older small universities in Canada, Johnston retains an element of its religious past. Like Compton and Silverstone, Johnston has a centralized comprehensive technology infrastructure with network wiring in all residence rooms, offices, and classrooms. There is a push to use computer technologies in classrooms and there is a broad based support structure for computing.
Johnston was surveyed in 2001 using email prompts and web forms. All students with email accounts were sent the email invitation.
Silverstone University, like Compton and Johnston, is a small university with a significant residential population in a small town. Larger than Compton, it is similar in size to Johnston with about 3,500 students. Like Compton and Johnston, Silverstone has a comprehensive centralized technology infrastructure with network wiring in all residence rooms, offices, and classrooms. Silverstone has made a major commitment to a computing environment with classroom termination equipment and a technical support system. Silverstone is one of a few Canadian universities or colleges that has implemented a notebook accessibility program for its students.
Silverstone was surveyed in 2001 using email prompts and web forms. All students with email accounts were sent the email invitation. Like Compton, Silverstone has had several surveys of computer use. One of these surveys, which predates the present study, was done in 1996 in cooperation with a similar survey at Compton.
Loyalist University, like Williamson, has approximately 15,000 full-time students. The programs in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and in some professional programs are varied at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Loyalist also has a large number of part-time students. Loyalist is an urban institution with few residence students. Its students are socially and ethnically diverse. Its technology infrastructure is uneven and organized around its divisions.
A random sample of 2000 Loyalist undergraduates was surveyed in 1998 using a paper questionnaire.
Williamson University, like Loyalist, is a medium sized university of approximately 15,000 full-time students. The programs in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and in some professional programs are varied at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Williamson has a few capital-intensive showcase programs in the sciences and applied sciences with advanced academic and professional training in these areas.
A random sample of 2000 Williamson undergraduates was surveyed in 1999 using a paper questionnaire.
Leonard College is an urban college institution of approximately 5,000 students with a mix of career and university preparatory programs. Over the last several years Leonard College has been going through a development of its computing infrastructure with the upgrading of office, classroom and lab facilities. The ethnically diverse urban population lives off campus.
Leonard College has participated in two rounds of student surveys. In 1998 and 2000 paper surveys were distributed to the student body.
| Home | HI-ED Technology | Student Technology |
Copyright Brian L. Campbell
Page last modified:
July 9, 2004