ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology

The 2011 ECAR National (USA) Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology gathered stratified data from "3,000 college students from 1,179 colleges and universities" via an opt-in invitation-only online questionnaire, in June 2011.
As usual, I have only skimmed through it, but it has interesting material. This is a sample of snippets, biased towards my interests.
"58 percent of all students say that online-only courses do not provide the same educational value as courses that blend face-to-face and online components, compared to 30 percent who say they believe they do provide equal value."
"Twelve percent of students say Facebook is “extremely valuable” to their academic success—and one in four students (25 percent) consider it “valuable” or “extremely valuable.” On the other hand, more than half of students (53 percent) think its academic value is limited or nonexistent."
"Nearly onethird of students (32 percent) say their skills using a course or learning management system, which is intended to facilitate academic life for students and instructors, aren’t where they believe they should be."
" .. the average student spends at least some time engaging in about 21 different kindkinds of software applications and activities out of 40 they were asked about.."

There is discussion around the importance of academics using technologies effectively, and how this influences students and their perception/use of technology "Projectors, Wi-Fi, laptops, desktops, and document cameras or digital overhead projectors are devices that instructors use “extremely effectively” to teach, mentor, or communicate, students report—and they’re generally technologies students also value highly. More personal technologies, such as e-readers, iPads, smartphones, and student response systems (clickers) are not used as effectively, students say."

Dahlstrom, E., de Boor, T., Grunwald, P. and Vockley, M. (2011) The ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology. Boulder: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERS1103/ERS1103W.pdf
Photo by Sheila Webber: Angel on my bookshelves, December 2011