a space for grace

Educause‘s applied research branch ECAR just released their 2009 Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology. This is a survey of over 30,000 undergraduates at over 100 institutions. The study has been done annually since 2004 so longitudinal comparisons are possible. Scanning the Key Findings and Road Map, I found the following information most interesting:

  – 94.6% use the library website, with a median frequency of use weekly – to me this means that even with the tremendous amount of competition available from other information providers, the library is still relevant for students

– 2/3 disagree or strongly disagree with the statement, “I can skip classes when course materials are available online” – this relates to a discussion going on in 559 about whether students would bother attending clases if podcasts or iTunes of lectures were available

– there is a preference for a hybrid model –  a moderate amount of technology in courses, but  face-to-face instruction is still desired and,

– in answer to  open ened questions some students wrote explicitly about a preference for “real books and people” 

Technology offers us all sorts of possibilities and can’t be ignored, but we shouldn’t forget the human touch.